THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thursday, Oct. 15 — 7 pm ADT — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Northwest Nazarene (10-6, 4-5 GNAC) at Alaska Anchorage (13-6, 6-3 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Oct. 17 — 7 pm ADT — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
#21 Central Washington (11-4, 7-2 GNAC) [Thu. @UAF]) at Alaska Anchorage
 
LIVE VIDEO: All contests are streamed through the GNAC Network portal at Hudl – gnacnetwork.com/uaaseawolves ... fans can choose between a single event ($14), a 30-day subscription ($25) or a yearly subscription ($120).
 
LIVE STATS: GoSeawolves.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
TICKETS: On sale at GoSeawolves.com/tickets ... general admission tickets for Saturday's match are $5, reserved seats $8 ... Saturday's match is also UAA Alumni Night (alumni get in free, plus up to three tickets for $5 each, with code ALUMNI2627), as well as UAA School of Education Night (UAA, ASD & MSBSD faculty/staff get in free, plus up to three tickets for $5 each, with code EDUCATOR2627).
 
PROMOTIONS: Thursday's match is Pink Night, presented by Aurora Integrated Oncology Foundation; along with free pom-pom and rally towels, there will be a pink-themed dance contest to win an Alaska Airlines Atmos Gold membership ... Saturday's match is a Pack The House 'Green Out,' presented by Premera; along with reduced ticket prices, the best-dressed fans in green will earn a chance to win a round-trip ticket on Alaska Airlines ... other Saturday promotions include giveaways of Raising Cane's (first 400 fans dressed in green), Seawolf foam fingers (first 1,000 fans) and Cherry Coke (first 500 fans).
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2026 stats)
S—Hannah Trotter, 5-9, Sr. (8.36 aps, 2.84 dps, 0.81 kps, .305 att%)
OH—Lee Ivakina, 6-0, Sr. (3.45 kps, .226 att%, 2.55 dps, 0.57 bps)
OH—Kyana Gabriel, 5-10, Jr. (2.77 kps, .208 att%, 2.57 dps, 0.43 bps)
RS—Emma Beck, 5-11, Jr. (1.54 kps, .218 att%, 0.60 bps)
MB—Bella Burney, 6-0, Sr. (2.26 kps, .338 att%, 0.94 bps)
MB—Martina Riba, 6-0, Jr. (1.54 kps, .264 att%, 0.87 bps, 0.33 ace/set)
L—Mary Nahinu, 5-5, So. (3.42 dps, 0.87 aps)
 
STREAKING HOMEWARD: The Alaska Anchorage volleyball takes a three-match winning streak into the second half of the Great Northwest Athletic campaign, prepping for big home matches against Northwest Nazarene and No. 21 Central Washington this week ... the Seawolves come into the week in fourth place, while CWU is tied for second and NNU tied for fifth.
 
THE SERIES...
vs NNU: UAA leads 30-21 overall, 19-6 in Anchorage
Last: NNU 3-1 (9/19/26 at NNU)
Streak: NNU 1
Notes: NNU's win last month in Nampa snapped a four-match UAA streak in the series ... UAA has won 17 of the last 20 meetings ... the Seawolves have won 11 straight (3-1 last year) at the Alaska Airlines Center since NNU took the inaugural meeting in 2014 ... the last 10 meetings have gone at least four sets, while 19 of the last 12 and 29 of the last 33 matches have been 4- or 5-setters ... UAA leads 29-20 in GNAC meetings (since 2001) … NNU won first meeting in 2000, 3-1, in Nampa.
 
