THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF VOLLEYBALL...

at Phoenix Inn GNAC Conference Challenge
Independence, Ore. & Monmouth, Ore.
All Times ADT
Friday, Sept. 3
9 am — #24 UAA (2-0) vs #8 UC San Diego (0-0), at Independence
4 pm — #24 UAA vs #10 Metro State (0-0), at Independence
Saturday, Sept. 4
9 am — #24 UAA vs #2 Cal State-San Bernardino (0-0), at Independence
4 pm — #24 UAA vs Humboldt State (0-0), at Monmouth

ONLINE: Saturday's match against Humboldt State from the New P.E. Building should feature live stats at wouwolves.com and live video-streaming through PennAtlantic.com … check the GoSeawolves.com volleyball schedule page for links.

TENTATIVE UAA STARTERS (2010 stats)
S—Siobhan Johansen, 5-7, Fr. (5.67 aps, 1.67 dps, 0.50 ace ps)
MB—Cortney Lundberg, 6-1, Sr. (2.71 kps, .378 att%, 2.29 bps)
MB—Robyn Burton, 5-11, Fr. (1.57 kps, .219 att%, 1.57 bps)
OH—Jackie Matthisen, 5-11, Jr. (3.00 kps, .283 att%, 4.00 dps, 0.43 bps)
OH—McKenzie Moss, 5-11, Jr. (2.33 kps, .036 att%, 3.33 dps, 0.67 bps)
DS—Nikkie Viotto, 5-8, So. (2.14 dps, 1.29 dps, .050 att%, 0.43 ace ps)
L—Quincy Haught, 5-7, Fr. (4.00 dps, 0.57 ace ps)

WEEKEND PREVIEW: The Seawolves begin an 8-day, 8-match road trip this weekend when they face four teams — three ranked in the top 10 of the AVCA preseason D-II rankings — at the Phoenix Inn GNAC Conference Challenge, hosted by Western Oregon … three of UAA's opponents this week hail from the California Collegiate Athletic Conference, while Metro State (of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) will also count as a regional opponent by virtue of the NCAA's 'contiguous states' bylaw … Saturday morning's match against 2nd-ranked Cal State-San Bernardino will be a rematch of the 2009 West Regional semifinals in which the Coyotes swept the Seawolves 3-0 in San Bernardino … the tournament will be played at two sites — Central High School in Independence, and the New P.E. Building (WOU's main facility) in Monmouth.

THE SERIES — UAA vs …
UC San Diego: UCSD leads 1-0
  Last Meeting: UCSD 3-0 (9/5/09 at UCSD)
Metro State: Metro State leads 12-8 overall, 2-1 on neutral courts
  Last Meeting: MSC 3-0 (8/30/02 at San Antonio, TX)
  Streak: MSC 2
  Notes: Teams played several times as rivals in the old Continental Divide Conference during the 1980s … UAA's last victory was a 3-0 sweep in Anchorage, Aug. 29, 1999.
Cal State-San Bernardino: CSUSB leads 3-1 overall; tied 1-1 neutral
  Last Meeting: CSUSB 3-0 (11/20/09 at CSUSB—NCAA 2nd Rd.)
  Streak: CSUSB 3
  Notes: UAA's only win came 3-0 at the UC Davis Invitational in 1993.
Humboldt State: UAA leads 8-3; 0-0 neutral court
  Last Meeting: HSU 3-1 (10/29/05 at HSU)  Streak: HSU 2
  Notes: Ten of the 11 meetings came when HSU was a Great Northwest Athletic Conference member from 2001-05 … UAA's last win came 3-1 at HSU on Nov. 13, 2004.

SEAWOLVES POUND PANTHERS: Despite a first-set hiccup on Saturday, the Seawolves began the season by taking a pair of home matches from Drury (Mo.), 3-0 and 3-1, in the Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational, Aug. 26 and 28 … in the opener, Sr. MB Cortney Lundberg  had 8 kills and 8 total blocks, while Jr. OHs Jackie Matthisen and McKenzie Moss combined for 14 kills and 21 digs as the Seawolves led virtually the entire match … UAA outhit the Panthers .210 to .115 and held big advantages in blocks (10-4) and aces (8-3) … the Seawolves used all three of their setters in the match, with So. Adriana Aukusitino leading the way with 15 assists and 6 digs … on Saturday, Matthisen had 14 kills and 17 digs to UAA to a 3-1 comeback victory over the Panthers, earning the Invitational's Most Outstanding Player award … the Seawolves also got big performances from Jr. OH Lee Golden (13 kills, 5 block assists) and Lundberg (11 kills, 8 total blocks) … Fr. L Quincy Haught led the Seawolves with 19 digs, and So. OH Marie Borowikow equaled her career-bests in hitting percentage (.500, 7 kills-0 errors, 14 attacks) and total blocks (7) … Moss — who had started 32 matches in a row — missed the match after tweaking an ankle in warm-ups earlier Saturday, but So. OH/DS Nikkie Viotto stepped into the position with career-highs of 9 kills, 14 digs and 3 aces … Fr. MB Robyn Burton tallied an impressive 10 total blocks (1 solo, 9 assist).

BRIEF 2009 SEASON RECAP: The Seawolves completed the best season in school history with a 23-8 overall record, their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference title and their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory … UAA won a school-record 13 straight matches and tied the school marks for both overall (.742) and conference (.875) winning percentage … the Seawolves finished No. 24 in the final AVCA top-25 coaches' poll, marking UAA's first appearance in the national rankings since 1992 … in August, UAA repeated as champion of its own Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational … individually, Sr. S Calli Scott was the GNAC Player of the Year and received honorable mention All-America honors, while then-So. OH Jackie Matthisen and then-Jr. MB Cortney Lundberg earned all-region and all-conference awards … second-year head coach Chris Green was chosen both GNAC and West Region Coach of the Year as well.

