Seawolves open 2022 campaign with high hopes in Hawaii

by UAA Athletics  |   

2022 SEASON PREVIEW: The Seawolves return nine letterwinners – including five starters – from last year's NCAA Tournament squad as they attempt to challenge for their first GNAC title since 2016 ... UAA should feature four seniors in its primary rotation, with All-America candidates Eve Stephens and Ellen Floyd leading the way at right-side hitter and setter ... Sr. L Talia Leauanae and So. DS Reilly Plumhoff provide proven back-row defense, while Sr. OH Lisa Jaunet will look to improve on her 2.47 kills per set and .185 attack pct. from her debut campaign ... meanwhile, the Seawolves must replace both starting middle blockers, with returning So. MB Leilani Elder among several candidates to step into big roles.

BRIEF 2021 RECAP: After having its 2020 season interrupted by the pandemic, the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team returned to the court in 2021 to claim an 19-12 overall record and its second straight NCAA Tournament berth ... the Seawolves went 12-6 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference to tie for second place and earn the No. 8 seed for the NCAA Div. II West Regional Championships, where they lost to top seed and host Cal State San Bernardino in four sets.

THE SERIES...

vs HPU: HPU leads 8-5 overall; UAA leads 5-4 in Honolulu

Streak: UAA 2

Last: UAA 3-0 (8/28/21 at HPU)

Notes: UAA has won five of the last six meetings, including a pair of sweeps in Honolulu last August ... HPU won the first seven contests, from 1981-2005.

vs UH Hilo: UHH leads 14-9 overall, 2-1 on neutral courts

Streak: UHH 1

Last: UHH 3-2 (4/24/21 at UHH)

Notes: Teams split a pair of 5-set decisions during the 2021 spring pandemic campaign ... UAA and UHH have not met in a non-pandemic season since 2013 ...  the last four meetings have been played in Hawaii ... series started in 1981.

vs Chaminade: CU leads 14-12 overall; tied 6-6 in Honolulu

Streak: CU 1

Last: CU 3-1 (8/28/21 at CU)

Notes: With 26 meetings, CU is UAA's most common non-GNAC opponent ... UAA has won four of seven since Chris Green took over as head coach in 2008 ... the last eight meetings have also been played in Hawaii ... CU's 3-0 win to open the 2016 season was one of just two regular-season losses UAA's suffered in its NCAA Runner-up season ... series started in 1989.

SCOUTING REPORT: Chaminade earned the Pacific West  Conference title in 2021 with a 17-3 league record and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to finish 27-6 ... Hawaii Hilo is coming off a fourth-place finish at 14-6 and 17-7 overall, while Hawaii Pacific is trying to rebound from a 7-20 (6-13, 7th place) record.

UAA NCAA HISTORY: The 2021 Seawolves made their seventh NCAA appearance in eight seasons and 10th in the last 12 seasons (not including the 2020 pandemic year) ... last year marked UAA's 12th overall NCAA Tournament trip (1989, 1990, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021), with its overall record now at 8-12 after the first-round loss to Cal State San Bernardino … the Seawolves earned their deepest by making the 2016 National Title Match and winning multiple matches for the first time that year.

TEAM NOTES: UAA led the 2021 GNAC statistics with 2.08 aces per set (15th nationally) and ranked 2nd in attack pct. (.219) and opponent attack pct. (.163) ... the Seawolves secured their 14th consecutive winning season, extending the program record that began with Chris Green's arrival at UAA in 2008 ... UAA extended additional program-best streaks with its 12th straight winning conference record and 12th straight top-4 GNAC finish ... the Seawolves are 81-19 (.810) at the Alaska Airlines Center since its opening in Sept. 2014 and 128-31 (.805) at home since 2009; UAA has never lost three straight matches at the Alaska Airlines Center ... the 2021 Seawolves barely missed reaching the 20-win plateau for the 15th time in its 40 full seasons and for the eighth time in 13 full seasons under Green ...  the Seawolves are 21-18 against AVCA Top 25 teams since 2014 and 31-45 overall vs. ranked opponents under Green; prior to Green's arrival, UAA had lost 32 straight to ranked foes.

