Thursday, October 20, 2016

ALASKA ANCHORAGE, WESTERN WASHINGTON ON TOP AT THE TURN: With the first half of the GNAC season in the books, Alaska Anchorage and Western Washington once again find themselves at the top of the league standings.

The Seawolves simply keep winning. After dropping a three-set match at Chaminade on Aug. 26, UAA has proceeded to win a school record 19 consecutive matches. They enter the week with a 20-1 overall record and an unblemished 10-0 conference mark. The Seawolves open the second half by hosting their top two conference competitors in Simon Fraser on Thursday and Western Washington on Saturday.

The Vikings, meanwhile, rebounded from a slower start to win their last seven matches and enter the second half with a 12-6 overall mark. Western Washington is in second place in the GNAC with an 8-2 record. The second half of the year swets up well for the Vikings with six of their final eight matches of the regular season taking place in Bellingham.

After getting off to a hot start that included a nine-match win streak, Simon Fraser enters the second in third place in the league at 7-3, 14-4 overall.

PACKING THEM IN: Fans at GNAC schools love their volleyball. Alaska Anchorage is the current Division II leader in attendance, having welcomed 1,006 fans per match in eight matches. The Seawolves have seen two of the top-10 crowds in Division II this season and six of the top-20, topped by the 1,281 that saw UAA beat Seattle Pacific on Sept. 17. The GNAC enters the week having welcomed nine of the top-30 crowds in Division II so far in 2016. Central Washington had 923 fans watch its three-set sweep of Montana State Billings on Sept. 24, the 16th best crowd this season. Simon Fraser welcomed 823 fans to West Gym for their five-set win over Western Washington on Sept. 14, the 19th best crowd of the year, and Northwest Nazarene packed 802 fans in for its match with Central Washington on Sept. 20, the 20th best crowd of the year.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Both Alaska Anchorage and Western Washington moved up one spot in this week’s AVCA Division II Coaches Poll. The Seawolves improved to No. 7, their highest ranking in school history, while Western Washington improved to No. 19. It was the first movement in the poll for the Vikings in five weeks.

FIRST D2 WEST REGION VOLLEYBALL SHOWCASE GOES TO GNAC: The first D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase was a great stage for the GNAC, which came away as the big winner between the three competing conferences.

The GNAC finished with a 31-13 record, a .704 win percentage, in the three-day event, which featured all 38 volleyball teams from the GNAC, the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and the PacWest Conference. The CCAA finished with a 28-25 record while the PacWest finished 17-38.

The tougher the pods were, the better the GNAC did. The league went 7-1 in the Sonoma State pod, which featured the first and second place finishers in last year’s regular season standings. The GNAC swept the UC San Diego pod with an 8-0 record and went 6-2 in the San Francisco State pod. Five GNAC teams finished the tournament with 4-0 records: Alaska Anchorage, Central Washington, Northwest Nazarene, Saint Martin’s and Simon Fraser.

THIS WEEK'S GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Chrisalyn Johnson, Alaska Anchorage
OH • 5-8 • Sophomore • Anchorage, Alaska

Johnson recorded her first two collegiate double-doubles and finished the week with 39 kills and 29 digs to lead the Seawolves to a pair of road wins. She finished with 20 kills and 15 digs at Central Washington on Thursday and added 19 kills, 14 digs and an ace against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, which was UAA’s first win in Nampa since 2013.

Also Nominated: Kendra Bodine (Northwest Nazarene), Gabby Oddo (Seattle Pacific), Ashlynn Ward (Montana State Billings), Kayleigh Harper (Western Washington), Paige Orth (Western Oregon), Tori Johnson (Concordia).

DEFENSIVE
Shaun Crespi, Seattle Pacific
MB • 6-2 • Sophomore • Camarillo, Calif.

Crespi led Seattle Pacific with 19 blocks and also had 21 kills and a .447 hitting percentage in two matches. She finished with four kills and 10 block assists in Thursday’s three-set sweep of Simon Fraser. Crespi followed the performance up with 17 kills and nine blocks in Saturday’s five-set loss to Western Washington.

Also Nominated: Madi Farrell (Northwest Nazarene), Kyla Militante-Amper (Alaska Anchorage), Kylee Cornelio (Montana State Billings), Christie Colasurdo (Western Oregon), Brianna Hogan (Concordia).

AROUND THE GNAC
ALASKA
• Alaska saw its current losing streak stretch to nine matches with a pair of three-set road losses to Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Central Washington on Saturday.

• Junior outside hitter Angela Molesworth and freshman middle blocker Kim Wong each had seven kills in the loss to NNU on Thursday. Molesworth led the Nanooks with seven kills on Saturday against CWU while Wong finished with four blocks.

