at NCAA Div. II West Regional Championships The Den (1,000) — San Bernardino, Calif. All Times Alaska Standard Time First Round – Thursday, Nov. 19 #2 UC San Diego (28-2) vs. #7 San Francisco State (20-10), 11 am #3 Sonoma State (23-7) vs. #6 Cal State-Los Angeles (21-8), 1:30 pm #4 Hawaii Hilo (25-1) vs. #5 Alaska Anchorage (22-7), 4 pm #1 Cal State-San Bernardino (29-1) vs. #8 Seattle Pacific (17-11), 6:30 pm Semifinals – Friday, Nov. 20 UCSD/SFSU winner vs. Sonoma/CSULA winner, 4 pm UHH/UAA winner vs CSUSB/SPU winner, 6:30 pm Finals – Saturday, Nov. 21 Semifinal winners, 6 pm (winner advances to NCAA ‘Elite Eight’, Dec. 3-5)
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS: Hawaii Hilo takes a 9-match winning streak into the playoffs, having suffered its only loss in a straight-set road shocker Oct. 3 at Dixie State … the Pacific West Conference champions (15-1) are out-hitting their opponents by well over 100 points (.256 to .117), winning 16 times by a 3-0 count … the Vulcans are led by 6-1 Sr. MB Fabiane Seben (3.21 kps, .364 att%, 0.99 bps), 5-10 Sr. OH Josimara Pinheiro (3.51 kps, .201 att%, 3.43 dps) and 5-9 Jr. S Katie Swenson (12.13 aps, .287 att%) … UHH handed UAA one of only three 3-set losses all season, beating the Seawolves 25-16, 25-11, 25-14 on a neutral court in Laie, Hawaii, on Sept. 11.
THE SERIES vs. UHH: UHH leads 11-7 overall, 2-0 on neutral courts / Streak: UHH 1 / Last Meeting: UHH 3-0 (9/11/09 at BYUH) / Notes: UAA has won 4 of the last 6 meetings, dating to 1998 … series started in 1981 … teams played 11 times when UAA was also a Pac West member, with UHH holding a 6-5 edge. vs. Cal State-San Bernardino: CSUSB leads 2-1 vs. Seattle Pacific: SPU leads 25-12 vs. UC San Diego: UCSD leads 1-0 vs. San Francisco State: Tied 2-2 vs. Sonoma State: Never met vs. Cal State-L.A.: CSULA leads 4-3
SEAWOLVES CLINCH GNAC, EXTEND STREAK: The Seawolves finished the regular season with their school-record 11th and 12th consecutive victories, defeating Northwest Nazarene (3-0) and Seattle Pacific (3-1) on Nov. 12 and 14 at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex … in the first match, UAA got double-doubles from So. OHs McKenzie Moss and Jackie Matthisen, 39 assists from Sr. S Calli Scott, and an impressive 26 digs from Sr. L Stacie Meisner as the Seawolves celebrated the outright league title … Matthisen finished with 13 kills, 13 digs, 3 assists and a pair of blocks, while Moss tallied 12 kills, 10 digs and a pair of aces, giving UAA its first season sweep of NNU since 2001 … Fr. OH Marie Borowikow got into the act, too, with 11 kills and a match-high .417 attack percentage … Meisner came one dig shy of tying the school record for digs per set in a match (9.0 by Cherie Knox vs. Regis, 10/20/89), adding 3 assists and an ace on match point … on Saturday, Matthisen slammed 21 kills, including on match point, as UAA beat SPU in front of the second-largest crowd in program history (803) … Jr. MB Cortney Lundberg had 15 kills, Borowikow notched 10 kills on .400 hitting, and Meisner made 20 digs … Sr. MB Ashley Bates also continued her strong defense of late with 6 block assists.
SEAWOLF NCAA HISTORY: The Seawolves have earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth 19 years … UAA made back-to-back NCAAs in 1989 and ’90, losing true road matches to then-powerhouse programs Sacramento State and Portland State (3-0 both times), respectively.
