Tuesday, November 17, 2015

A NEW LEADER ATOP THE KILLS LIST: With a week to go in the GNAC season, Alaska middle blocker Sam Harthun has made it to the top of the GNAC all-time kills list. With her first kill on Saturday at Simon Fraser, Harthun reached 1,462 kills to eclipse the previous all-time mark of 1,461 set by Seattle’s Sarah Sommerman between 2005 and 2008. The senior from Oregon City, Ore., finished with 19 kills in the Nanooks’ final two road matches of the season at Western Washington and Simon Fraser.

Harthun eclipsed the Alaska career record for kills on Oct. 29 at Seattle Pacific as she surpass the former record of 1,363 set by her former head coach, Mallory Bergstrom. In addition to her kills record, Harthun set five-set match records when she smashed 40 kills and finished with 41.5 points to lead the Nanooks to a win over Northwest Nazarene on Nov. 5.

Harthun enters the week leading the GNAC and ranked 20th in Division II with an average of 4.10 kills per set. She is leads the GNAC and is 19th in Division II with 4.62 points per set.

SLEDDING THEIR WAY TO A TITLE: Thanks to their three-set sweep at Western Washington on Saturday, Alaska Anchorage is in the musher’s seat in the GNAC title race. The Seawolves need just one more win to claim at least a share of their GNAC title since 2009. Two wins in their matches against Concordia on Thursday and Western Oregon on Saturday will give UAA the title outright.

After going five sets with the Vikings in the teams’ first meeting in Anchorage on Oct. 15, the Seawolves battled hard for the three-set sweep. After easily taking the first two sets, Western Washington led most of the third set before UAA rallied for a 24-23 lead on a kill by Leah Swiss. Joelee Buckner’s kill for WWU at 25-24 forced extra points before Erin Braun ended the match with a kill at 30-28.

Alaska Anchorage enters the week having won nine straight and opened the season with a school record 16 consecutive victories before Northwest Nazarene handed them their first loss of the season. The Seawolves enter the week ranked No. 11 in the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll and ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division II West Region Rankings released on Nov. 11. They lead the GNAC in hitting percentage (.261) and opponent hitting percentage (.125). The Seawolves are ranked third in Division II with their .923 win percenrage and are 15th in hitting percentage.

ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN: While sitting just a game behind in second place, Western Washington and Central Washington will be looking for Alaska Anchorage to trip in their final two matches to have a shot at at least a share of the GNAC championship. While falling to the Seawolves in their matchup on Saturday, Western Washington took care of business on Thursday with a three-set sweep of Alaska. The loss to UAA snapped a five-match win streak for the Vikings and a string that saw them win 15 of 17 matches. Western Washington enters the week ranked No. 16 in the AVCA Division II Coaches Top-25 Poll and were No. 2 in the Nov. 11 NCAA Division II West Regional Rankings.

Central Washington enters the final weekend of the regular season having won three in a row and nine of their last 10 matches following three-set home sweeps over Saint Martin’s on Thursday and Seattle Pacific on Saturday. The Wildcats slipped out of this week’s AVCA Division II Coaches Poll, but are the theoretical No. 26 as the top team among those receiving votes. They were also No. 3 in the last NCAA Division II West Region Rankings. Central Washington is at Northwest Nazarene on Tuesday for the final “travel partner” match of the season before closing the regular season at home on Saturday against Montana State Billings.

A NORTHWEST BLOCK PARTY: The GNAC closes the regular season as one of the top conferences at the net. Four of the league’s 11 teams are ranked in the NCAA Division II top-50 for blocking. Central Washington leads the nation with an average of 2.90 blocks per set while Northwest Nazarene is ranked second, also at 2.90 blocks per set. Alaska Anchorage is fourth in Division II with 2.72 blocks per set and Western Washington is 18th with an average of 2.42 blocks per set.

Northwest Nazarene’s Madi Farrell leads eight GNAC players ranked in the Division II top-50 individually, ranking fourth with 1.52 blocks per set. Central Washington’s Sabrina Wheelhouse is sixth at 1.39 blocks per set and Western Washington’s Kayleigh Harper is seventh at 1.32 blocks per set.

