THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
at Alaska/Hawaii Challenge
Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium – Hilo, Hawaii
(All times listed as Alaska Daylight)
Thursday, Aug. 20
3 pm: Alaska Anchorage (0-0) vs Chaminade (0-0)
9 pm: Alaska Anchorage vs Hawaii Hilo
Friday, Aug. 21
5 pm: Alaska Anchorage vs Hawaii Pacific
Saturday, Aug. 22
Noon or 3 pm: Alaska Anchorage vs Chaminade, UHH or HPU
 
LIVE VIDEO: pacwestnetwork.tv/uhhilo ($)
LIVE STATS: hiloathletics.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2025 stats)
S—Hannah Trotter, 5-9, Sr. (7.09 aps, 2.59 dps, 0.58 kps, .278 att%, 0.33 bps)
OH—Lee Ivakina, 6-0, Sr. (3.22 kps, .206 att%, 2.78 dps, 0.49 bps)
OH—Trinity Byrne, 5-10, So. (1.57 kps, .143 att%, 0.57 dps, 0.30 bps)
RS—Emma Beck, 5-1, Jr. (2.18 kps, .224 att%, 0.78 bps)
MB—Bella Burney, 6-0, Sr. (1.74 kps, .285 att%, 0.96 bps)
MB—Martina Riba, 6-0, Jr. (1.43 kps, .209 att%, 1.14 bps)
L—TBA
 
2026 SEASON OUTLOOK: The Seawolves return 10 players from last year's team that finished 23-6 overall (14-4 GNAC), shared the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament ... six of UAA's returners were regular or part-time starters a year ago, including All-GNAC Sr. OH Lee Ivakina, Sr. S Hannah Trotter and Sr. MB Bella Burney ... UAA's newcomers are comprised of four transfers and four true freshmen ... the GNAC preseason coaches' poll will be released Aug. 18.
 
THE SERIES...
vs Chaminade: CUH leads 18-15 overall, 8-1 neutral
Last: UAA 3-2 (8/29/25 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: UAA snapped a four-match losing streak with its victory last year in Anchorage ... Thursday's match will be the 11th meeting between the programs this decade, with CUH leading 6-4 since the pandemic ... series dates to 1989 ... CUH is UAA's most common non-conference opponent.
 
vs Hawaii Hilo: UHH leads 16-13 overall, 10-3 in Hilo
Last: UAA 3-1 (8/30/25 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 2
Notes: UAA earned a pair of hard-fought victories over UHH last year in Anchorage to claim the title of the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge ... this marks the fifth year in a row that the teams will meet in August ... UAA and UHH split a pair of matches during the April 2021 Covid season in Hilo ... series dates to 1981 ... UHH is UAA's second-most common non-conference opponent.
 
vs Hawaii Pacific: Tied 8-8 overall; HPU leads 3-0 neutral
Last: UAA 3-0 (8/28/25 at UAA)
Streak: UAA 5
Notes: UAA has won eight of the last nine meetings (2009-25) after HPU took the first seven contests (1981-2005) ... HPU's last win was a 3-1 decision, Apr. 25, 2021 in Hilo ... UAA has won 15 of the last 16 sets.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Chaminade went 16-14 overall and Hawaii Hilo went 20-9 as those teams tied for third place in the Pacific West Conference standings at 9-3 in 2025 ... Hawaii Pacific is looking to improve on records of 6-23 overall and 1-11 PWC.
 
UAA NCAA HISTORY: UAA last year made its eighth NCAA appearance in nine seasons and 12th in the last 16 seasons ... the Seawolves have made 14 NCAA Tournament trips (1989, 1990, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2025), with their overall record at 8-14 … UAA earned its deepest run by making the 2016 National Title Match and winning multiple matches for the first time that year ... the Seawolves are 4-10 all-time in the opening round.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves start the season on the periphery of the AVCA NCAA Div. II top-25 poll, coming in at No. 29 with 45 votes ... UAA has produced 17 winning records in the last 18 seasons and the 17 20-win records in 46 years of program history ... at 23-6, the 2025 Seawolves tied the eighth-most wins for a UAA club ... UAA led the GNAC defensively last year with 1.18 aces allowed per set and was No. 2 in opponent attack pct at .156 ... UAA's 11 straight Alaska Airlines Center victories – from Nov. 21, 2024 to Sept. 27, 2025 – were the second-longest streak since the arena's opening in 2014 ... 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 29-27 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014, including a 4-4 mark last year ... the Seawolves are 120-29 (.804) at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 167-41 (.802) at home since 2009.
 
