THIS WEEK IN SEAWOLF VOLLEYBALL...

UAA Invitational
Alaska Airlines Center — Anchorage, Alaska
(All times listed ADT)
Thursday, Aug. 23
7 pm: Western New Mexico vs Alaska Anchorage
Friday, Aug. 24
9 am: Michigan Tech vs Alaska Fairbanks
11 am: Western New Mexico vs Barton
5 pm: Western New Mexico vs Michigan Tech
7:30 pm: Barton vs Alaska Anchorage
Saturday, Aug. 25
9 am: Western New Mexico vs Alaska Fairbanks
11 am: Barton vs Michigan Tech
5 pm: Barton vs Alaska Fairbanks
7:30 pm: Michigan Tech vs Alaska Anchorage

LIVE VIDEO & STATS (all matches): portal.stretchinternet.com/uaa

SOCIAL MEDIA: Check the @UAAVolleyball Twitter feed for in-match updates.

2018 PREVIEW: Despite the loss of three starters, the Seawolves feature five proven veterans, including unanimous All-GNAC preseason selection Chrisalyn Johnson ... Johnson was an honorable mention all-league pick last year, averaging 3.05 kills and 2.47 digs per set ... reigning GNAC Freshman of the Year Casey Davenport is back at setter and earned a nod on the preseason All-GNAC team last week, while the Seawolves also return reigning GNAC co-Newcomer of the Year Tara Melton in the middle ... Jr. MB Vanessa Hayes and Sr. DS/L/RS Taylor Noga have played virtually every set of every match throughout their careers and were key members of UAA's 2016 NCAA national runner-up team ... meanwhile, sophomore front-row players Vera Pluharova and Jalisa Ingram are the only other Seawolves with collegiate playing experience, meaning 11th-year head coach Chris Green must meld eight new players – including seven freshmen – into the mix.

BRIEF 2017 RECAP: The Seawolves earned their program-record fifth straight NCAA Tournament berth in 2017, posting a 19-11 overall record and tying for third in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference at 14-6 ... UAA posted victories over three ranked teams and suffered six of its 11 setbacks vs. ranked clubs ... along with honorable mention All-America honors for Jr. OH Leah Swiss and All-West Region honors for Sr. L Keala Kaio-Perez, UAA also produced the GNAC co-Newcomer of the Year in then-Jr. MB Tara Melton and the GNAC Freshman of the Year in setter Casey Davenport.

UAA PROBABLE STARTERS (2017 stats or notes)
S—Casey Davenport, 5-6, So. (6.84 aps, 2.32 dps, 0.52 kps, .212 att%)
MB—Vera Pluharova, 6-2, So. (0.54 kps, .206 att%, 0.50 bps)
MB—Tara Melton, 6-0, Sr. (1.40 kps, .203 att%, 1.02 bps)
OH—Vanessa Boyer, 5-11, Jr. (1.67 kps, .259 att%, 0.81 bps, 0.22 ace/set)
OH—Chrisalyn Johnson, 5-9, Sr. (3.05 kps, .159 att%, 2.40 dps, 0.45 bps)
RS—Eve Stephens, 6-2, Fr. (Colony HS, 2-time NLC POY)
L—Taylor Noga, 5-10, Sr. (2.07 dps)

UAA INVITATIONAL FORMAT: Without a true round-robin format, there will be no official champion crowned for this year's event ... there will be an all-tournament team and Most Outstanding Player awarded at the conclusion of Saturday's UAA/Michigan Tech match.

ALL-TIME SERIES...
vs WNMU: UAA leads 14-5 overall, 9-1 in Anchorage
Streak: UAA 4 / Last: UAA 3-0 (9/8/12 at UAA) / Notes: UAA swept WNMU in two matches at the 2012 UAA Invitational and beat the Mustangs 3-0 and 3-2 in the 2003 event ... WNMU's last win came 3-1 on Aug. 29, 2003 in Phoenix ... teams met 14 times from 1994-2000 as members of the Pacific West Conference.
vs BARTON: First meeting.
vs MICHIGAN TECH: Tied 2-2 overall, 1-1 in Anchorage
Streak: MTU 2 / Last: MTU 3-1 (8/26/00 at Winona, MN) / Notes: The teams split a pair of matches in Anchorage in 1998 ... first meeting was a 3-1 UAA win at the 1991 Northern Michigan Invitational.

