THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge, presented by Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, Alaska
(all times Alaska Daylight Time)
Thursday, Aug. 28
1 pm: Hawaii Pacific (0-0) vs Alaska Anchorage (0-0)
4 pm: Chaminade (0-0) vs Alaska Fairbanks (0-0)
7 pm: Hawaii Hilo (0-0) Alaska Anchorage
Friday, Aug. 29
10 am: Hawaii Pacific vs Alaska Fairbanks
1 pm: Chaminade vs Alaska Anchorage
4 pm: Hawaii Hilo vs Alaska Fairbanks
Saturday, Aug. 30
9 am: Chaminade or Hawaii Hilo vs Alaska Fairbanks
11:30 am: Chaminade or Hawaii Hilo vs Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: New this year, all UAA volleyball and basketball contests will be streamed through the new GNAC Network portal at Hudl – gnacnetwork.com/uaaseawolves ... fans can choose between a single event ($12), a 30-day subscription ($25) or a yearly subscription ($120).
 
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
TICKETS: GoSeawolves.com
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2024 stats)
S—Hannah Trotter, 5-9, So. (3.98 aps, 2.06 dps, 0.39 ace/set)
PIN—TBA
PIN—TBA
PIN—Tia Allen, 5-11, Sr. (2.35 kps, .206 att%, 2.98 dps)
MB—Bella Burney, 6-0, Jr. (1.19 kps, .215 att%, 0.81 bps)
MB—TBA
L—Madison Galloway, 5-4, Sr. (4.07 dps, 1.08 aps, .939 rec%)
 
HOME CHALLENGES: The Seawolves get a head start on the 2025 regular season with four home matches in the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge at the Alaska Airlines Center ... along with GNAC rival Alaska Fairbanks, the Seawolves will face Pacific West Conference foes Hawaii Pacific, Chaminade and Hawaii Hilo in contests that will be key in determining each squad's future playoff chances ... Saturday's match-ups will be dependent upon the UAF and UAA results against Chaminade and Hawaii Hilo from the first two days.
 
THE SERIES...
vs HPU: HPU leads 8-7 overall, 1-0 in Anchorage
Last: UAA 3-1 (8/29/24 at HPU) / Streak: UAA 4
Notes: The Seawolves have won all four postpandemic meetings (all at HPU) and seven of the last eight since 2009 ... HPU's last win was a 3-0 final April 25, 2021 at Hilo during the spring Covid season ... teams have played only once in Anchorage, a 3-0 HPU win during the 1999 season when both clubs were in the Pac West ... first meeting came in 1981, a 3-1 HPU victory at Laie, Hawaii.
 
vs HAWAII HILO: UHH 16-11 overall; UAA leads 5-2 in Anch.
Last: UHH 3-2 (8/30/24 at HPU) / Streak: UHH 1
Notes: Teams have split the last six meetings, four of which have gone five sets ... the last four meetings have been on neutral courts ... teams have not played in Anchorage since Sept. 1, 2005 (3-2 UAA win) ... series started in 1981 with a pair of Hilo home sweeps.
 
vs CHAMINADE: CUH 18-14 overall; UAA leads 5-3 in Anch.
Last: CUH 3-0 (8/29/24 at CUH) / Streak: CUH 4
Notes: Chaminade has swept the last two meetings ... UAA's last win was a 3-0 decision, Aug. 20, 2022 at Chaminade ... teams have not played in Anchorage since 2000 (3-1 UAA win) ... series started in 1989 with a 2-1 Silverswords win in Davis, Calif.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: The Pacific West Conference has not yet released its preseason poll ... Chaminade is the defending Pac West champion, going 28-5 overall and 20-0 in league play, and advancing to the NCAA Tournament second round last fall ... Hawaii-Hilo (16-14, 11-9) finished seventh in the 14-team league, while Hawaii Pacific (2-24, 2-18) was last place.
 
2025 SEASON OUTLOOK: The Seawolves return six letterwinners, three redshirts and one squad member from last year's team that finished 16-12 overall and tied for fifth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference at 10-8 ... UAA's newcomers are comprised of three transfers (two D-II, one JC) and four true freshmen ... the Seawolves have been picked fifth in the GNAC preseason coaches' poll for the second year in a row. 
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves' 16 regular-season home matches this year are the most in 11 seasons of play at the Alaska Airlines Center ... UAA has finished top 10 nationally in average attendance every season since 2014, leading NCAA Div. II five times (2014, '15, '16, '17, '18, '24) and finishing second twice ... UAA finished no lower than seventh in all seven of the GNAC's major stats categories in 2024, including second in aces (1.93) and digs per set (16.43) ... the Seawolves are 25-23 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014, now with a six-match losing skid after their loss to Chaminade last year ... the Seawolves are 106-27 (.797) at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 153-39 (.797) at home since 2009.
 