GREAT DIGS, NO SHOVEL NEEDED: After being well off the radar to begin the season, Western Oregon junior libero Christie Colasurdo has vaulted up to being top of mind statistically. Colasurdo enters the final week of the season leading the GNAC and ranked fourth in Division II with an average of 6.37 digs per set. She added 60 digs in last week’s matches, including a five-set win over Montana State Billings on Saturday where she had 34 digs.

Also ranked in the NCAA Division II top-50 in digs from the GNAC is Simon Fraser’s Alison McKay, 14th at 5.91 digs per set, and Seattle Pacific’s Breanne Wiekamp, 31st at 5.46 digs per set.

ADD NCAA INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: In addition to leading the GNAC in blocking, Farrell and Wheelhouse are in the Division II top-50 in hitting percentage. Farrell is 15th at .376 and Wheelhouse is 19th at .370...Alaska Anchorage’s Morgan Hooe leads the GNAC and is 27th in Division II with 10.63 assists per set...Simon Fraser is ranked fifth in Division II in team attacks at 40.24 per set. The Clan is also 22nd in digs at 18.39 per set...Alaska is 49th in Division II with 1.73 digs per set. While Riley Podowicz continues to lead the GNAC in the stat with 0.43 per set, she has dropped out of the Division II top-50.

OTHER RECORD PERFORMANCES: Two GNAC team single match records have been broken this season. Alaska Anchorage’s .410 hitting percentage against Alaska on Sept. 22 set a record for kill percentage in four sets. That bettered the mark of .407 which Alaska set against Western Oregon on Oct. 31, 2009.

Western Washington finished with 20 blocks at Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 26, bettering the mark of 19.5 in a five-set match by Central Washington against Cal State San Bernadino on Nov. 18, 2005. In the same match, Kayleigh Harper registered 13 blocks, tying the GNAC record for a five-set match. Alaska’s Miranda Grieser tied the record for blocks in a five-set match with eight aces on Oct. 31 against Saint Martin’s.

PACKING THEM IN: Once again, Alaska Anchorage is breaking attendance records. The Seawolves hosted 2,002 fans in the Alaska Airlines Center for their Nov. 7 match against Northwest Nazarene. It marks the sixth time this season that Alaska Anchorage has reset the school’s volleyball attendance record. The Seawolves lead Division II in average attendance with 1,294 coming through the turnstiles in 12 matches. They also ranked first in total accumulated attendance with an impressive 15,526 fans.

Northwest Nazarene is ranked 13th at 576 fans per match while Central Washington is 17th in Division II in average attendance, averaging 512 fans per contest. Only the Northern Sun with seven teams has more conference teams in the Division II top-20 for average attendance. Central Washington is 12th in Division II for accumulative attendance (6,557) while Western Oregon is 20th (5,298).

WHAT’S NEXT....POSTSEASON EDITION: The GNAC regular season champion will receive the GNAC’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division II National Tournament. The field of 64 teams will be announced on during the NCAA Division II Volleyball Selection Show on Mon., Nov. 23, at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time. The west region field will be made up of the conference automatic qualifiers from the GNAC, California Collegiate Athletic Association and the PacWest Conference along the next five ranked teams in the region. The West Region Tournament will be played from Thurs., Dec. 3 to Sun., Dec. 5, with site to be announced on Monday. The selection show can be seen at ncaa.com/championships.

THIS WEEK'S GNAC VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Sabrina Wheelhouse, Central Washington
MB • 6-3  Sophomore • Eugene, Ore.

Wheelhouse finished with a .650 hitting percentage in two matches, finishing with 15 kills and 22 blocks in the Wildcats’ victories over Saint Martin’s and Seattle Pacific. Also Nominated: Amanda Short (Western Oregon), Ashlynn Ward (Montana State Billings), Katelynn Zanders (Alaska Anchorage).

DEFENSIVE
Jenna Caywood, Northwest Nazarene
MB • 6-2 • Senior • Meridian, Idaho

Caywood led the Crusaders with 15 blocks and 13 kills in the Crusaders’ victories over Saint Martin’s and Seattle Pacific. She had eight blocks over the Falcons and seven over the Saints. Also Nominated: Christie Colasurdo (Western Oregon), Kimmy Kirk (Montana State Billings), Kyla Militante-Amper (Alaska Anchorage).