THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thursday, Oct. 22 — 6 pm ADT — SFU West Gymnasium — Burnaby, B.C.
Alaska Anchorage (14-7, 7-4 GNAC) at #21 Simon Fraser (11-5, 8-2 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Oct. 24 — 6 pm ADT — Carver Gymnasium — Bellingham, Wash.
Alaska Anchorage at Western Washington (8-8, 5-5 GNAC [Thu. @UAF])
 
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: Thursday at athletics.sfu.ca/sidearmstats/wvball/
                       Saturday at wwuvikings.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2026 stats)
S—Hannah Trotter, 5-9, Sr. (8.39 aps, 2.84 dps, 0.80 kps, .285 att%)
OH—Lee Ivakina, 6-0, Sr. (3.42 kps, .226 att%, 2.62 dps, 0.58 bps)
OH—Kyana Gabriel, 5-10, Jr. (2.81 kps, .202 att%, 2.48 dps, 0.43 bps)
RS—Emma Beck, 5-11, Jr. (1.54 kps, .217 att%, 0.58 bps)
MB—Bella Burney, 6-0, Sr. (2.26 kps, .342 att%, 0.99 bps)
MB—Martina Riba, 6-0, Jr. (1.46 kps, .246 att%, 0.91 bps, 0.34 ace/set)
L—Mary Nahinu, 5-5, So. (3.23 dps, 0.82 aps, 0.30 ace/set)
 
HOMESTRETCH STARTS ON THE ROAD: With just a quarter of the season (seven matches) remaining, the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team tries to get back in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title hunt this week with contests at No. 21 Simon Fraser and Western Washington ... UAA enters play Thursday at fourth place in the 10-team league, while SFU is third and WWU stands fifth.
 
THE SERIES...
vs SFU: UAA leads 23-8 overall, 11-4 in Burnaby
Last: SFU 3-1 (9/26/26 at UAA)
Streak: SFU 1
Notes: SFU's win last month in Anchorage snapped a three-match UAA win streak in the series ... UAA won 3-2 last year in Burnaby, snapping a three-match road losing streak ... UAA won the first 15 matches in series history ... SFU joined the GNAC in 2010.
 
vs WWU: WWU leads 42-24 overall, 18-8 in Bellingham
Last: UAA 3-2 (9/24/26 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 2
Notes: Teams have split the last 12 meetings ... WWU has won the last three in Bellingham, including a 3-1 decision last year ... 15 of the last 19 matches have gone four or five sets ... there have been eight 5-setters and only five sweeps among the last 27 meetings ... the home team has won the last five meetings ... WWU won 17 straight from 2001-08 … teams have met every year since 2000 … series started in 1980.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Ranked No. 21 nationally, Simon Fraser has lost two of its last three to fall out of first place in the GNAC for the first time this year ... the Red Leafs, who are playing their final season in the NCAA, are led by Megan Hawkins (2.60 kps, .172 att%, 2.57 dps) and Ella McVittie (GNAC-best 9.49 aps) ... trying to avoid a lower-half GNAC finish for the first time ever, Western Washington has won three of its last five, including a 3-1 home win over SFU on Friday ... the Vikings are led by Delaney Speer (GNAC-best 3.97 kps, .213 att%, 3.11 dps) and Emily Vossenkuhl (1.71 kps, .294 att%, 1.21 bps).
 
ABOUT LAST WEEK: The Seawolves split their home matches last week, starting the second round of GNAC round-robin play with a sweep of Northwest Nazarene and a 4-set loss to No. 21 Central Washington ... on Thursday, Jr. OH Kyana Gabriel had 14 kills on .346 hitting and Sr. S Hannah Trotter dished 30 assists and tied her career high with 5 blocks to lead a 25-18, 25-17, 25-20 victory over NNU ... Sr. MB Bella Burney had 9 kills and 6 total blocks and Sr. OH Lee Ivakina made 12 digs to help sweep the Nighthawks for the first time since 2021 ... on Saturday, as season-high crowd of 2,757 watched as the Wildcats held on for a 25-10, 25-19, 23-25, 28-26 victory, despite 15 kills and 11 digs from Ivakina ... Sr. DS/L Elena Hansen led UAA with 15 kills, while Trotter dished 31 assists in the loss.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves rank top-3 in the GNAC stats in kills per set (2nd, 13.01), assists per set (11.86), opponent blocks per set (2nd, 1.62) and attack pct (3rd, .233) ... UAA received five 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; so far in 2026, UAA ranks No. 2 in attendance with 1,110 per game, trailing only Fayetteville State (1,345), which has hosted only two matches ... the Seawolves are 30-30 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014, with a 1-3 mark this year  ... UAA has won 22 of its last 25 matches at the Alaska Airlines Center ... the Seawolves are 127-31 (.804) at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 174-43 (.802) at home since 2009 ... UAA needs one more win 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) has emerged as one of the most consistent all-around forces in the West Region in two seasons 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 five double-doubles in the last seven matches and eight for the season, Ivakina ranks 5th in the GNAC stats in kills (3.42) and points per set (3.97), along with 17th in attack pct (.226) and 18th in digs per set (2.62) ... 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, ranking 3rd in the GNAC in attack pct (.342) and 8th in blocks per set (0.99) ... the Most Outstanding Player of the Seawolf Invitational and the reigning GNAC Defensive Player of the Week for Oct. 5-11, 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 the top 10 on UAA's lists for block assists (8th, 292) and total blocks (10th, 323), while ranking 19th in attack pct (.247) and 20th in victories (67) ... the Tumwater, Wash., native has recorded at least five kills in 41 of her last 44 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 12th in the GNAC with 2.81 kills per set and 9th in points per set (3.47) ... 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 13th in the GNAC with a .246 attack pct, along with 15th in aces per set (0.34) and 13th in blocks per set (0.91) ... the Barcelona native has registered multiple blocks in 18 of her 20 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 8.39 assists per set and 16th 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 .285 on 158 attempts ... Trotter owns UAA career top-15 ranks in both total assists (12th, 1,575) and assists per set (14th, 6.25) ... Jr. RS Emma Beck has started 45 of her 48 matches in her career, producing 1.92 kills on .222 hitting and 0.70 blocks per set ... the Kenai native and former Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year has provided 1.54 kps on .217 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 9th in the GNAC with 3.23 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)