THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF VOLLEYBALL...

Thursday, Aug. 28 ? Wells Fargo Sports Complex ? Anchorage
7:30 pm ? #13 Central Missouri (0-0, 0-0 MIAA) at Alaska Anchorage (0-0, 0-0 GNAC)

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EXTENDED STAY DELUXE INVITATIONAL ? All matches at WFSC
Friday, Aug. 29
11 am ? Ohio Valley (0-0) at Alaska Anchorage
1 pm ? Texas Woman's (0-0) vs Harding (0-0)
5 pm ? Ohio Valley vs Texas Woman's
7 pm ? Harding at Alaska Anchorage
Saturday, Aug. 30
11 am ? Texas Woman's at Alaska Anchorage
1 pm ? Ohio Valley vs Harding
5 pm ? Consolation match
7 pm ? Championship match

ON TV: For the first time ever, delayed broadcasts of UAA volleyball will be shown regularly as KCFT
Ch. 35 (GCI Cable 19) will air all 13 home matches, starting Thursday vs. Central Missouri.
ONLINE: Live versions of the TV broadcast can be purchased on the internet through GoSeawolves.com
LIVE WEB STATS: For the fourth straight year, all UAA home matches feature live statistics streamed at GoSeawolves.com.

PROBABLE UAA STARTERS (2007 stats/notes)
S?Calli Scott, 5-9, Jr. (Transfer from Glendale [AZ] CC)
MB?Jessica Morehouse, 6-1, Sr. (1.67 kpg, .235 att%, 0.74 bpg)
MB?Ashley Bates, 6-0, Jr. (Transfer from Glendale [AZ] CC)
OH?Rachel Kidwell, 5-10, Sr. (2.03 kpg, .098 att%, 3.67 dpg)
OH?Joanna Johnson, 5-10, Sr. (3.39 kpg, .103 att%, 3.15 dpg)
OH?Rhea Cardwell, 5-10, Jr. (3.26 kpg, .151 att%, 4.16 dpg)
L?Cristal Negron, 5-5, Jr. (3.53 dpg, 19/8 service ace/error ratio)

BRIEF 2008 PREVIEW: The Seawolves return six letterwinners ? including five seniors ? from last season's squad as first-year head coach Chris Green makes his debut ... Sr. OH Joanna Johnson (3.39 kpg, 3.15 dpg) was UAA's 2007 Team MVP and Sr. OH Rhea Cardwell (3.26 kpg, .151 att%, 4.16 dpg) ranked 7th in the GNAC in dpg last year. Sr. MB Jessica Morehouse and Sr. L Cristal Negron are the Seawolves' only 4-year players, while Sr. OH Rachel Kidwell completes the veteran core ... Jr. S Calli Scott is almost certain to see the majority of time running the offense, while fellow Jr. MB Ashley Bates, So. MB Cortney Lundberg and Jr. DS/L Stacie Meisner are among five newcomers who will look to make major impacts ...  UAA will take on one of its most challenging schedules ever, with seven matches against teams ranked in the AVCA preseason top-25 poll.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Central Missouri makes its season-debut as the 13th-ranked squad in the AVCA Top 25 poll. UCM coach Peggy Martin, the winningest coach (1,035-271-8) in NCAA Div. II volleyball history, is entering her 33rd and final season at the helm. The Jennies current streaks include 29 straight 25-win seasons, 25 straight NCAA appearances, and 19 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association titles since 1982. The Jennies, from Warrensburg, Mo., must replace four starters from its 2007 team that went 31-7 and finished 10th in the top-25 poll ... Ohio Valley is coming off a 12-25 season and an 11th-place finish in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Sr. L Mandy Strom and Jr. OH/MB Sarah Dumbaugh are the only returning starters for the Fighting Scots. OVU is located in Vienna, W.Va., and has an enrollment of just 650 ... Harding, located in Searcy, Ark., is the preseason favorite to win the Gulf South Conference West Division, coming off a 25-9 year and an NCAA Tourney appearance. Three Lady Bisons were named to the Preseason All-GSC Team, led by Jr. OH Manuela Nesheva, who led NCAA Div. II in kills last year with 5.61 per game, and Sr. S Leah Tepe, the GSC's assist per game leader (13.72 apg) in 2007. This will be HU's second trip to the ESDI, having placed third in 2004 ... Texas Woman's went 15-13 a year ago, tying for fifth in the Lone Star Conference standings. The Pioneers return five letterwinners from that squad, including Sr. OH/MB Katie King (4.31 kpg, .246 att%), a second-team all-league choice in 2007. TWU is located in Denton, Texas.