TEAM NOTES: UAA’s 14 conference wins are a new school record by three victories, while the .875 league winning percentage equals the record set in 1988 (7-1 in Continental Divide Conf.) … UAA’s current 12-match win streak breaks the former school record of 11, set in 1984 … the Seawolves have now won 36 of their last 40 sets since suffering a 3-1 defeat Sept. 28 at Montana State Billings. The previous school record of 11 straight victories was set in 1984 … at 22-7, the Seawolves are at least 15 matches above .500 for the first time since finishing the 1986 season 23-8 … the school record of 24 wins was set in 1990 and 1992 … the Seawolves have posted their first 20-win season since 1996 (20-13) and their first back-to-back winning seasons since 2002-03 … at .758, the team’s current winning percentage is the highest since 1986 (school-record .742) … the Seawolves lead the GNAC in attack pct. (.227) and blocks per set (2.27), and rank 2nd in kills (13.22 kps), and assists (12.23) … UAA’s 73 kills at BYU-Hawaii (Sept. 11) is still a GNAC season-high … the .268 hitting percentage at WWU (Sept. 24) remains the best in a 5-setter, while the 66 kills against CWU (Oct. 22) equal the most in a 4-setter by a GNAC team in 2009; in 3-setters, the 14 blocks vs UAF (11/7) are tied for a league high as well … UAA has twice held opponents to negative hitting percentages, doing it against Cal State-Dominguez Hills (-.011) and Kentucky Wesleyan (-.111); the latter effort marked the 5th-lowest ever allowed by a GNAC club.
SCOTT NAMED GNAC’S TOP PLAYER: On Monday, Sr. S Calli Scott became the first Seawolf since Jen Szczerbinski in 1992 (Pacific West Conf.) to earn a league player-of-the-year award, along with unanimous first-team all-conference honors … the native of Scottsdale, Ariz. (Pinnacle HS/Glendale CC) leads the GNAC and ranks in the top 25 nationally with 10.79 assists per set, while helping the Seawolves to the league’s top hitting percentage (.227) … in GNAC-only matches, Scott produced a league-best 11.45 apg … with 64 assists at BYU-Hawaii and 56 at Western Washington, Scott owns the 2nd- and 3rd-highest single-match totals in the GNAC this year, while her 51 assists against Central Washington are the most in a 4-set match … Scott has now clinched the school career assists average record by more than one per set — 10.70 to 9.37 — over Janelle Veith (1998-01) … in August, she became the first player in the 14-year history of UAA’s Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational to earn back-to-back Most Outstanding Player awards.
SENSATIONAL SOPH: OH Jackie Matthisen became the first UAA sophomore in 20 years (Jen Szczerbinski) to earn first-team all-conference honors when the awards were announced Monday …Matthisen averaged 4.63 kills and 5.04 points per set in GNAC-only play, both good for No. 2 in the league; in the overall stats, she rates 2nd in kps (4.06), 2nd in pps (4.37) and 10th in attack pct. (.254) … Matthisen has notched double-digit kills in 25 of 29 matches, including a current string of 20 straight … the East Anchorage High alum ranked 18th nationally in kps (4.00) as of last week … her 20 kills against WOU on Oct. 1 remain the most for a GNAC player in a 3-set match this year … Matthisen has 11 double-doubles on the year, including seven during the current 12-match win streak … on Sunday, Matthisen earned her second GNAC player-of-the-week award as well.
