THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
at Denali State Bank Ice Block Classic
Patty Center – Fairbanks, Alaska
(All times Alaska Daylight)
Friday, Sept. 4
10 am: Minnesota State (1-3) vs Alaska Anchorage (5-2)
3 pm: Tiffin (0-4) vs Alaska Anchorage
Saturday, Sept. 5
11 am: #9 Fresno Pacific (3-0) vs 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: AlaskaNanooks.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
STREAKING NORTHWARD: Winners of five straight, the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team plays its non-conference finales this week with three matches at the Denali State Bank Ice Block Classic in Fairbanks ... UAA will face out-of-region opponents Minnesota State and Tiffin on Friday, and nationally 9th-ranked Fresno Pacific on Saturday.
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2026 stats)
S—Hannah Trotter, 5-9, Sr. (7.20 aps, 3.28 dps, 0.72 kps, .326 att%)
OH—Lee Ivakina, 6-0, Sr. (3.28 kps, .257 att%, 2.20 dps, 0.56 bps)
OH—Kyana Gabriel, 5-10, Jr. (2.48 kps, .198 att%, 2.36 dps, 0.56 bps)
RS—Emma Beck, 5-1, Jr. (1.35 kps, .192 att%, 0.74 bps)
MB—Bella Burney, 6-0, Sr. (2.36 kps, .384 att%, 0.92 bps)
MB—Martina Riba, 6-0, Jr. (1.52 kps, .337 att%, 1.04 bps, 0.40 ace/set)
L—Mary Nahinu, 5-5, So. (3.28 dps, 0.80 aps, 0.44 ace/set)
 
THE SERIES...
vs Minnesota State: MSU leads 1-0
Last: MSU 3-1 (8/31/12 at Seaside, Calif.)
Notes: The initial meeting came at the Otter Classic in 2012, hosted by Cal State Monterey Bay.
 
vs Tiffin: Never played
 
vs Fresno Pacific: UAA leads 1-0
Last: UAA 3-0 (9/10/15 at Ellensburg, Wash.)
Notes: The first meeting came at the GNAC/Pac West Challenge in 2015, hosted by Central Washington.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Coming off a 23-6 mark in 2025, Minnesota State opened its season with a 1-3 effort at the Ferris State tourney, including 3-0 losses to top-10 clubs MSU Denver and Ferris State, and a 3-0 win over Purdue Northwest ... the Mavericks were picked 6th of 16 teams in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference preseason poll ... Tiffin, from northern Ohio, was 11-13 last year and went 0-4 in its openers at Northern Michigan last week ... the Dragons are picked last in their division in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference preseason poll ... after going 27-2 and reaching the NCAA West Regional final in 2025, No. 9 Fresno Pacific started this season by taking nine of 10 sets against unranked foes at its home tourney ... playing their first season in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, the Firebirds were picked 4th of 13 teams in the preseason poll.
 
RIGHT AT HOME: The Seawolves earned the unofficial title of their own Seawolf Invitational last week, earning 3-1 wins over Texas Woman's and 2025 NCAA second-round qualifier Lenoir-Rhyne, along with a sweep of West Region foe Chico State ... in the first match, Sr. OH Lee Ivakina had 16 kills and a career-high 18 digs to power the 19-25, 25-12, 25-13, 25-21 comeback over TWU ... Jr. OH Kyana Gabriel added 14 kills and 19 digs in her home debut, while UAA got 44 assists and 19 digs from Sr. S Hannah Trotter ... Ivakina went for 18 kills and 13 digs in the 25-23, 25-17, 21-25, 25-20 win over LRU, and Sr. MB Bella Burney smashed a career-high 16 kills on .464 hitting on her way to tourney MVP honors ... on Saturday, So. OH Trinity Byrne tied and set career bests with 9 kills on .533 hitting, while Burney finished with 8 kills on .538 hitting and 4 blocks in a 25-20, 25-19, 25-21 win over Chico.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves received 11 votes in this week's AVCA NCAA Div. II top-25 poll ... through the first seven matches, UAA is hitting 40 points higher (.254 to .214) than last year's squad that went 23-6 and shared the GNAC title ... UAA has produced 17 winning records in the last 18 seasons and the 17 20-win records in 46 years of program history ... the Seawolves lead the early GNAC stats in kills per set (12.92) and rank second in assists per set (11.56), opponent attack pct (1.71) and opponent blocks per set (1.24) ... 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 ... UAA has won 19 of its last 21 matches at the Alaska Airlines Center ... the Seawolves are 123-29 (.809) at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 170-41 (.806) 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 ... a Preseason All-GNAC pick again, the Bulgarian has opened the year with all-tournament honors at both the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge and the Seawolf Invitational ... with two double-doubles already, Ivakina ranks 7th in the early GNAC stats in kills per set (3.28), along with 9th in points (3.66) and 15th in attack pct (.257) ... her 18 kills against Lenoir-Rhyne were the most for a Seawolf so far this year, while her 18 digs against Texas Woman's were a career high.
 