OPPONENT SKETCHES: Western New Mexico is coming off a 9-20 overall and 9-11 Lone Star Conference record in 2017 ... the Mustangs hail from Silver City, N.M. ... Barton is looking for a return to the NCAA Tournament after going 23-8 overall and 13-1 in the Carolinas Conference last year, sweeping the league's regular-season and tournament titles ... the Bulldogs are from Wilson, N.C. ... playing in perhaps the toughest region in the nation, Michigan Tech went 20-11 overall and 12-4 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 2017 ... the Huskies also made the NCAAs, falling to Lewis in the first round of the Midwest Regional Championships.

SEAWOLF NCAA HISTORY: In 2017, UAA made its program-record fifth straight NCAA appearance and eighth in nine seasons ... last year marked UAA's 10th overall NCAA Tournament trip (1989, 1990, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017), with its overall record at 7-10 after the first-round loss to 2nd-seeded Western Washington; UAA had won two straight First Round matches after losing four in a row between 2010-14 ... the Seawolves were a No. 2 seed in 2014 and earned the No. 1 seed in 2015 and 2016 – the program's three best seedings ever … UAA was the No. 5 seed in 2009 when it earned its first NCAA win with a 5-set 1st Round victory over Hawaii-Hilo in San Bernardino, Calif. ... the Seawolves earned their deepest NCAA run by making the 2016 National Title Match and winning multiple matches for the first time that year.

TEAM NOTES: The Seawolves clinched a winning record for the 10th straight season in 2017, extending the program record that began with Chris Green's arrival at UAA in 2008 ... UAA led the GNAC in aces per set (1.74) and forged top-70 national ranks in aces per set (42nd) and digs per set (39th, 18.15) and blocks per set (70th, 2.06) ... UAA went 3-6 against AVCA Top 25 teams last year and is now 18-11 against ranked teams since 2014 ... UAA is 28-38 against ranked opponents under Green, after having lost 32 straight prior to his arrival in 2008... the Seawolves are 50-10 at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in Sept. 2014 and 96-21 at home since 2009.

A HOWL LOTTA LOVE: UAA led NCAA Div. II Volleyball in attendance for the third straight season as its final 2017 average of 1,075 fans per game far outranked runner-up Nebraska Kearney (884) ... the Seawolves also boasted five of the top 20 single-match attendance figures in the nation, with the 1,415 for the SPU match ranking sixth.

C.J. SPIKE IT: Sr. OH Chrisalyn Johnson raised her play after the calendar turned to October last year, recording double-doubles in 11 of the last 15 matches, and capturing both GNAC Offensive Player of the Week and AVCA DII National Player of the Week honors for her efforts in home wins Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene ... in addition to her career-high 24 kills in the win over No. 25 CWU, the former Dimond High star had efforts of 16 kills and a season-high 18 digs against No. 10 NNU, 17 kills, 15 digs and 5 blocks at Concordia-Portland, and 16 kills and 16 digs in NCAA Tournament loss to No. 2 WWU ... an All-NCAA Tournament Team performer at the 2016 Elite Eight, Johnson earned honorable mention All-GNAC last season and was one of four unanimous picks on the 2018 Preseason All-GNAC Team ... as a junior, she ranked 12th in the GNAC with 3.05 kills per set and 3.55 points per set, plus 16th in aces per set (0.25) ... Johnson topped 20 kills on three occasions last year and has accounted for at least seven kills in 59 of the last 67 matches, including 41 times in double figures ... Johnson's career 2.95 kills per set rank 9th on the UAA list, while her 786 total kills already rank 14th, despite playing only a handful of sets her freshman season.