ALL ABOUT EVE: Entering her fifth season in Green & Gold, Sr. RS Eve Stephens continues to rack up numbers at a record-setting pace, capturing her third straight unanimous All-GNAC Team and second straight AVCA Second Team All-America awards in 2021 ... Stephens posted GNAC ranks of 2nd in points per set (4.67, 14th nationally), 2nd in kills per set (3.84, 28th nationally), 4th in aces per set (0.42) and 13th in hitting pct. (.257), along with solid defensive numbers of 2.35 digs and 0.79 blocks per set ... the Palmer (Colony HS) product had 11 double-doubles last year and 29 for her career after leading the GNAC in both kills and points per set in 2019 and 2020-21 ... with 1,427 career kills, Stephens has risen to No. 2 on the Seawolves' all-time list, on pace to break Jen Szczerbinski's 30-year-old program record of 1,691 ... on UAA's other career lists, Stephens ranks 3rd in kps (3.72), 9th in attack percentage (.278), 7th in block assists (287), 12th in total blocks (306) and 14th in victories (72) ... a star in the classroom as well, the accounting major with a 3.89 overall GPA was voted CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 for the second time, and became just the third player in program history to earn at least Third Team Academic All-America honors in 2021. 

THINK FLOYD: A two-time All-GNAC selection and 2019 AVCA honorable mention All-American, Sr. S Ellen Floyd was named to the Preseason All-GNAC Team  ... the Floridian led the GNAC with 0.48 aces per set (38th nationally) and ranked 3rd with 10.07 assists per set last year, and she was second on the team and 16th in the league with 2.91 digs per set – all while piloting an offense that has outhit its opponents .219 to .161 ... she produced double-digit digs in 17 of 31 outings as a junior, tying career highs with 7 kills at NNU and 21 digs at eventual regional champion WWU; she also had 52 assists and 19 digs in the win over regionally ranked Biola ... entering her final campaign, Floyd already owns UAA's career aces record (167) and is on pace to break the all-time assists mark, currently 4th with 3,724 ... her other career ranks stand at 3rd in assists average (9.55 aps), 3rd in aces per set (0.428) and 12th in victories (74) ... with a 3.86 GPA in accounting, Floyd earned her third straight GNAC All-Academic nod last year and joined Eve Stephens to give UAA two of the eight selections to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 Team. 

'WOLF BITES: Sr. L Talia Leauanae is one of three Seawolves with four years of experience in Green & Gold ... in 2021, the Hawaiian produced well with 3.71 digs per set (10th in GNAC) and 0.45 aces per set (2nd in GNAC behind Floyd) ... Leauanae joined UAA's 1,000-digs club last year and enters 2022 with career ranks of 11th in both digs (1,038) and digs per set (3.31) ... Sr. OH Lisa Jaunet made her Seawolf debut last year, ranking 2nd on the team with 2.47 kills per set (18th in GNAC) on .185 hitting ... the JC transfer raised her level with the start of GNAC play, producing 2.57 kills per set on .224 hitting in 18 league matches ... the St. Denis, France, native had her second-most kills (15) against Saint Martin's and posted consecutive career-best hitting percentages of .476 at Western Oregon, .500 against Seattle Pacific and .500 at Simon Fraser ... So. DS Reilly Plumhoff saw action in 28 of 31 matches last year, ranking second on the team with a .923 reception percentage and fourth with 1.94 digs per set ... another third-year sophomore, OH/DS Nicole Blue played in 30 matches and 99 of 110 sets last year ... the Californian hit .126 with 0.54 kills and 1.67 digs per set, posting a career-best 16 digs in a 4-setter against Western Washington. 

GREEN MACHINE: Having led UAA to an unprecedented 14 straight winning seasons, UAA head coach Chris Green (286-113, .717) has established himself as the most successful coach in program history and one of the top mentors in the NCAA Div. II ranks, earning five GNAC Coach of the Year awards ('09, '13, '15, '16, '19) ... the 2016 AVCA D-II National Coach of the Year and 3-time AVCA D-II West Region Coach of the Year (2009, '15, '16), Green has led UAA to NCAA Tournament berths in 10 of the last 12 full seasons, capturing No. 1 seeds in 2015 and 2016, and piloting the Seawolves to the national title match in 2016 ... in the 28 years before Green’s arrival, the Seawolves made just two NCAA appearances ... UAA has won at a .759 clip (195-62) since the start of the 2013 campaign, including .809 (123-29) in league play ... Green’s UAA teams have produced nine All-Americans, five GNAC Players of the Year, six GNAC Newcomers of the Year and five 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. 

2022 Individual Honors

ELLEN FLOYD

Preseason All-GNAC Team

EVE STEPHENS

Preseason All-GNAC Team

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