THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...
 
Thursday, Sept. 17 — 6 pm ADT — Nicholson Pavilion — Ellensburg, WA
Alaska Anchorage (9-3, 2-0 GNAC) at Central Washington (4-4, 0-2 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Sept. 19 — 11 am ADT — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, AK
Alaska Anchorage at Northwest Nazarene (6-3, 0-2 GNAC [Thu. vs 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 wildcatsports.com/sidearmstats/wvball
                      Saturday at nnusports.com/sidearmstats/wvball
 
UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2026 stats)
S—Hannah Trotter, 5-9, Sr. (8.19 aps, 3.12 dps, 0.74 kps, .325 att%)
OH—Lee Ivakina, 6-0, Sr. (3.55 kps, .253 att%, 2.07 dps, 0.52 bps)
OH—Kyana Gabriel, 5-10, Jr. (2.86 kps, .259 att%, 2.29 dps, 0.50 bps)
     or—Trinity Byrne, 5-10, So. (1.46 kps, .232 att%, 0.73 dps, 0.35 bps)
RS—Emma Beck, 5-11, Jr. (1.35 kps, .223 att%, 0.68 bps)
MB—Bella Burney, 6-0, Sr. (2.32 kps, .363 att%, 1.00 bps)
MB—Martina Riba, 6-0, Jr. (1.64 kps, .342 att%, 0.86 bps, 0.43 ace/set)
L—Mary Nahinu, 5-5, So. (3.43 dps, 0.95 aps, 0.36 ace/set)
 
GNAC ROAD TOUR STARTS IN E-BURG: After defending home court in their Great Northwest Athletic Conference openers, the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team heads south this week to face fellow 2025 GNAC co-champ Central Washington on Thursday (6 pm ADT) and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday (11 am ADT) ... these mark the first of nine GNAC road contests as UAA aims to defend its title and return to the NCAA Tournament.
 
THE SERIES...
vs CWU: UAA leads 32-27 overall; CWU leads 15-14 in Ellensburg
Last: UAA 3-2 (11/15/25 at CWU)
Streak: UAA 1
Notes: UAA overcame a 2-1 deficit to earn a 5-set (15-12) win last year in Ellensburg, getting 22 kills from Lee Ivakina ... CWU had won five in a row prior to the last match ... of the 35 meetings since 2008, 12 have gone five sets and 10 have gone four sets, with the Seawolves winning 17 of those 22 contests ... CWU leads 25-23 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.
 
vs NNU: UAA leads 30-20 overall; NNU leads 14-11 in Nampa
Last: UAA 3-1 (11/13/25 at NNU)
Streak: UAA 4
Notes: UAA has won 14 of the last 15 and 17 of the last 19 matches ... the last nine meetings have gone at least four sets ... 18 of the last 20 and 28 of the last 32 matches have been 4- or 5-setters ... UAA leads 29-19 in GNAC meetings (since 2001) … NNU won first meeting in 2000, 3-1, in Nampa.
 
SCOUTING REPORT: Picked runner-up in the preseason coaches' poll, defending GNAC co-champion Central Washington is looking to snap a rare three-match losing streak  -- all against regional contenders -- when it meets UAA on Thursday ... boasting impressive wins over then-No. 4 Point Loma and common opponent Chaminade, the Wildcats are led by   Ellie Marble (3.19 kps, .238 att%, 3.12 dps) and Corinne Westby (2.92 kps, .182 att%, 2.12 dps) ... picked seventh in the preseason poll, Northwest Nazarene has dropped three of its last four, following a 5-0 start ... the Nighthawks are led by Abby Black (3.89 kps, .257 att%, 3.03 dps) and libero Kayci Spray (4.11 dps).
 
GNAC STARTS WITH SWEEPS: The Seawolves began defense of their GNAC co-title last week with straight-sets victories over longtime rivals Seattle Pacific (25-19, 25-20, 25-22) and MSU Billings (25-23, 25-11, 25-22) at the Alaska Airlines Center ... against the Falcons, Sr. OH Lee Ivakina had 11 kills and 13 digs, while Sr. S Hannah Trotter had 27 assists, 3 kills and 10 digs, helping UAA to a .240-.111 hitting advantage ... Sr. MB Bella Burney added 6 kills on .556 hitting, and Fr. MB Patri Ferran came off the bench with a career-high 5 kills in just two sets ... two nights later, Trotter dished 14 of her 37 assists to Ivakina and the Seawolves hit .302 to sweep Billings for the 11th time in a row ... Burney finished with 11 kills, So. OH Trinity Byrne equaled her career high with 9 kills, and Jr. MB Martina Riba had 7 kills on career-best .583 hitting.
 
TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves doubled their votes to 40 in this week's AVCA NCAA Div. II top-25 poll, marking the fourth straight week in the 'others receiving votes' category ... through the first 12 matches, UAA is hitting 57 points higher (.271 to .214) than last year's squad that went 23-6 and shared the GNAC title ... the Seawolves lead the early GNAC stats in kills per set (13.24), assists per set (11.98), attack pct (.271) and opponent blocks per set (1.33) ... 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 29-28 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014  ... UAA has won 21 of its last 23 matches at the Alaska Airlines Center ... the Seawolves are 125-29 (.812) at the Alaska Airlines Center since the arena's opening in Sept. 2014, and 172-41 (.808) at home since 2009 ... UAA has produced 17 winning records in the last 18 seasons and 17 20-win records 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 three double-doubles already, Ivakina ranks 4th in the GNAC stats in kills per set (3.55) and points per set (3.95), along with 16th in attack pct (.253) ... her 18 kills against Lenoir-Rhyne are the most for a Seawolf in a 4-setter 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 2nd in the GNAC in attack pct (.363), 7th in blocks per set (1.00), 19th in kills per set (2.32) and 18th in points per set (2.88) ... the Most Outstanding Player of last the Seawolf Invitational, she has hit .500 or better four times already ... having missed just two matches throughout her career, Burney ranks in UAA's career top 15 in both block assists (11th, 266) and total blocks (15th, 292) ... the Tumwater, Wash., native has recorded at least five kills in 32 of her last 35 appearances.
 
'WOLF BITES: Jr. OH Kyana Gabriel has started to find 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 2.76 kills per set, 7th in points per set (3.43), 14th in attack pct (.259) and 14th in aces per set (0.39) ... 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 5th in the GNAC with a .341 attack pct, along with 8th in aces per set (0.43) and 14th in blocks per set (0.86) ... the Barcelona native has registered multiple blocks in 11 of 12 matches this year, 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 2nd in the GNAC with 8.12 assists per set and 9th with 3.12 digs per set – best in the league among non-liberos ... the Wisconsinite dished a UAA season-best 47 assists in the narrow loss to No. 9 FPU and has proven a valuable attacker as well, hitting .325 on 80 attempts ... Trotter owns UAA career top-15 ranks in both total assists (14th, 1,298) and assists per set (14th, 5.90) ... Jr. RS Emma Beck has started 36 of her 39 matches in her career, producing 1.95 kills and 0.75 blocks per set ... the Kenai native and former Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year has provided 1.35 kps on .223 hitting so far in 2026, including .280 hitting (with only four errors) over the last six matches ... So. L/DS Mary Nahinu has taken over as UAA's back-row anchor, ranking 8th in the GNAC with 3.43 digs per set and 18th with 0.36 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 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
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