THIS WEEK IN ALASKA ANCHORAGE VOLLEYBALL...

Thursday, Nov. 10 — 8 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, Alaska
Northwest Nazarene (17-6, 10-6 GNAC)
at #11 Alaska Anchorage (25-2, 15-1 GNAC)
&
Saturday, Nov. 12 — 8 pm AST — Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, Alaska
Central Washington (14-10, 10-6 GNAC [Thur. @UAF])
at #11 Alaska Anchorage

TV: Both matches live statewide on GCI cable channels 907 (hd) & 1 (sd)

LIVE VIDEOSTREAM: Both matches free at portal.stretchinternet.com/uaa or gnac.tv

LIVE STATS: Surf to either portal.stretchinternet.com/uaa or GoSeawolves.com

TICKETS: $10 general admission, $8 discounted, UAA students free with valid WolfCard ... fans with an ASAA State Volleyball Tournament ticket will receive $5 off the purchase of their UAA ticket, and vice versa ... visit GoSeawolves.com or call 907-786-1562 for all ticket info.

PREMATCH FESTIVITIES: Prior to Thursday's match, the Seawolves will hold their annual faculty appreciation introductions ... Saturday's match will feature a traditional 'Senior Night' ceremony for UAA's two graduating players, Erin Braun and Morgan Hooe.

PROBABLE STARTERS (2016 stats)
S—Morgan Hooe, 5-7, Sr. (10.32 asst/set, 2.73 dps, 1.24 kps, .400 att%, 0.34 bps, 0.29 ace/set)
MB—Vanessa Hayes, 5-11, Fr. (1.25 kps, .251 att%, 0.86 bps)
MB—Erin Braun, 6-0, Sr. (2.07 kps, .307 att%, 1.14 bps, 0.31 ace/set)
OH—Leah Swiss, 6-0, So. (3.35 kps, .241 att%, 2.75 dps, 0.40 bps, 0.41 ace/set)
OH—Chrisalyn Johnson, 5-9, So. (3.11 kps, .139 att%, 2.01 dps, 0.43 bps)
DS—Taylor Noga, 5-8, So. (2.08 dps)
L—Kyla Militante-Amper, 5-3, So. (5.88 dps, 0.94 asst/set, 0.31 ace/set)

OREGON RECAP: The Seawolves posted road victories Nov. 4 & 5 over Concordia (26-24, 29-27, 23-25, 25-17) and Western Oregon (25-21, 25-19, 26-24) to take advantage of 2nd-place Western Washington's loss on Thursday and extend to a 2-match lead in the GNAC standings with four matches remaining ... in Friday's win in Portland, Fr. RS Diana Fa'amausili totaled 16 kills (.367) and 4 block assists, So. OH Chrisalyn Johnson had 16 kills and 16 digs, and So. OH Leah Swiss added 11 kills and 10 digs to keep UAA unbeaten in four meetings against the league's newest member ... Sr. S Morgan Hooe finished with 45 assists, 6 kills (.333) and 9 digs, and So. L Kyla Militante-Amper tallied 20 digs against the Cavs ... on Saturday, Hooe had 36 assists, 5 kills (hitting .333 again) and 7 digs to lead UAA to its 8th straight win over WOU and 4th straight in Monmouth ... Fa'amausili led the way with 11 kills and Fr. MB Vanessa Hayes – playing just 20 miles from her former high school (McNary) – ripped 7 kills on 7 attacks, along with a team-high 3 total blocks.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Northwest Nazarene premiered at No. 6 in the initial West Region rankings last week before recording a home split last weekend against Western Washington (W, 3-2 [19-17]) and Simon Fraser (L, 0-3) ... the Crusaders, from Nampa, Idaho, feature the GNAC's leading point and kills producer in Jr. OH Kendra Bodine (4.04 kps, .244 att%, 3.20 dps), alongside Jr. S Hailey Cook (GNAC-best 11.52 aps) ... the nation's leading blocking team with 3.03 per set, Central Washington is in a multi-team fight for one of five at-large NCAA bids, ranked No. 8 in initial West Region rankings ... coming off a home split against Simon Fraser (W, 3-2 [18-16]) and Western Washington (L, 0-3) last week, the Wildcats are led by Sr. RS Kiah Jones (2.66 kps, .219 att%, 1.70 dps, 0.61 bps) and Jr. MB Sabrina Wheelhouse (1.51 kps, .295 att%, GNAC-best 1.72 bps).