MORE PLAYER NOTES: One year after earning honorable-mention honors, Jr. MB Cortney Lundberg was tabbed a second-team All-GNAC pick this year … the 6-1 Lundberg leads in the league in blocks per set, both overall (1.13) and in GNAC-only play (1.35) … the Montana native had the No. 2 attack percentage (.366) in GNAC-only matches and is currently UAA’s career record-holder in that category at .307 … Lundberg’s current .325 attack pct. ranks 4th overall in the GNAC and 2nd-best in school history … Lundberg has recorded 3 or more blocks in all but three matches since Sept. 18, including a GNAC season-best 11 (3s, 8a) against CWU (Oct. 22) … on Oct. 3 vs Saint Martin’s, Lundberg notched the school record (min. 12 attempts) and the 3rd-best attack pct. in GNAC history at .895 (17-0-19) … after recording 46 digs in just seven sets to close the regular season, Sr. L Stacie Meisner was named an All-GNAC honorable mention selection … Meisner’s 26 digs in three sets vs. NNU were just one shy of the UAA single-match record and was her seventh match this year with at least 6.0 digs per set … Meisner’s season averages of 4.58 dps and 0.37 aces per set are both good for 5th in the GNAC … on UAA’s career list, Meisner currently ranks 2nd with 4.55 dps and is threatening the school record of Rachael Knecht (4.58, 2004-06) … So. OH McKenzie Moss has a team-high 13 double-doubles — including four in the last five matches — and has reached double-figure kills in 20 contests … Moss ranks 7th overall in the GNAC in kills (3.24 kps) and 10th in points (3.65 pps), and rates 3rd on the team in digs (2.73 dps) … along with Lundberg, Sr. MB Ashley Bates (7th, 0.95 bpg) and Fr. OH/MB Marie Borowikow (10th, 0.81 bpg) give UAA three players in the top 10 of the GNAC blocks-per-set rankings … Bates has averaged 1.24 bps over the last seven matches, boosted by a career-high 7 total blocks in a home sweep of UAF … Fr. OH/DS Shelby Hollister currently stands 12th in the league with 0.29 aces per set, while Moss is 20th at 0.25.
SEAWOLVES STILL RECEIVING VOTES: The Seawolves garnered 18 points (27th place) in this week’s AVCA (American Volleyball Coaches Association) Division II top 25 poll, marking their fifth straight appearance in the ‘others receiving votes’ category … the last time the UAA cracked the top 25 was Nov. 3, 1992 … there are five West Region squads in the current poll, four of which are Seawolf opponents … here is an abbreviated look at the rankings, with UAA opponents in bold and West Region teams in italics ... the full poll — announced every Monday — is always available at: www.avca.org.
AVCA Division II Top 25 poll — Nov. 16, 2009 Rk School (1st Place Votes) Pts Rec. Last Wk 1) Concordia-St. Paul (32) 800 31-0 1 2) Cal State-San Bernardino 767 29-1 2 3) UC San Diego 720 27-2 4 4) Central Missouri 697 32-4 5 5) West Texas A&M 664 34-3 6 14) Hawaii-Hilo 363 25-1 16 18) Sonoma State 249 23-7 18 19) Cal State-Los Angeles 207 21-8 20 Others Receiving Votes: 27) ALASKA ANCHORAGE 19; 29) Chico State 16.
SEAWOLVES TABBED FOR SEVENTH: UAA was picked to finish seventh in the 2009 GNAC preseason coaches’ poll, released Aug. 21. First-place votes are noted in parentheses:
2009 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coaches' Poll Rk School (1st-place votes) Pts Actual Finish 1. Western Washington (6) 60 3rd-tie 2. Western Oregon 50 8th 3. Northwest Nazarene (2) 47 5th-tie 4. Seattle Pacific (1) 43 2nd 5. Central Washington 39 5th-tie 6. Alaska Fairbanks 33 7th 7. ALASKA ANCHORAGE 27 1st 8. Montana State Billings 15 3rd-tie 9. Saint Martin's 8 9th Notes: Points awarded on a 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis; coaches could not vote for own team
2009 Honors & Awards Cortney Lundberg GNAC co-Player of the Week (10/19) All-GNAC Second Team (11/16) Jackie Matthisen All-Tournament Team, Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational (8/29) GNAC Player of the Week (9/28) GNAC All-Academic Team (11/9) GNAC Player of the Week (11/15) All-GNAC First Team (11/16) Stacie Meisner All-Tournament Team, Triton Invitational (9/5) GNAC co-Player of the Week (9/14) GNAC All-Academic Team (11/9) All-GNAC Honorable Mention (11/16) McKenzie Moss All-Tournament Team, Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational (8/29) Calli Scott Most Outstanding Player, Extended Stay Deluxe Invitational (8/29) GNAC Player of the Week (8/31) GNAC Player of the Year (11/16) All-GNAC First Team (11/16) Chris Green GNAC Coach of the Year
SPORTS presented by
Courtesy:: Glenn Aronwits
