THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thursday, Sept. 25 — 7 pm ADT — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Western Oregon (1-8, 0-1 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (11-1, 2-0 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Sept. 27 — 7 pm ADT — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Saint Martin's (8-1, 1-0 GNAC [Thu. @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: New this year, all UAA volleyball and basketball home contests and GNAC road contests are 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 & PROMOTIONS: Tickets at GoSeawolves.com ... Saturday's match is Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night ­— UAA, ASD and MSBSD faculty or staff get in free, plus up to three additional tickets for $5 each ... Saturday's match will also feature a food drive for the UAA Campus Food Pantry, with faculty and staff competing for the most donations.
 
GNAC HOME SLATE KICKS OFF: After a pair of weeks on the road, the Seawolves take a four-match winning streak into their Great Northwest Athletic Conference home openers this week, facing Western Oregon (1-8, 0-1) on Thursday and Saint Martin's (8-1, 1-0) on Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center ... both matches start at 7 pm.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2025 stats)
S—Hannah Trotter, 5-9, So. (7.83 aps, 2.63 dps, 0.69 kps, 0.49 bps)
OH—Lee Ivakina, 6-0, Jr. (2.74 kps, .212 att%, 2.89 dps, 0.55 bps)
OH—Tia Allen, 5-11, Sr. (3.02 kps, .205 att%, 3.32 dps, 0.30 ace/set)
RS—Emma Beck, 5-1, Fr. (2.26 kps, .219 att%, 0.82 bps)
MB—Bella Burney, 6-0, Jr. (1.51 kps, .289 att%, 1.11 bps)
MB—Martina Riba, 6-0, So. (1.52 kps, .210 att%, 1.20 bps, 0.33 ace/set)
L—Madison Galloway, 5-4, Sr. (3.55 dps, 0.77 aps, 0.34 ace/set, .964 rec%)
 
THE SERIES...
vs WOU: UAA leads 32-17 overall, 16-8 in Anchorage
Last: WOU 3-0 (10/24/24 at WOU)
Streak: WOU 2
Notes: WOU's 3-1 victory on Sept. 28, 2024 in Anchorage snapped UAA's 21-match winning streak in the series ... UAA leads 9-1 at the Alaska Airlines Center ... UAA leads 30-16 in GNAC meetings (since 2001) ... series started in 1981 but teams did not play again until 1999.
 
vs SMU: UAA leads 44-5 overall, 22-1 in Anchorage
Last: UAA 3-0 (10/26/24 at Olympia, Wash.)
Streak: UAA 3
Notes: UAA has won 32 of the last 33 meetings, with SMU's win coming Oct. 5, 2023 in Lacey (3-1) ... the Seawolves lead 10-0 at the Alaska Airlines Center ... UAA has won 97 of 111 sets since 2008 ... teams have played only one 5-setter (2021 at SMU) in 49 meetings ... UAA leads 41-5 in GNAC matches (since 2001) ... teams played first two matches as Pac West Conference opponents in 1998 and 1999.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Picked sixth in the GNAC preseason poll, Western Oregon is still hunting its first D-II victory, having earned its lone win over Menlo (3-1) on Sept. 12 ... the Wolves, who started GNAC play with a 3-1 home loss to Saint Martin's, are led by Maela Honma (3.19 kps, .169 att%, 3.22 dps) and Chloe Asciutto (2.25 kps, .316 att%, 0.75 bps) ... picked ninth in the preseason poll, Saint Martin's rides a six-match win streak into Thursday's showdown at UAF ... the Saints, from Lacey, Wash., have won 18 of 20 sets since suffering their lone loss to Augustana (3-0) on Sept. 5 ... SMU is led by GNAC kills leader Emily Garten (4.59 kps, .288 att%, 2.76 dps, 0.48 ace/set) and assist leader Sophie Fast (10.59 aps, 2.79 dps).
 
AT HOME ON THE ROAD: Traveling outside Alaska for the first time this year, the Seawolves showed no discomfort in their GNAC openers last week, defeating Seattle Pacific 25-19, 17-25, 25-19, 25-20 on Thursday and MSU Billings 25-13, 25-12, 25-8 on Saturday ... at SPU, Jr. MB Bella Burney had career highs of 13 kills and .542 hitting (also a UAA season best) to help UAA rally from a 12-8 deficit in the fourth set, while Sr. OH Tia Allen tallied 14 kills and 11 digs ... on Saturday, Allen had 11 kills and 13 digs as the Seawolves posted top-5 program marks (rally scoring era) in attack pct. (.437), opponent attack pct. (-.048) and points allowed (33) ... Jr. OH Lee Ivakina and Fr. RS Emma Beck had eight kills apiece as both registered career-best attack percentages (Ivakina .389, Beck .538).
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves received 105 votes in this week's AVCA NCAA Div. II top-25 poll, putting them two spots out of the rankings ... UAA's 11-1 mark equals the program's second-best record after 12 matches, along with the 2016 and 2022 GNAC title squads ... the Seawolves rank 26th nationally in blocks per set (2.41) and 25th in opponent attack pct. (.130), while they are the only team in the GNAC allowing fewer than one ace per set (0.94) ... along with the last two matches last year, UAA's nine straight Alaska Airlines Center victories tie the second-longest streak since the arena's opening in 2014 ... 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 ... the Seawolves are 26-23 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014, halting a six-match losing skid with their Aug. 29 win over No. 9 Chaminade ... the Seawolves are 113-27 (.807) at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 160-39 (.804) at home since 2009.
 