STATISTICAL COMPARISON
                      UAA   NNU   CWU
UAA Home/Opp. Road   11-1   7-3   6-4
Kills per Set        13.7  13.6  12.6
Attack Pct.          .231  .221  .197
Opponent Attack Pct. .115  .166  .179
Assists per Set      12.5  13.0  11.8
Digs per Set         17.8  18.7  17.2
Blocks per Set        2.3   2.0   3.0
Aces per Set          1.8   0.8   1.1

ALL-TIME SERIES...
vs NNU: NNU leads 18-14 overall; UAA leads 9-6 in Anchorage
Last: UAA 3-1 (10/15/16 at NNU)
Streak: UAA 2
Notes: UAA snapped a 4-match losing streak against the 2014 GNAC champs with last season's home win ... 11 of the last 13 meetings have been 4- or 5-set affairs ... UAA is 10-7 vs. NNU under head coach Chris Green (since 2008) ... NNU won nine straight matches from 2003-07 ... NNU leads 17-14 in GNAC meetings (since 2001) … NNU won first meeting in 2000, 3-1, in Nampa.

vs CWU: UAA leads 23-17 overall, 11-9 in Anchorage
Last: UAA 3-0 (10/13/16 at CWU)
Streak: UAA 5
Notes: UAA has won two straight at home, including a 3-2 thriller last season ... the Seawolves are 14-3 vs. CWU under head coach Chris Green ... of the 17 meetings since 2008, seven have gone 5 sets and four have gone 4 sets, with the Seawolves winning all 11 of those contests ... CWU won 10 straight from 2003-07 ... UAA leads 16-15 in GNAC meetings … teams have met every season since 1999 ... first meeting was a 2-1 UAA neutral-court win in 1980 ... teams did not meet between 1983-98.

LAST TIME VS NNU/CWU: Then-No. 8 UAA pushed its school-record win streak to 19 and ended the first half of the GNAC season unbeaten with challenging road victories at Central Washington (25-19, 31-29, 31-29) and Northwest Nazarene (25-22, 25-17, 16-25, 25-19), Oct. 13 & 15 ... in Ellensburg, Sr. S Morgan Hooe totaled 52 assists, 6 kills on .500 hitting, 12 digs and 3 total blocks to spearhead the victory ... So. OH Chrisalyn Johnson had career highs of 20 kills and 15 digs, while So. OH Leah Swiss earned her ripped 16 kills and matched her career high with 18 digs ... UAA also got a big effort from Sr. MB Erin Braun (9 kills, .333, 4 blocks) to earn another program record with six straight sweeps ... in Nampa, Hooe dished a then-career-high 56 assists and made a season-best 17 digs, and Johnson recorded 19 kills and 14 digs to outlast the Crusaders ... Fr. RS Diana Fa'amausili had a then-career-high 13 kills on .290 hitting, Swiss smashed 12 kills, and So. L Kyla Militante-Amper made 23 digs as the Seawolves earned a 63-45 edge in kills ... Braun had 8 kills and equaled her career-high 5 digs, Fr. MB Vanessa Hayes tied her career-high 8 kills (.333), and So. DS Taylor Noga tied her season-high 14 digs.

REGIONAL RANKINGS: The Seawolves premiered at No. 1 in last week's initial NCAA Div. II West Region rankings, which go toward determining the NCAA Tournament playoff field ... the poll – which also goes toward determining the host role for the regional championships – will be released again Nov. 9 and Nov. 16, leading up to the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field on Monday, Nov. 22 at 3:30 pm AST.

