THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thursday, Oct. 2 — 7 pm ADT — Patty Center — Fairbanks, AK
Alaska Anchorage (13-1, 4-0 GNAC) at #23 Alaska Fairbanks (13-1, 4-0 GNAC)
 
LIVE VIDEO: All UAA volleyball 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: AlaskaNanooks.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
BIG STAKES IN IN-STATE RIVALRY: The Alaska Anchorage volleyball team takes a six-match winning streak north Thursday to face No. 23 Alaska Fairbanks in a battle of two of the three remaining unbeaten teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings ... this is the first time the traditional rivals will meet with league marks of 4-0 or better since the GNAC was founded in 2001.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2025 stats)
S—Hannah Trotter, 5-9, So. (8.02 aps, 2.63 dps, 0.66 kps, 0.41 bps)
OH—Lee Ivakina, 6-0, Jr. (2.87 kps, .206 att%, 3.06 dps, 0.52 bps)
OH—Tia Allen, 5-11, Sr. (3.04 kps, .203 att%, 3.39 dps, 0.37 ace/set)
RS—Emma Beck, 5-1, Fr. (2.27 kps, .216 att%, 0.76 bps)
MB—Bella Burney, 6-0, Jr. (1.61 kps, .302 att%, 1.02 bps)
MB—Martina Riba, 6-0, So. (1.60 kps, .228 att%, 1.11 bps, 0.32 ace/set)
L—Madison Galloway, 5-4, Sr. (3.59 dps, 0.83 aps, 0.33 ace/set, .963 rec%)
 
THE SERIES...
vs UAF: UAA leads 80-40 overall, 34-26 in Fairbanks
Last: UAF 3-0 (11/16/24 at UAA)
Streak: UAF 2
Notes: UAF's series sweep in 2024 was its first since 2008 ... UAA has won nine of the last 15 meetings, following a 16-match win streak from 2010-18 ... UAA has won four of the last six at the Patty Center ... UAA leads 32-14 in GNAC meetings (since 2001) ... teams have played at least twice per season since 1980.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Ranked for the first time in program history in the AVCA NCAA Div. II top 25 poll, No. 23 Alaska Fairbanks takes a GNAC-best 11-match win streak into Thursday's showdown ... the Nanooks have played a virtually identical schedule as the Seawolves, suffering their lone loss 3-2 to Hawaii Hilo on Aug. 29 in Anchorage ... UAF is led by Sr. RS Elena Guc (2.80 kps, .207 att%, 0.85 bps) and Jr. L Tessa Onaga (4.65 dps).
 
COOKIN' AT HOME: UAA ran its Alaska Airlines Center winning streak to 11 and stayed tied atop the GNAC standings with victories last week over Western Oregon (25-17, 25-22, 22-25, 25-19) and Saint Martin's (25-10, 25-22, 25-22) ... on Thursday, double-doubles from Sr. OH Tia Allen (14 kills/17 digs) and Jr. OH Lee Ivakina (15K/14D) helped fend off the Wolves' upset bid, while Jr. MB Bella Burney slammed 11 kills on .409 hitting ... two nights later, Ivakina tallied 11 kills and 15 digs as UAA rode second- and third-set comebacks to a sweep of the Saints ... Allen had 8 kills, 10 digs and 3 aces, and Sr. L Madison Galloway made 12 digs to help UAA improve to 45-5 all-time against SMU.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves received 96 votes in this week's AVCA NCAA Div. II top-25 poll, putting them two spots out of the rankings for the second week in a row ... UAA's 13-1 mark equals the program's second-best record after 14 matches, along with the 2016 and 2022 GNAC title squads; a  win Thursday would equal the best 15-match start, along with 2015, '16 and '22 ... the Seawolves rank top-50 nationally in opponent attack pct. (19th, .130), blocks per set (45th, 2.23) and aces per set (2.09), while they remain 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 11 straight Alaska Airlines Center victories are the second-longest streak since the arena's opening in 2014, behind the 16 in a row from Nov. 2021-Aug. 2023 ... 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 115-27 (.808) at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 162-39 (.805) at home since 2009.
 
TIP-TOP TIA: The Seawolves' 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 seven of 14 matches ... in the GNAC stats, Allen is 7th in kills (3.04 kps) and points (3.56 pps), 12th in digs (3.59 dps), and 18th in aces (0.37) ... after topping 1,000 kills last week, Allen needs just three more aces to become the 12th player in GNAC history (since 2001) to achieve career 1,000 marks in both kills (1,016) and digs (1,033), along with 100 aces (97).
 
MAD MONEY: UAA's lone fourth-year player, Sr. L Madison Galloway ranks 10th in the GNAC stats with 3.59 digs per set, totaling double figures in 11 of 14 matches ... 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 as UAA went 4-0 in the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge ... the Pensacola, Fla., native has moved into 8th place on UAA career digs list with 1,147, along with top-20 ranks in digs per set (19th, 2.99) and victories (t-16th, 72) ... Galloway has missed just one of 384 sets her entire career, taking over as UAA's full-time libero last season.
 
LEAPIN' LEE: UAA has 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 seven of her first 14 NCAA matches, including 13 kills and 13 digs against Biola and a 15/14 effort against Western Oregon ... her 20 kills in the 5-set win over Hawaii 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 10th in the GNAC in kills (2.87 kps), 11th in points (3.40 pps) and 15th in digs (3.06 dps).
 
'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 7th in the GNAC stats with a .302 attack pct., while she's 11th in the league with 1.02 blocks per set ... So. Martina Riba was an all-tourney performer at the Seawolf Invitational and recorded plus-.400 attack percentages in both of UAA's non-conference wins in Fairbanks ... the Barcelona native has registered at least six kills in 11 of 14 matches, while hitting over .300 in five of the last six contests ... Riba leads UAA and ranks 8th in the GNAC with 1.11 blocks per set ... 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 ... a former Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year from Kenai, Beck ranks 20th in the GNAC in both points (2.66) and blocks (0.76) per set, producing at least six kills in the last seven matches ... So. S Hannah Trotter has risen to 4th in the GNAC with 8.02 assists per set, along with solid numbers of 2.63 dps and 0.41 bps ... Fr. S Johana Malikova holds GNAC top-10 ranks in aces per set (10th, 0.41) and assists per set (8th, 6.72), 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 ranks 12th in the GNAC with 0.40 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 45-30 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