• Junior setter Rachel Nichols finished with 44 assists in the two matchs, finishing with 23 assists against Northwest Nazarene and 21 assists against Central Washington. Nichols is ranked seventh in the GNAC in assists with 9.26 per set.

• As a team, Alaska is second in the GNAC with 1.62 service aces per set. Junior middle blocker Riley Podowicz is sixth in the GNAC individually with 042 aces per set while freshman Paola Oliver-Otero is 10th with 0.32 aces per set.

• Alaska hosts two of the GNAC front-runners this weekend, welcoming Western Washington on Thursday and Simon Fraser on Saturday.

ALASKA ANCHORAGE
• The Seawolves extended their school-record win streak to 19 matches with a pair of solid road wins, beating Central Washington in three sets on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene in four sets on Saturday. The win in Nampa was UAA’s first since 2013.

• Alaska Anchorage continued its climb in the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll. The No. 7 rankings ties the highest national ranking in school history.

• Sophomore outside hitter Chrisalyn Johnson was named GNAC Offensive Player of the Week after finishing with 39 kills and 29 digs in the two wins. She finished with 20 kills and 15 digs in the win over Central Washington and added 19 kills and 14 digs in the win over Northwest Nazarene.

• Sophomore outside hitter Leah Swiss added 28 kills in the two matches, finishing with 16 kills and 18 digs against Central Washington and 12 kills against Northwest Nazarene. Swiss enters the week third in the GNAC with 3.54 kills per set and second with 4.19 points per set.

• Senior setter Morgan Hooe finished with 108 assists in the two matches and also had a .409 hitting percentage (9-0-22). She finished with 52 assists, six kills, 12 blocks and three blocks against Central Washington and 56 kills and 17 digs against Northwest Nazarene. Hooe is fourth in the GNAC with 10.22 assists per set.

• Sophomore libero Kyla Militante-Amper is second in the GNAC and is 11th in Division II with an average of 5.88 digs per set.

• As a team, Alaska Anchorage leads the GNAC in opponent hitting percentage (.110) and service aces (1.89 per set), is second in hitting percentage (.231), kills (13.71 per set) and third in blocks (2.44 per set). The Seawolves are fifth in Division II in blocks and seventh in opponent hitting percentage.

• Alaska Anchorage continues to lead Division II in attendance, averaging 1,006 fans per match in eight matches. The Seawolves have three of the top-10 and six of the top-20 attended matches this season, topped by the 1,281 fans that saw the Seawolves beat Seattle Pacific on Sept. 17.

• The Seawolves begin a four-match home stand against two of their toughest GNAC competitiors, hosting Simon Fraser on Thursday and Western Washington on Saturday.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington split its weekend matches, falling in three sets to Alaska Anchorage on Thursday and beating Alaska in three sets on Saturday. The Wildcats opened the week by taking a three-set loss to Northwest Nazarene on Tuesday to end a three-match home stand.

• Senior outside hitter Kiah Jones finished with seven kills to lead CWU against Alaska Anchorage. Senior outside hitter Jordan Deming led the Wildcats with eight kills and 13 digs against Alaska while sophomore outside hitter Madison Weg finished with eight kills in Tuesdya’s loss to NNU.

• Junior middle blocker Sabrina Wheelhouse finished with 24 blocks over the last three matches, topped by a 10-block performance against Alaska Anchorage. Wheelhouse enters the week leading the GNAC and is second in Division II with 1.69 blocks per set.

• As a team, Central Washington leads Division II with an average of 2.99 blocks per set. In addition to Wheelhouse, senior middle blocker Erin Little is fourth in the GNAC and 15th in Division II with 1.20 blocks per set.

• The Wildcats are also fifth in Division II with 196 total blocks and 29th with 38.30 team attacks per set.

• Central Washington’s lone remaining match of the week is on Thursday at Montana State Billings.

CONCORDIA
• Concordia won both matches last week, closing the first half with a three-set sweep of Western Oregon on Tuesday and a five-set win at Montana State Billings on Saturday.

• Sophomore outside hitter Tori Johnson led the Cavaliers with 31 kills in the two matches. She finished with 10 kills against Western Oregon and led the team with 21 kills and a .462 hitting percentage at MSUB.

• Junior opposite Lindsey Dorsey finished with a team-leading 13 kills and two aces against Western Oregon and added eight kills and an ace against MSUB. Dorsey enters the week leading the GNAC with 0.45 aces per set and is fourth with 3.89 points per set.

• Senior outside hitter Brenna Huwe and junior middle blocker Colby Barnette each finished with 16 kills against Montana State Billings. Barnette had five blocks in the match while Huwe added four. Barnette enters the week ranked fifth in the GNAC with a .292 hitting percentage and seventh with 1.12 blocks per set.

• Junior setter Michele Brown is third in the GNAC with 11.00 assists per set and freshman defensive specialist Anna Dols is 10th with 4.01 digs per set.