SOLID SENIORS: The Seawolves feature a trio of seniors in 2025 with OH Tia Allen, L Madison Galloway and MB Avery Northcutt ... the Seawolves' lone representative on the GNAC Preseason All-Conference Team, Allen was an honorable mention All-GNAC performer as a junior, leading UAA with 2.35 kps and eight double-doubles, along with.206 hitting, 2.98 dps and 0.36 bps ... the Clayton, Wash., native and Saint Martin's transfer finished 13th in digs and 20th in kills in the GNAC, connecting for .350-plus hitting six times ... UAA's lone fourth-year player, Galloway begins her final campaign just 47 digs shy of becoming the 18th Seawolf to reach 1,000 ... the Floridian has missed just one of 330 sets her entire career, taking over as UAA's full-time libero last season and producing double figures in 23 of 26 matches ... Galloway ranked fifth in the GNAC with 4.07 digs per set, becoming the first Seawolf since 2018 to average at least 4.00 dps ... one of four Alaskans on the roster, former East High star Avery Northcutt is prepped for a big season in the middle ... the former JC transfer played in 12 matches as a junior, registering a team-best .348 attack percentage and producing multiple blocks four times ... Northcutt's .727 (8-0-11) hitting in UAA's win over South Dakota Mines ranked top 10 on the program's single-match list in the rally-scoring era.
 
BIG BLOCKS BACK: Along with Avery Northcutt, the Seawolves return two more experienced middle blockers in Jr. Bella Burney and So. Martina Riba ... Burney averaged 1.19 kps on .215 hitting and was second on the team (18th GNAC) with 0.81 bps in 2024, playing primarily on the right side ... one of three Europeans on this year's squad, Riba (Llagosetera, Spain) saw action in 10 matches as a true freshman, showing promise with 8 kills on .400 hitting in a road win over Northwest Nazarene and posting 4 blocks in a sweep of MSU Billings.
 
SET FOR SUCCESS: UAA features three talented setters in 2025, with redshirt sophomore Hannah Trotter the lone returner ... Trotter played in 99 of 101 sets last season, averaging 3.98 assists and 2.06 digs in a '6-2' system ... the Wisconsin native also led UAA with 0.39 aces per set (7th GNAC) ... redshirt freshman Anna McWhorter joined the program last spring as a transfer from fellow NCAA D-II program Nebraska-Kearney, while true freshman Johana Malikova brings unlimited potential from the Czech Republic.
 
TRANSFERS ON BOARD: A pair of pin hitters join the team as junior transfers in Lee Ivakina and Elena Hansen ... Ivakina played her first two collegiate seasons at JC power Navarro (Texas) College, where he posted 3.43 kills and 4.09 points per set as a sophomore ... a Tennessee native with Alaska roots, Hansen comes north after two seasons at fellow NCAA D-II program Limestone, where she averaged 2.30 digs as a sophomore.
 
REDSHIRTS NO MORE: A handful of players look to crack the rotation after redshirting as true freshmen, with 2023 Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year Emma Beck and former Utah prep star Bailee Tucker hoping to contribute on the right side ... on the back row, Californian Dorsey Booth and former Ketchikan standout Reilly McCue are set for their on-court debuts as well.
 
FRESH STARTS: Four true freshmen join the active roster in 2025, all with the potential to see court time ... OH Trinity Byrne has impressed in the preseason, along with setter Johana Malikova, while 2024 Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year Eleasha Sapon (Anchorage/Dimond) and Oahu product Katlin Kiko give the Seawolves even more depth on the back row.
 
EYES ON MEISNER: Former Seawolf standout Stacie Meisner returns for her third turn as UAA's head coach in 2025 ... in her first two seasons, Meisner has piloted the Seawolves to a 32-29 record, including a 16-12 overall mark and 5th-place Great Northwest Athletic Conference finish in 2024 ... in her six years on former mentor Chris Green's staff, Meisner helped the Seawolves achieve a 119-42 record and NCAA Tournament appearances in four of the five seasons not affected by Covid ... UAA went a combined 74-20 in the GNAC during her assistant-coaching tenures, finishing no worse than third place and capturing the league title in 2022 ... Meisner began her collegiate coaching career as a graduate assistant on UAA's 2011 club that went 18-9 and earned an NCAA berth ... she rejoined UAA in the same capacity in 2018 and was promoted to top assistant in 2019 ... UAA's starting libero from 2008-09, helping spark the program's turnaround; in 2009, she led UAA with 4.54 digs and 0.36 aces per set as the Seawolves won their first GNAC title, reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament and equaled the best record in school history at 23-8 ... an honorable mention All-GNAC and academic all-conference honoree, she finished No. 2 in digs per set (4.53) and No. 3 in aces per set (.357) on UAA's career lists ... also a JC star at Western Nebraska CC in 2006-07, Meisner graduated from UAA with magna cum laude honors in English in 2011, before earning her Master of Arts in English from UAA in 2015.
 
2024 Individual Honors
TIA ALLEN
Honorable Mention All-GNAC
GNAC All-Academic Team
Augustana Classic All-Tournament Team
LARSSEN ANDERSON
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Aug. 25-31
KATIE BIRTCIL
First Team All-GNAC
BELLA BURNEY
GNAC All-Academic Team
MADISON GALLOWAY
GNAC All-Academic Team (4.00 GPA)
Augustana Classic All-Tournament Team
KADYN OSBORNE
GNAC All-Academic Team (4.00 GPA)
Augustana Classic All-Tournament Team
BETHANY TUCHARDT
GNAC All-Academic Team (4.00 GPA)
Ice Block Classic All-Tournament Team