THE SERIES
  vs. Central Missouri: UCM leads 4-0 (2-0 at UAA)
     Last Meeting: UCM 3, UAA 2 (Oct. 2, 1999 at UAA)
  vs. Ohio Valley: First meeting
  vs. Harding: UAA leads 2-1 (all at UAA)
     Last Meeting: UAA 3, HU 1 (Sept. 3, 2004)
  vs. Texas Woman's: UAA leads 1-0
     Last Meetings: UAA 3, TWU 2 (Nov. 9, 1986 at Colo. Springs)

EDSI HISTORY & FORMAT: The Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational will resume with its 14th edition in 2008, having not been held in 2007. UAA has won its own tournament only twice, in 2002 and 2003, and has placed runner-up six times. The Seawolves have produced the tournament's Most Outstanding Player three times, most recently O'Lita McWilliams in 2003 ... the format for the ESDI will remain the same as in recent years with the four teams playing a round-robin pool; the teams with the top two records will face off in Saturday's 7 p.m. title match, preceded by the 5 p.m. consolation match. An exhaustive list of tiebreakers for pool play will be adhered to if necessary.

ALUMNI RECAP: Sr. OH Rachel Kidwell and Sr. OH Rhea Cardwell combined for 25 kills and 28 digs Saturday as UAA team began its season with a 25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 19-25, 25-10 exhibition victory over a team of Seawolf alumni and other local players at the WFSC ... Jr. S Calli Scott dished 32 assists and served three consecutive aces to begin the fifth set. The Seawolves served seven of their 16 aces in the final set, including three of Sr. OH Joanna Johnson's match-high five ... Cardwell finished with 13 kills, a .290 hitting percentage and 11 digs, while Kidwell had 12 kills and match-high 17 digs. UAA also got impressive debuts from Fr. OH McKenzie Moss (5 kills, match-high .333 hitting pct.) and So. MB Cortney Lundberg (6 kills, .333, 2 solo blocks).

SEAWOLF QUICK SETS: Sr. OH Joanna Johnson ranked among last year's GNAC leaders in kills (11th, 3.23) and points per game (14th, 3.60) ... the Californian also led UAA with 10 double-doubles ... Johnson's 37 digs Oct. 25 against NW Nazarene were the second-most in school history and the first time a Seawolf topped 30 digs since 2004 ... Sr. OH Rhea Cardwell was 7th in the league in digs per game (4.16), 12th in kpg (3.26) and 15th in ppg (3.58) ... Sr. MB Jessica Morehouse had UAA's highest hitting percentage at .235, good for 12th in the GNAC ... Sr. OH Rachel Kidwell was second among Seawolves and ranks 12th in the league with 3.67 dpg, while Sr. L Cristal Negron ranked 15th in the league with 3.53 dpg ... Negron was also UAA's most consistent server, committing the fewest errors (8) on the most attempts (374) for a .979 percentage; with 19 aces, she was the only Seawolf with a 2-to-1 or better ace-to-service error ratio.

SEAWOLVES TABBED FOR NINTH: UAA was picked to finish ninth in the 2008 GNAC preseason coaches' poll, released Aug. 15. First-place votes are noted in parentheses:
1. Western Washington (3) 69; 2. Western Oregon (4) 67; 3. Central Washington (2) 65; 4. Northwest Nazarene 62; 5. Seattle Pacific 49; 6. Montana State Billings 28; 7. Alaska Fairbanks 26; 8. Saint Martin's 21; 9. Alaska Anchorage 18.

AVCA TOP 25: Western Washington was the only Great Northwest Athletic Conference team to make the preseason AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) Division II top 25 poll, premiering at No. 10. WWU is among four West Region teams in the top 25 and is one of six Seawolf opponents among the top 20. Here is an abbreviated look at the rankings, with UAA opponents in bold and West Region teams in italics. The full poll is available at: www.avca.org.

AVCA Division II Preseason Top 25 poll ? Aug. 19, 2008
Rk  School (1st Place Votes) Pts  '07 Rec.  Final '07 Rk
 1) Concordia-St. Paul (35)  897  36-4      1
 2) Washburn                 830  38-4      3
 3) Truman                   780  36-6      8
 4) Cal State-San Bernardino 762  27-3      9
 5) West Texas A&M           736  36-8      6
 6) Grand Valley State       716  33-4      7
 7) Tampa                    693  31-3      4
 8) Minnesota Duluth         630  29-2      5
 9) Florida Southern         581  26-9      13
10) Western Washington (1)   555  26-5      2
12) SW Minnesota State       474  26-8      12
13) Central Missouri         443  31-7      10
20) Augustana                194  19-11     24
22) UC San Diego             158  20-8      22
25) Chico State               63  16-13     NR
Others Receiving Votes: 29) Hawaii Pacific 30; 30) Cal Poly Pomona 25; 33) Cal State L.A.; 36) Hawaii-Hilo 11; 38) Northwest Nazarene 9.

RULES CHANGES: Fans may notice several rule changes that have been implemented for the 2008 season. Here are some of the more significant changes:
**Terminology. The term “game” will be changed to “set.” A match still consists of the best three out of five sets.
**Points Required to Win a Set. Instead of 30 points, the number of points needed to win sets one through four is now 25 (and a two-point lead). Fifteen points (and a two-point lead) is still the requirement to win the fifth (deciding) set.
**Substitutions. Each team is now allowed a maximum of 12 substitutions per set.
**Coaches Position. When the ball is in play, coaches will be asked to stay at least 1.75 meters from the court's sideline. An imaginary line perpendicular to the outside edge of the extended attack line indicates this distance. If a coach does not comply, the referees may assess a team delay sanction.