NCAA Div. II West Region Volleyball Rankings
Nov. 2, 2016
Rk Team                   vs West vs DII Last Wk
 1 Alaska Anchorage       21-2    23-2   2-0
 2 Cal St. San Bernardino 14-3    17-4   2-0
 3 Western Washington     15-4    16-6   1-1
 4 Simon Fraser           17-5    17-5   1-1
 5 California Baptist     15-5    16-5   1-1
 6 Northwest Nazarene     16-5    16-5   1-1
 7 Cal State Los Angeles  14-7    15-7   0-1
 8 Central Washington     13-6    13-9   1-1
 9 Chico State            16-6    16-6   2-0
10 Dixie State            14-8    14-8   1-1

A HOWL LOTTA LOVE: UAA is on pace to lead NCAA Div. II in attendance for the second straight season, with its 1,122 per game far outdistancing Angelo State at the moment. The Seawolves also have four of the top 10 single-match attendance figures, including the second-best at 1,742 for the Western Washington contest.

2016 NCAA Div. II Average Attendance
Rk Team               Avg  Matches
1. Alaska Anchorage 1,130  12
2. Angelo State       732  14
3. Nebraska Kearney   728  14
4. Minneota Duluth    725  10
5. St. Cloud State    708  10

2016 NCAA DII Top Match Attendances
 Rk Team                                 Date    Att.
 1. Texas A&M Kingsville vs Tarleton St. 10/18    1,900
 2. UAA vs Western Washington            10/22    1,742
 3. Minnesota Duluth vs Concordia-MN     11/4    1,614
 4. Nebraska Kearney vs Ft. Hays State   9/20    1,611
 5. Nebraska Kearney vs Washburn         9/23    1,510
 6. Concordia-MN vs Minnesota Duluth     9/30    1,463
 7. UAA vs Simon Fraser                  10/20    1,408
 8. Angelo State vs Tarleton State       10/26    1,308
 9. UAA vs Seattle Pacific               9/17    1,281
10. UAA vs Alaska Fairbanks              10/25    1,222

TEAM NOTES: UAA set its fourth team program record this year by earning its 11th road victory Saturday at Western Oregon ... the 20-match win streak from Aug. 27-Oct. 20 surpassed last year's 14 straight for that record, while also encompassing the marks for most consecutive sweeps (6) and sets won (22) ... the four longest win streaks in program history have all occurred since 2009 ... the Seawolves lead the GNAC stats in opponent attack pct. (.115) and aces per set (1.84), and rank 2nd in kills per set (13.74) and attack pct. (.231) ... UAA ranks no lower than 43rd (among 292 teams) in any category in the NCAA Div. II national stats, currently standing 10th in opponent attack pct., 16th in blocking (2.27 bps) and 22nd in kills per set ... UAA is 4-1 this season and 12-4 against ranked teams since 2014 ... UAA is 22-31 against ranked opponents under head coach Chris Green after losing 32 straight prior to his arrival in 2008 ... UAA has gone 18-1 against non-conference opponents over the last two regular seasons, including 7-0 in neutral-court matches ... UAA has won 26 straight September matches since a 3-1 loss at then-No. 23 NW Nazarene, Sept. 25, 2014 ... UAA's loss at Chaminade ended the program's impressive streaks of seven straight road wins and 37 straight matches without being swept ... the Seawolves are 35-6 at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in Sept. 2014, and 81-17 at home since 2009.

THE HOOE PACKAGE: Coming off AVCA Third Team All-America and All-GNAC awards in 2015, Sr. S Morgan Hooe is making another push for major honors in her final campaign ... the former South Anchorage HS star earned GNAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for her play at home against Western Oregon and Concordia, and she followed with season- and career-high efforts of 52 and 56 assists in wins at Central Washington and NW Nazarene; she then topped her career high with 59 assists in the home loss to No. 19 WWU ... along with her 10.32 assists per set, Hooe has seen her digs average jump to 2.73 dps, while her .400 attack pct. is best in the GNAC among players with at least 1.00 kills per set ... with 118 kills and just 14 attack errors, she has committed multiple attack errors twice all season, while hitting .500 or better 14 times ... the Most Outstanding Player of the Spring­Hill Suites Invitational racked up 47 assists in the win over No. 19 Arkansas Fort Smith and led UAA to a .258 attack pct. in those four matches, Sept. 1-3 ... Hooe also dished 47 assists in wins over two more ranked foes in Cal St. San Bernardino and Western Washington ... with her next assist, Hooe will become the third player in program history to reach 3,500 career assists; her other UAA career ranks include 5th in assists per set (8.66), 3rd in attack pct. (.303), t-2nd in victories (92), 18th in aces per set (0.26) and 11th in total aces (105).