vs CWU: UAA leads 32-28 overall, 16-13 in Anchorage
Last: CWU 3-0 (9/17/26 at CWU)
Streak: CWU 1
Notes: CWU has won six of the last seven meetings, with UAA's win coming by a 3-2 score last year in Ellensburg ... UAA's last home win was in 2022, when it hosted CWU in front of a then-NCAA Div. II regular-season record crowd of 3,888 ... UAA leads 7-3 at the Alaska Airlines Center ... CWU leads 25-24 in GNAC matches (since 2001) … teams have met every season since 1999 ... first meeting was a 2-1 UAA neutral-court win in 1980 ... teams did not play between 1983-98.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: After an 0-3 GNAC start, Northwest Nazarene has won four of six to get back in the race for a top-half conference finish ... the Nighthawks, from Nampa, Idaho, are led by Abby Black (3.77 kps, .252 att%, 2.94 dps) and Hailey Cheney (1.82 kps, .367 att%, 0.90 bps) ... just one match behind Simon Fraser for the GNAC lead, No. 21 Central Washington takes a seven-match win streak into Thursday's contest at UAF ... the Wildcats are led by Ellie Marble (3.53 kps, .277 att%, 2.89) and Kailey Willsey (2.32 kps, .322 att%, 1.26 bps).
 
CLEANING UP ON THE ROAD: The Seawolves avoided a pair of pitfalls last week with road sweeps of Western Oregon and Saint Martin's ... on Thursday, Sr. MB Bella Burney had 10 kills on .409 hitting and 4 blocks, and Sr. S Hannah Trotter dished 34 assists in a 25-16, 25-23, 26-24 win at WOU ... Jr. OH Kyana Gabriel just missed a double-double with 9 kills and 10 digs, while Sr. DS Elena Hansen (16 digs) and So. L Mary Nahinu (19 digs) had their highest totals in a Seawolf uniform ... on Saturday, Burney went for 12 kills on career-best .579 hitting and 4 blocks, propelling a 25-19, 25-23, 25-20 win in Olympia ... Sr. OH Lee Ivakina had 11 kills and 12 digs, and Trotter went for 34 assists and 6 kills on career-best .857 hitting as UAA beat SMU for the 35th time in the last 36 meetings.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves lead the GNAC stats in kills per set (13.15) and opponent blocks per set (2nd, 1.57), while ranking top-3 in attack pct (.237) and assists per set (11.96) ... UAA received seven votes in this week's AVCA NCAA Div. II Top 25 poll ... UAA has finished top 10 nationally in average attendance every season since 2014, leading NCAA Div. II six times (2014, '15, '16, '17, '18, '24) and finishing second twice ... the Seawolves are 30-29 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014, with a 1-2 mark this year  ... UAA has won 22 of its last 24 matches at the Alaska Airlines Center ... the Seawolves are 126-30 (.808) at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 173-42 (.805) at home since 2009 ... UAA needs two more wins to clinch its 18th winning record in the last 19 seasons ... the Seawolves have produced 17 20-win seasons in 46 years of program history.
 
TALKIN' IVAKINA: Sr. OH Lee Ivakina (e-VOCK-in-ah) emerged as one of the most consistent all-around forces in the West Region in her first season as a Seawolf, earning First Team All-GNAC honors in 2025 ... a Preseason All-GNAC pick again, the Bulgarian opened this year with all-tournament honors at both the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge and the Seawolf Invitational ... with four double-doubles in the last five matches and seven for the season, Ivakina ranks 5th in the GNAC stats in kills per set (3.45) and points per set (3.95), and 17th in attack pct (.226) ... her 25 kills and 24 digs Sept. 24 against WWU tied and set career highs, while marking the first '20/20' effort by a Seawolf since former All-American Eve Stephens in Nov. 2022.
 
FEEL THE BURNEY: UAA's most experienced player, Sr. MB Bella Burney has lived up to her Preseason All-GNAC Team hype so far, ranking 4th in the GNAC in attack pct (.338) and 10th in blocks per set (0.94) ... the Most Outstanding Player of the Seawolf Invitational and the reigning GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, she has hit .500 or better six times already, while producing a career-high 16 kills on .464 hitting in the 3-1 win over Lenoir-Rhyne ... having missed just two matches throughout her career, Burney has reached No. 9 on UAA's block assists list (9th, 284), while ranking 11th in total blocks (313, needs four to reach top 10) and 20th in victories (66) ... the Tumwater, Wash., native has recorded at least five kills in 39 of her last 42 appearances.
 