• As a team, is third in the GNAC with a .229 hitting percentage and an average of 2.58 aces per set. The Cavaliers are also fourth in the GNAC with 2.14 blocks per set, an average that would rank 41st in Division II if the Cavaliers were eligible for the NCAA statistics.

• On Sept. 17, Concordia broke the GNAC record for blocks in a four-set match with 21. That surpassed the record of 20 held by six different teams, most recently Northwest Nazarene vs. Seattle Pacific on 11/12/15.

• Concordia is home for its next two match, hosting Seattle Pacific on Thursday and Saint Martin’s on Saturday.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings split its matches against the Willamette Valley schools last week, falling in five sets to Concordia on Thursday before beating Western Oregon in five sets on Saturday,

• Senior outside hitter Ashlynn Ward finished with 41 kills and averaged 4.10 kills per set in 10 sets. She led the Yellowjackets with 24 kills against Concordia and added 17 kills against Western Oregon. Ward enters the week second in the GNAC with 3.63 kills per set and third with 3.97 points per set.

• Senior outside hitter Stormy Siemion added 32 kills, registering 17 kills and 16 digs against Concordia and 15 kills and 10 digs against Western Oregon. Siemion enters the week ranked fifth in the GNAC with 3.45 kills per set and is 15th in Division II with 11.81 attacks per set.

• Freshman setter Angala Jensen is eighth in the GNAC with an average of 8.81 assists per set. She had 53 assists and 10 digs against Concordia and added 44 assists and 17 digs against Western Oregon.

• Montana State Billings continues a five-match home stand this week, hosting Central Washington on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday. The Yellowjackets will host crosstown rival Rocky Mountain on Tuesday in the final GNAC non-conference match of the season.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene secured a weekend split of the Alaska schools, scoring a three-set win over Alaska on Thursday before taking a four-set loss to Alaska Anchorage on Saturday. The Crusaders opened this week with a three-set road sweep of Central Washington.

• Junior outside hitter Kendra Bodine led NNU with 34 kills in the two weekend matches, finished with 20 kills against Alaska and 14 kills against Alaska Anchorage. She went on to add 12 kills against Central Wahington. Bodine enters the week leading the GNAC with 4.23 points per set. She also leads the league and is 32nd in Division II with 4.00 kills per set.

• Junior middle blocker Madi Farrell added 11 blocks to her season total over the last three matches, paced by a seven-block performance against Alaska Anchorage. Farrell enters the week third in the GNAC and 12th in Division II with 1.23 blocks per set.

• Junior setter Hailey Cook is second in the GNAC and 20th in Division II with an average of 11.33 assists per set while sophomore libero Shayli Siegfreid is third in the GNAC and 28th in Division II with 5.58 digs per set.

• As a team, Northwest Nazarene is second in the GNAC with 18.45 digs per set, third with 12.70 assists per set and fourth with a .206 hitting percentage, a .160 opponent’s hitting percentage and 13.17 kills per set. The Crusaders are 25th in Division II in digs per set and 32nd in assists per set.

• The Crusaders complete the week on the road, competing at Montana State Billings on Saturday.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• After winning both matches the previous week, Saint Martin’s dropped both matches last weekend in three sets, falling at home to Western Washington on Thursday and Simon Fraser on Saturday.

• Junior outside hitter Rebecca Mitchell led the Saints with 16 kills in the two matches, finsihing with eight in each match. Mitchell enters the week 10th in the GNAC with 3.00 kills pet set.

• Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Gondrezick added eight kills to share the team lead against Simon Faser. Gondrezick also finished the match with a team-high 10 digs.

• Sophomore middle blocker Brooklyn Tacke enters the week ranked seventh in the GNAC with 0.39 aces per set. Junior setter Nicolette Nesbitt is 10th in the GNAC with an average of 6.08 assists per set.

• Saint Martin’s will look to open the second half on a high note with matches in the Willamette Valley. The Saints will play at Western Oregon on Thursday and at Concordia on Saturday.

SEATTLE PACIFIC
• Seattle Pacific put together a strong week, opening with a three-set win over Simon Fraser before taking a hard-fought five-set loss to Western Washington on Saturday.

• Sophomore middle blocker Shaun Crespi was named GNAC Defensive Player of the Week after finishing with 19 blocks in the two matches, averaging 2.38 blocks per set. She also hit .447 for the week (21-4-38). She finished with 10 blocks against Simon Fraser and nine against Western Washington. Crespi enters the week second in the GNAC and third in Division II with 1.59 blocks per set.

• Freshman outside hitter Gabby Oddo led the offense with 28 kills in the two matches, notching 14 in each match. She also had 17 digs and four blocks against Simon Fraser and 32 digs and three aces against Western Washington. Oddo enters the week sixth in the GNAC with 3.41 kills per set and seventh with 3.77 points per set.