BRAUN AT THE NET: Sr. MB Erin Braun is a big reason the Seawolves are once again in the top 20 nationally in blocks per set this year, standing 31st  individually with 1.14 bps ... Braun holds GNAC ranks of 3rd in attack pct. (.307) and 6th in bps, connecting for at least 5 kills on .300-plus hitting on 16 occasions this year, including a career- and UAA season-high .706 (12-0-17) against Western Oregon ... the San Bernardino, Calif., native has posted at least four kills in 50 of her last 57 matches, along with 23 performances with 5-plus blocks in that span ... Braun earned her first career GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honor after averaging 1.43 bps and 3.00 kps in UAA's victories at WWU and SFU in September ... in the non-conference season, she led the 5-team SpringHill Suites Invitational with a .385 attack pct., and she made a tourney-best 1.31 bps at the D2 West Region Show­case ... already UAA's career leader in block assists with 387, she passed Seawolf Hall of Famer Jen Szczerbinski (1988-92) last week as the winningest player in program history, now with 94 'W's ... Braun's other career ranks include 2nd in attack pct. (.306), 4th in total blocks (426), 6th in bps (1.07), 11th in matches played (115) and 15th in sets played (397), never missing a match in her 4-year career ... she was the GNAC Freshman of the Year in 2013, an honorable mention All-GNAC performer in 2014, and earned her third Academic All-GNAC award this season.

SWISS AIR: Bidding for second All-GNAC award in as many seasons, So. OH Leah Swiss has been the Seawolves' most potent offensive threat, smashing at least 9 kills in 23 of 27 matches and ranking 3rd in the GNAC with 3.98 points per set ... the former Dimond High star holds other GNAC ranks of 6th in kills per set (3.35), 18th in attack pct. (.241) and 3rd in aces per set (0.41) ... four of Swiss's 10 double-doubles have come against nationally ranked opponents, including a career-high 26 kills and 15 digs against No. 15 Cal St. San Bernardino ... she began the year with all-tournament performances at both the SpringHill Suites Invitational and D2 West Region Showcase ... at the 5-team SpringHill, Swiss was the only player to rank in the top 5 in attack pct. (.322) and kps (3.79), while finishing 10th in dps (2.71) and serving a tourney-best 11 aces ... her offense was even sharper at the Showcase, ranking 2nd in kps (4.19) and 4th in attack pct. ... on UAA's career lists, Swiss already holds ranks of 8th in kills per set (2.91), 16th in attack pct. (.230) and 3rd in aces per set (0.38).

AMPERING IT UP: So. L Kyla Militante-Amper has been a difference-maker on the back row, topping her career high twice recently with 31 digs against Simon Fraser and a school-record 43 digs against No. 19 WWU ... currently 2nd in the GNAC stats and 10th nationally with 5.88 dps, the Hillsboro, Ore. (Century HS) product is averaging nearly 1.5 digs better than her 4.42 mark from 2015 and is on pace to set the program single-season records for average and total digs (see page 5) ... since coming north, Militante-Amper has registered at least 15 digs in 40 of the 49 matches in which she played the whole way, including 24 of 27 contests this year ... she has also excelled again in her role as UAA's secondary setter, dishing six assists in wins over Arkansas Fort Smith, Seattle Pacific and Concordia, and a career-high seven assists in the sweep of Rollins ... Militante-Amper collected all-tournament awards at both the SpringHill Suites Invitational and D2 West Region Showcase, along with her third career GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honor on Sept. 12 ... she led the 6-team Showcase with 5.94 digs per set, collecting at least 21 digs in each of the four matches, including a then-career-high 30 in the 4-set win over Dixie State.