DEPENDABLE DUO: Sr. DS/RS Taylor Noga and Jr. OH/MB Vanessa Boyer (formerly Hayes) have combined to play in all but one set over the last two seasons ... Noga has played in 359 of 364 sets in her career and 264 consecutive sets since Dec. 2015, ranking as the 7th-winningest player (80 victories) in program history ... the former East Anchorage High standout tallied double-digit digs in nine matches last year, including five straight from Oct. 7-21, with 16 at Concordia-Portland, 17 in the win over No. 10 NW Nazarene and a season-high 18 in the 4-set loss at No. 8 Western Washington ... Noga has recorded at least 10 digs 26 times in her career, including a career-high-tying 19 in UAA's 3-1 victory over Palm Beach Atlantic in the 2016 NCAA Semifinals ... meanwhile, after going for no more than 9 kills in her first 54 career matches, Boyer bolstered her offensive reputation with double-figure kills in four of the last 13 contests in 2017, including a pair of 13-kill showings in the wins at Concordia and Western Oregon ... with at least four kills in 29 of 30 matches last year, the Salem, Ore. (McNary HS) native led UAA and ranked 12th in the GNAC with a .256 attack percentage, boosted by career-high .600 hitting (7-1-10) in the sweep of Cal State LA and a .545 (7-1-11) performance at UAF ... Boyer has already premiered on UAA's career top 20 lists in multiple categories, ranking 17th in attack pct. (.235), 11th in block assists (206, needs five to move into top 10), and 13th in total blocks (224) ... both Noga (3.55 GPA in civil engineering) and Hayes (3.66 in psychology) were also honored as members of last year's GNAC All-Academic Team.

CASEY DRIVIN' THAT TRAIN: So. S Casey Davenport was one of two Seawolves to make the 2018 Preseason All-GNAC Team, announced Aug. 15 ... Davenport turned up her play a notch during the second half of her rookie season and earned the 2017 GNAC Freshman of the Year award, becoming the fourth Seawolf to gain that accolade since 2012 ... after the Seawolves switched to a '5-1' rotation in early October, Davenport averaged 10.06 assists, 0.94 kills on .223 hitting and 3.34 digs per set ... Davenport dished the most assists by a Seawolf last season with 53 in the 5-set win at Concordia-Portland, and she posted double-digit digs in 11 of the last 15 contests, including 29 against No. 25 Central Washington and 21 at Seattle Pacific ... the Auburn, Wash., native ranked 8th in the overall GNAC stats with 7.25 assists per set and 6th in the GNAC-only stats with 8.56 aps.

MELTON TOGETHER: Sr. MB Tara Melton became the sixth Seawolf in the last 10 years to earn the GNAC Newcomer of the Year award, sharing the 2017 honor with Simon Fraser's Angelica Kilberg ... since debuting in Green & Gold, Melton has posted at least five kills in 22 of 30 matches, including a career-high 11 kills in the win over No. 25 Central Washington and 10 kills on UAA season-best .692 hitting at Saint Martin's ... a former JC All-American at her hometown Glendale (Ariz.) Community College, Melton led UAA and ranked 10th in the GNAC with 0.97 bocks per set last year ... she had eight matches with 5-plus blocks, including 10 block assists against Azusa Pacific and 7 block assists in wins over Concordia-Irvine, at MSU Billings and at Seattle Pacific.

GREEN MACHINE: Having led UAA to an unprecedented 10 straight winning seasons, UAA head coach Chris Green (212-83, .719) has established himself as the most successful coach in program history and one of the top mentors in the NCAA Div. II ranks, earning the 2016 AVCA D-II National Coach of the Year award ... a 4-time GNAC Coach of the Year (2009, '13, '15, '16) and 3-time AVCA D-II West Region Coach of the Year (2009, '15, '16), Green has led UAA to NCAA Tournament berths in seven of the last eight seasons, capturing the program's highest-ever seeds the last three years; in the 28 years before Green's arrival, the Seawolves made two NCAAs ... UAA has won at an .787 clip (122-33) since the start of the 2013 campaign, including .844 (81-15) in league play ... Green's UAA teams have produced six All-Americans, five GNAC Players of the Year, six GNAC Newcomers of the Year and four 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.

2018 INDIVIDUAL HONORS
Casey Davenport
Preseason All-GNAC Team
Chrisalyn Johnson
Preseason All-GNAC Team