• Senior outside hitter Lexi Biondi added 25 kills for the Falcons in the two matches, topped by a team-leading 18-kill performance off the bench against Western Washington.

• As a team, Seattle Pacific is second in the GNAC and fourth in Division II with 2.60 blocks per set. The Falcons are also ranked seventh in Division II eith 39.75 team attacks per set and ninth with 184.5 total team blocks. Seattle Pacific is also third in the GNAC with a .160 opponent’s hitting percentage.

• Seattle Pacific is on the road for its next two matches, playing at Concordia on Thursday and at Western Oregon on Saturday.

SIMON FRASER
• Simon Fraser took its first two-match losing streak in stunning fashion, falling in theee sets at Seattle Pacific on Thursday. The Clan rebounded with a three-set sweep on Saturday at Saint Martin’s.

• Sophomore middle blocker Tessa May finished with 17 kills in the two matches to lead the Clan, paced by a 14-kill performance against Saint Martin’s in which she hit .619 (14-1-21) with five digs and three blocks. May enters the week sixth in the GNAC and 24th in Division II with 1.17 blocks per set. She is also ninth in the GNAC with a .270 hitting percentage.

• Junior outside hitter Christine Howlett hit .333 for the week, finishing with 11 kills, nine of which came in Saturday’s win over Saint Martin’s.

• Setter Tamara Nipp leads the GNAC and is 13th in Division II with 11.35 assists per set. The senior finished with 22 assists against Seattle Pacific and added 43 assists against Saint Martin’s to go along with five digs and four blocks.

• Senior defensive specialist Alison McKay leads the GNAC and is fourth in Division II with 6.46 digs per set. She finished with 16 digs in both matches last week.

• Simon Fraser is second in the GNAC and 22nd in Division II with 12.79 assists per set and is also second in the league and 50th in Division II with a .151 opponent’s hitting percentage. The Clan is also third in the GNAC in kills with 13.51 per set.

• Simon Fraser opens the second half of the GNAC season on the road, playing at Alaska Anchorage on Thursday and at Alaska on Saturday.

WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon dropped both matches last week, falling at Concordia in three sets last Tuesday before taking a five-set loss at Montana State Billings on Saturday.

• Sophomore outside hitter Amanda Short led the Wolves with 23 kills in the two matches. She finished with 10 kills and a .207 hitting percentage against Concordia before amassing 13 kills against Montana State Billings. Senior middle blocker Paige Orth led the Wolves with 14 kills against the Yellowjackets.

• Junior middle blocker Sydney Blankinship had a .296 hitting percentage in the two matches and paced her week with eight kills against Montana State Billings. Blankinship enters the week ranked second in the GNAC with a .342 hitting percentage.

• Junior outside hitter Alicia Bettinson ranks fourth in the GNAC with 3.45 kills per set. She topped her weke with a 12-kill, 21-dig performance against Montana State Billings.

• As a team, Western Oregon is fourth in the GNAC and 35th in Division II with 17.94 digs per set.

• The Wolves host the Puget Sound schools for the next two matches. Western Oregon faces Saint Martin’s on Thursday and Seattle Pacific on Saturday.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington closed the first half of the GNAC season on a seven-match win streak, beating Saint Martin’s in three sets on Thursday before surviving a five-set battle with Seattle Pacific on Saturday.

• Sophomore outside hitter Kayleigh Harper led the way for the Vikings with 29 kills and a .455 hitting percentage in the two matches. She finished with seven kills and four blocks against Saint Martin’s and added 22 kills and five blocks against Seattle Pacific. Harper leads the GNAC and is 25th in Division II with a .359 hitting percentage. She is also eighth in the GNAC with 1.11 blocks per set.

• Sophomore outside hitter Abby Phelps is seventh in the GNAC with an average of 3.25 kills per set. She finished with 14 kills and 31 digs against Seattle Pacific, her only match of the week.

• Sophomore middle blocker Michaela Hall led WWU with 11 kills in the victory over Saint Martin’s. She enters the week eighth in the GNAC with a .272 hitting percentage.

• With the two wins, Western Washington moved up one spot to No. 19 in the latest AVCA Division II Coaches Poll.

• As a team, Western Washington leads the GNAC and is 17th in Division II with a .249 hitting percentage. The Vikings also lead the GNAC and rank 14th in Division II with 13.94 kills per set.

• Western Washington opens the second half of the GNAC schedule on the road, playing at Alaska on Thursday before a big showdown with Alaska Anchorage on Saturday.

• Western Washington will play all of its 2016 home matches at Bellingham’s Whatcom Community College while its on-campus arena, Carver Gymnasium, undergoes the second year of a two-year renovation.