LOOKING AT 2010: The Seawolves return four starters and seven total letterwinners in 2010 as they try to defend their Great Northwest Athletic Conference title … First Team All-GNAC hitter Jackie Matthisen and Second Team All-GNAC middle blocker Cortney Lundberg will be rejoined by five teammates who played in at least 112 of 114 sets last season … in addition to returning redshirt Lee Golden at outside hitter, the Seawolves have eight newcomers (2 transfers, 6 true freshmen) on the squad.

TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves have now won nine straight at home and 15 of their last 16 matches overall dating back to Oct. 1 … UAA's 18 team blocks Saturday against Drury were the most for a Seawolf club since notching 19 in a 3-1 loss at Western Oregon on Oct. 27, 2005 … the Seawolves led the GNAC in attack pct. (.222) and blocks per set (2.30), and ranked 2nd in kills per set (12.99) and assists per set (12.03) in 2009 … in the NCAA Div. II national stats, the Seawolves were 19th in blocking, 39th in assists, 40th in kills and 48th in attack pct.

IT'S PRONOUNCED MAH-TEE-SEN: Jr. OH Jackie Matthisen began the 2010 season in midseason form, capturing Most Outstanding Player honors in UAA's season-opening Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational last week … with 14 kills Saturday, she has now notched double-digit kills in 23 of the last 24 matches … in 2009, Matthisen became the first UAA sophomore in 20 years to earn first-team all-conference honors after ranking 2nd in the GNAC in both kills (4.04) and points (5.04) per set in 2009 … the AVCA Second Team All-West Region selection upped her averages to 4.63 kills and 5.04 points per set in GNAC-only play, also both good for No. 2 in the league … in attack percentage, Matthisen ranked 11th overall (.250) and 5th in GNAC-only play (.286) … the East Anchorage High alum ranked 15th nationally in kps … Matthisen finished her season with an all-tournament selection at the NCAA West Regional.

LEAPIN' LUNDBERG: Sr. MB Cortney Lundberg, a 2nd-team All-GNAC and All-West Region pick as a junior in 2009, began her final season in style with 16 total blocks (2.29 bps) and .378 hitting in UAA's opening matches against Drury … the 6-1 Lundberg led the league in blocks per set last year, both overall (1.14, 19th nationally) and in GNAC-only play (1.35) … the Montanan is UAA's career record-holder in attack pct. (.301) and last week moved into the top 20 in total kills (567); her other UAA career ranks include 5th in blocks per set (1.07), 9th in total blocks (251) and block assists (195), 12th in solo blocks (56) and 16th in kills per set (2.42).

MORE PLAYER NOTES: So. OH/DS Nikkie Viotto showed off her versatility last week when she notched 9 kills in Saturday's win over Drury … filling in for a hobbled McKenzie Moss, the Eagle River High product tallied 40 attack attempts after entering the match with a previous career-high of five … Viotto has never missed a set (121) in her Seawolf career thus far … Jr. OH McKenzie Moss notched a team-high 13 double-doubles — including four in the last five regular-season matches — and reached double-figure kills in 21 contests in 2009 … Moss ranked 7th overall in the GNAC in kills (3.16 kps) and 11th in points (3.57 pps), and rated 2nd on the team in digs (2.67 dps) … the former Bartlett HS standout had 16 matches with double-digit digs … Jr. OH Lee Golden, who sat out as a redshirt in 2009, started her Seawolf career in style by earning a spot on the All-Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational Team … the Florida native notched 17 kills on .300 hitting in the two matches, while putting up an impressive 8 block assists (1.14 bps) from her right-side position … So. OH Marie Borowikow helped spark UAA's comeback against Drury on Saturday with flawless hitting, matching her career-high for the third time at .500 (7 kills-0 errors-14 attempts), while also equaling her career high with 7 total blocks.

SEAWOLVES CRACK TOP 25: After finishing No. 24 in the 2009 final poll, UAA starts 2010 in the same spot, marking the first time since 1991 that the Seawolves have appearance in the preseason rankings … the final ranking marked UAA's first appearance in the national poll since coming in at No. 25 on Nov. 3, 1992 … there are six West Region squads in the preseason poll and … here is an abbreviated look at the rankings, with UAA and its opponents in bold, plus West Region teams in italics:

AVCA Division II Top 25 preseason poll —
Aug. 18, 2010
Rk     School (1st Place Votes) Pts  Rec.  Last Wk
 1) Concordia-St. Paul (29)  800  37-0  1
 2) Cal St. San Bernardino   760  33-2  2
 3) Tampa (1)                729  31-3  4
 4) Indianapolis             692  38-2  6
 5) Central Missouri         676  34-5  5
 6) Washburn                 603  33-5  8
 7) West Texas A&M           561  38-4  3
 8) UC San Diego             544  27-3  7
 9) Minnesota Duluth         495  23-9  14
10) Metro State              478  26-8  11
14) Cal State L.A.           336  23-9  15
21) Sonoma State             144  23-8  21
23) Hawaii-Hilo               98  25-2  20
24) ALASKA ANCHORAGE          84  23-8  24
Others Receiving Votes: California (Pa.) 47; Grand Valley State 34; West Florida 32; Western Washington 22; Abilene Christian 21; Dowling 14; Wingate 13; Barry 7

2010 Honors & Awards
Lee Golden
All-Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational Team (8/28)
Cortney Lundberg
All-Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational Team (8/28)
Jackie Matthisen
Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational, Most Outstanding Player (8/28)