'WOLF BITES: Jr. OH Kyana Gabriel has found her groove as one of just two newcomers in the starting lineup, capturing Ice Block Classic all-tournament and GNAC offensive player of the week honors in the non-conference finales ... Gabriel ranks 13th in the GNAC with 2.77 kills per set and 8th in points per set (3.30) ... the Hilo, Hawaii, native owns UAA's best efforts this year and top-20 program marks with .692 hitting in the win over Minnesota State and 6 aces in the sweep of Tiffin ... Jr. MB Martina Riba ranks 12th in the GNAC with a .264 attack pct, along with 14th in aces per set (0.33) and 16th in blocks per set (0.87) ... the Barcelona native has registered multiple blocks in 16 of her 18 matches this year, producing 6 blocks assists in sweeps of Chaminade and UAF ... Sr. S Hannah Trotter has stepped her game up a notch, ranking 2nd in the GNAC with 8.36 assists per set and 18th with 2.84 digs per set ... the Wisconsinite tied the modern UAA record (25-point rally scoring began in 2008) with 64 assists in the win over WWU, and she's proven a valuable attacker as well, hitting .305 on 141 attempts ... Trotter owns UAA career top-15 ranks in both total assists (13th, 1,514) and assists per set (14th, 6.18) ... Jr. RS Emma Beck has started 43 of her 46 matches in her career, producing 1.93 kills on .222 hitting and 0.71 blocks per set ... the Kenai native and former Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year has provided 1.54 kps on .218 hitting so far in 2026, forging recent career highs with .667 hitting at NNU and 14 kills vs WWU ... So. L/DS Mary Nahinu has taken over as UAA's back-row anchor, ranking 8th in the GNAC with 3.42 digs per set ... the Utah native and social media superstar has posted big efforts of 18 digs and 7 assists against TWU, 17 digs and 2 aces in the sweep of Chaminade, and a career-best 19 digs at WOU.
 
COACH HOOE AT THE HELM: Former Seawolf All-American Morgan Hooe is in her first year as head coach in 2026, becoming the second UAA alum to lead the program ... the Anchorage native spent the past three seasons as UAA's top assistant, helping the Seawolves to a 55-35 record in that span and improving the team's record the past two years ... in 2025, UAA went 23-6 and shared the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title, advancing to the NCAA Tournament ... having also served two years as a volunteer assistant and playing four years, Hooe has been a part of three GNAC title teams and six NCAA Tournament squads in her nine total seasons at UAA ... prior to returning to the college game, Hooe spent three years as the head coach at Anchorage's Service High School, earning Cook Inlet Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2021 and 2022 ... she has also served as the director and head coach of the Midnight Sun Volleyball Club ... this is Hooe's second stint on the UAA coaching staff, having served as a volunteer assistant in 2017 and 2018 under former mentor Chris Green; those Seawolf teams boasted a 40-18 overall record, top-three GNAC finishes, and an NCAA bid in 2017 ... as a player, the two-time All-American helped UAA to four straight NCAA Tournaments, capturing the GNAC title and reaching the NCAA Div. II national title match as a senior in 2016 ... the 2016 GNAC Player of the Year and 2016-17 UAA Athlete of the Year, she finished with a then-school-record 3,920 assists and still holds the No. 2 spot on the program's all-time victories list with 101 ... Hooe earned her bachelor's degree in kinesiology from UAA in 2018 and a masters in sports administration from Arkansas State University in 2023.
 
2026 Individual Honors
BELLA BURNEY
GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, 10/5-11
Seawolf Invitational Most Outstanding Player
Preseason All-GNAC Team
KYANA GABRIEL
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, 8/31-9/6
Ice Block Classic All-Tournament Team
LEE IVAKINA
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
Preseason All-GNAC Team
 
UAA School Records Broken/Tied in 2026
INDIVIDUAL
Match
Most Assists (25-pt rally scoring era) — 64, Hannah Trotter vs Western Washington, 9/24 (ties record set by Calli Scott at BYU-Hawaii, 9/11/09; and by Ellen Floyd vs Florida Southern, 9/2/22)