STERLING SOPHOMORES: So. OH Chrisalyn Johnson has collected 123 kills – 43 percent of her season total – in the last eight matches, including a career-high 22 in the loss to No. 19 Western Washington ... Johnson began a run of seven consecutive double-doubles on UAA's road trip to Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene, totaling 39 kills and 29 digs to earn her first-ever GNAC Offensive Player of the Week award ... the former Dimond High star has accounted for at least 7 kills in 24 of 27 matches this year, including 15 times in double figures ... So. DS Taylor Noga recorded double-digit digs in back-to-back matches for the first time this year at CWU and NNU, including a season-high-tying 14 digs in Nampa, and she followed with two more double-digit efforts against SFU and WWU ... since establishing herself as UAA's regular serving specialist in 2015, this year the former East Anchorage HS standout has suited up in all 95 sets, playing a larger defensive role and averaging 2.08 dps.

FA'ABULOUS FRESHMEN: Fr. RS Diana Fa'amausili and Fr. MB Vanessa Hayes have wasted no time in contributing to the regular rotation despite their rookie status, combining for 3.9 kills and 1.9 blocks per set ... Fa'amausili, from Federal Way, Wash. (Kent-Meridian HS), is UAA's 2nd-leading blocker with 0.97 bps, ranking 9th in the GNAC, 93rd nationally overall and 10th nationally among freshmen ... Fa'amausili has delivered at least 5 kills in all 27 matches, averaging 2.65 kps on .248 hitting ... meanwhile, Hayes has been a consistent presence, notching multiple kills and multiple blocks in 20 of 27 matches ... the Salem, Ore. (McNary HS) native hit .364 with 6 kills and 5 block assists in the win over No. 15 Cal St. San Bernardino, and she delivered her best two attack percentages in UAA's road victories at Simon Fraser and No. 20 Western Washington, combining for 13 kills on .462 hitting in those seven sets ... Hayes matched her season-high 8 kills for the third time against WWU, and she ranks 12th in the GNAC with a .251 attack pct.

GREEN MACHINE: Having led UAA to its unprecedented 8th straight winning season, UAA head coach Chris Green (184-71, .722) continues to establish himself as the most successful coach in program history and one of the top mentors in the NCAA Div. II ranks ... a 3-time GNAC Coach of the Year (2009, 2013, 2015) and 2-time AVCA D-II West Region Coach of the Year (2009, 2015), Green has led UAA to NCAA Tournament berths in six of the last seven seasons, capturing the program's highest-ever seeds the last two seasons ... in the 28 years before Green's arrival, the Seawolves made two NCAAs ... UAA has won at an .817 clip (94-21) since the start of the 2013 campaign, including .875 (63-9) in league play ... after helping the Seawolves to a 10-win turnaround in his first season, Green earned both GNAC and NCAA Div. II West Region coach-of-the-year honors in 2009 when he piloted UAA to its first GNAC title and the program's first-ever NCAA victory ... Green's UAA teams have produced six All-Americans, four GNAC Players of the Year, five GNAC Newcomers of the Year and two GNAC Freshmen of the Year ... hired in Feb. 2008 as the sixth coach in UAA Volleyball history, Green spent the previous nine seasons (1999-07) as the head coach at Western Nebraska Community College, where he built a powerhouse program. Among his list of accomplishments at WNCC were a 453-55 record, the 2007 NJCAA Div. I national championship, 2006 NJCAA runner-up, and four straight 'Final 4' berths ... the Cougars finished in the top 10 at the national tournament in all of Green's seasons, producing a total of 10 first-team and six second-team All-America certificates ... in 2011, he was inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame ... Green is assisted by 2nd-year assistant coach Sheldon Carvalho, 2nd-year graduate assistant coach Calli Scott, and volunteer assistants Gaynor Johansen (7th season), Siobhan Johansen (3rd season), Virgil Hooe (1st season) and Nathan Svedin (1st season).

2016 INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Erin Braun
GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, Sept. 19-25
GNAC All-Academic Team
Morgan Hooe
SpringHill Suites Invitational Most Outstanding Player
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Oct. 3-9
Chrisalyn Johnson
GNAC Offensive Player of the Week, Oct. 10-16
GNAC All-Academic Team
Kyla Militante-Amper
SpringHill Suites Invitational All-Tournament Team
D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase All-Tournament Team
GNAC Defensive Player of the Week, Sept. 5-11
Taylor Noga
GNAC All-Academic Team
Leah Swiss
SpringHill Suites Invitational All-Tournament Team
D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase All-Tournament Team
GNAC All-Academic Team