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 ... after premiering with all-tournament honors at both the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge and Seawolf Invitational, the Bulgarian posted double-doubles in 15 of 29 matches, including a 15K/14D effort against Western Oregon, 19K/16D to propel the win at No. 7 Simon Fraser, and 25K/10D in the victory over No. 14 Western Washington ... the Navarro (Texas) College transfer ranked 8th in the GNAC in kills (3.22 kps), 7th in points (3.68 pps), and 19th in digs (2.78 dps).
 
FEEL THE BURNEY: Sr. MB Bella Burney is UAA's lone returning three-year letterwinner, missing just one match throughout her career ... a consistent force at the net, she ripped at least five kills in all but two contests last year,  including 13 kills on plus-.475 hitting in wins over Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's ... the Tumwater, Wash., product led UAA and ranked 7th in the GNAC stats with a .285 attack pct., while here 0.96 blocks per set ranked 10th in the league ... Burney starts 2026 in UAA's career top 20 in both block assists (12th, 230) and total blocks (15th, 251).
 
PACK IS BACK: Jr. MB Martina Riba started every match last year, ranking 5th in the GNAC with 1.14 blocks per set, plus 1.43 kills per set on .209 hitting ... the Barcelona native registered at least six kills in 18 matches, while hitting over .300 in 10 contests ... Jr. RS Emma Beck started 25 of her 27 matches played as a then-redshirt freshman in 2025, producing 2.18 kps and ranking 19th in the GNAC with 0.78 bps ... the Kenai native and former Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year led all GNAC freshmen with .224 hitting, delivering double-figure kills 13 times ... Sr. S Hannah Trotter was 5th in the GNAC with 7.09 assists per set last year ... the Wisconsinite also produced 2.59 digs, 0.33 blocks and 0.58 kills per set, hitting UAA's second-best percentage at .278 ... Trotter begins her third full season at No. 18 on UAA's career assists list with 954 and No. 15 in aps at 5.36 ... Sr. DS/OH Elena Hansen emerged as a key rotation piece in her first year with the program, playing in 109 of 117 sets ... a transfer from Limestone, Hansen ranked 6th in the GNAC with 0.37 aces per set, while producing 1.56 digs per set as well ... So. OH Trinity Byrne entered the regular rotation late last season and is ready to play a major role in 2026 ... the Idaho native averaged 1.57 kps on .143 hitting and 0.30 bps, notching season highs of 9 kills and 8 digs in a 3-2 road win over fellow GNAC co-champ Central Washington.
 
NEW KIDS IN TOWN: Two of UAA's newcomers – Jr. OH Kyana Gabriel and So. L/DS Mary Nahinu – bring NCAA Div. I playing experience ... Gabriel suited up for Tennessee Tech's beach team last year, while Nahinu was the primary libero at Norfolk State, producing 3.81 digs per set as a freshman ... Jr. S Rachael Reyes gives UAA another experienced setter as the SoCal native contributed the past two seasons at fellow Div. II West Region program San Francisco State, playing on the Gators' 2024 national runner-up team ... Jr. L/DS Alex Gonzalez-Orozco ranked 4th in NJCAA Region 9 with 4.51 digs per set last year and helped her Western Nebraska CC squad to a region runner-up finish as a freshman in 2024 ... a trio of freshmen also look to make an impact as MB Patri Ferran, RS Sophie Tapley and OH Indy Kmet join the squad.
 
COACH HOOE AT THE HELM: Former Seawolf All-American Morgan Hooe enters 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.
 
2025 Individual Honors
(returning players only)
BELLA BURNEY
GNAC All-Academic Team
LEE IVAKINA
First Team All-GNAC
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
MARTINA RIBA
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
HANNAH TROTTER
GNAC All-Academic Team