TIP-TOP TIA: The Seawolves' lone representative on the GNAC Preseason All-Conference Team, Sr. OH Tia Allen started the season with all-tournament honors at all three non-conference events, including the Most Outstanding Player award at the Seawolf Invitational ... an honorable mention All-GNAC performer as a junior at UAA in 2024 and as a sophomore at Saint Martin's in 2022, the Clayton, Wash., native has already established a UAA career-best 18 kills against Cal State San Marcos and an overall career-high .462 attack pct against Minot State, producing double-doubles in six of 12 matches ... in the early GNAC stats, Allen is 8th in kills (3.02 kps), 9th in points (3.50 ppg) and 13th in digs (3.30) ... after topping 1,000 digs last week, Allen is on the verge of becoming the 12th player in GNAC history (since 2001) to achieve career 1,000 marks in both kills (994) and digs (1,006), along with 100 aces (91).
 
MAD MONEY: UAA's lone fourth-year player, Sr. L Madison Galloway ranks 9th in the early GNAC stats with 3.55 digs per set ... Galloway earned an all-tourney award and her first career GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honor after posting 4.24 dps and registering a .978 (88 of 90) serve-receive on opening weekend ... the Pensacola, Fla., native has moved into 10th place on UAA career digs list with 1,120, along with top-20 ranks in digs per set (18th, 2.98) and victories (18th, 70) ... Galloway has missed just one of 377 sets her entire career, taking over as UAA's full-time libero last season.
 
LEAPIN' LEE: The Seawolves have found a new full-rotation standout in Jr. OH Lee Ivakina (e-VOCK-in-ah), who premiered with all-tournament honors at both the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge and Seawolf Invitational ... from Bulgaria via Navarro (Texas) College, Ivakina has posted double-doubles in five of her first 12 NCAA matches, including 13 kills and 13 digs against Biola and a 15/12 effort against Cal State San Marcos ... her 20 kills in the 5-set win over Hilo were five more than any Seawolf had in 2024 and just UAA's second 20-kill effort over the last three seasons ... Ivakina ranks 12th in the GNAC in kps (2.74) and 13th pps (3.31), along with 17th in dps (2.89).
 
'WOLF BITES: Jr. MB Bella Burney has been a consistent force at the net, ripping at least three kills and committing no more than three attack errors in each match thus far ... Burney leads UAA and ranks 10th in the early GNAC stats with a .289 attack pct and is 7th in blocks with 1.11 bps ... So. Martina Riba was an all-tourney performer at the Seawolf Invitational and recorded plus-.400 attack percentages in both of UAA's wins in Fairbanks ... the Barcelona native has registered at least six kills in nine of 12 matches and has made at least three total blocks in 10 contests, currently ranking 5th in the league with 1.20 bps ... Fr. RS Emma Beck delivered UAA's best attack pct (min. 12 kills) since Sept. 15, 2023 with her .520 (14-1-25) effort against Biola, and bettered that with a .538 (8-1-13) mark at MSUB last week ... a former Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year from Kenai, Beck also had 13-kill efforts to propel wins over Cal State San Marcos and Rockhurst, while her 0.82 blocks per set rank 148h in the GNAC ... So. S Hannah Trotter is 6th in the GNAC with 7.83 assists per set, along with solid numbers of 2.63 dps and 0.49 bps ... Fr. S Johana Malikova holds GNAC top-10 ranks in aces per set (7th, 0.44) and assists per set (8th, 6.76), dishing a season-high 45 assists in the win over San Marcos ... the Seawolves have found a new serving specialist in Jr. DS/OH Elena Hansen ... a transfer from Limestone, Hansen leads ranks 11th in the GNAC with 0.43 aces per set.
 
EYES ON MEISNER: Former Seawolf standout Stacie Meisner is in her third turn as UAA's head coach in 2025 ... Meisner has piloted the Seawolves to a 43-30 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.
 
2025 Individual Honors
TIA ALLEN
Preseason All-GNAC Team
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
Seawolf Invitational Most Outstanding Player
Ice Block Classic All-Tournament Team
MADISON GALLOWAY
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, Aug. 25-31
LEE IVAKINA
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
MARTINA RIBA
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team