FEEL THE BURNEY: UAA's lone returning three-year letterwinner, Sr. MB Bella Burney has lived up to her Preseason All-GNAC Team hype so far, ranking 3rd in the GNAC in attack pct (.384), 16th in kills per set (2.36), 11th in blocks per set (0.92) and 19th in points per set (2.88) ... the Most Outstanding Player of last week's Seawolf Invitational has hit .500 or better three times already, connecting at a .479 clip over the last four contests ... having missed just one match throughout her career, Burney ranks in UAA's career top 15 in both block assists (11th, 250) and total blocks (15th, 274) ... the Tumwater, Wash., native has recorded at least five kills in 28 of her last 30 appearances.
 
PACK IS BACK: Another returning starter, Jr. MB Martina Riba ranks 8th in the early GNAC stats with 1.04 blocks per set, along with 7th in attack pct at .337 ... the Barcelona native has registered multiple blocks in all seven matches, producing 6 blocks assists in the sweep of Chaminade and 5 block assists in the sweep of HPU ... Sr. S Hannah Trotter has stepped her game up a notch, ranking 4th in the GNAC with 7.20 assists per set and 9th with 3.28 digs per set – third-best in the league among non-liberos and first among setters so far  ... the Wisconsinite dished a UAA season-best 44 assists in last week's win over TWU and nearly doubled her career high with 7 kills against LRU ... entering the week with 1,134 career assists, Trotter needs just 46 more to reach No. 15 on UAA's all-time list ... Jr. RS Emma Beck has started 31 of her 34 matches in her young career, producing 2.03 kills and 0.77 blocks per set ... the Kenai native and former Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year has provided 1.29 kps on .202 hitting during UAA's five-match win streak, with 7 kills against TWU and 5 blocks in the sweep of Chico.
 
NEW KIDS IN TOWN: UAA's two newcomers with Division I experience – Jr. OH Kyana Gabriel (Tenn. Tech) and So. L/DS Mary Nahinu (Norfolk St.) – have slid seamlessly into the starting lineup, playing in all 25 sets so far ... Gabriel has debuted with two double-doubles in her first seven matches as a Seawolf, including 14 kills and 19 digs in the 3-1 win over TWU ... the Big Island native ranks 15th in the GNAC in both kills (2.48) and points (3.00) per set, producing multiple blocks in each match of UAA's 5-match win streak ... Nahinu has taken over for all-conference performer Madison Galloway at the libero position, ranking 9th in the GNAC with 3.28 digs per set and leading the Seawolves with 0.44 aces per set ... the Utah native and social media superstar had posted big early efforts of 18 digs and 7 assists against TWU, and 17 digs and 2 aces in the sweep of Chaminade.
 
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.
 
2026 Individual Honors
BELLA BURNEY
Seawolf Invitational Most Outstanding Player
Preseason All-GNAC Team
LEE IVAKINA
Seawolf Invitational All-Tournament Team
Alaska/Hawaii Challenge All-Tournament Team
Preseason All-GNAC Team