Monday, November 23, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. – After leading the Great Northwest Athletic Conference from start to finish, Alaska Anchorage will host the NCAA Division II West Region Tournament to lead three GNAC teams invited to the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship.

The tournament field was announced Monday afternoon. The Seawolves, who won their first GNAC title in six years, earned the right to host the regional on Dec. 4-6 thanks to their No. 1 ranking in the West Region Rankings. They clinched the title with a three-set sweep over Western Oregon at home on Saturday.

Alaska Anchorage leads three GNAC squads to earn invitations into the 64-team field. Western Washington earned the No. 2 seed while Central Washington is the No. 5 seed.

The Seawolves will open the tournament against No. 8 seed Dixie State (19-10), the 2015 PacWest Conference champions. Western Washington will open against No. 7 seed Point Loma (20-9) while Central Washington will face No. 4 seed Cal State San Bernadino (26-5), who finished second in the California Collegiate Athletic Association standings. The fourth opening round match of the tournament will feature No. 3 Sonoma State, the CCAA champs, against No. 6 seed UC San Diego.

The teams competing at the Alaska Airlines Center will be treated to some big crowds. Alaska Anchorage leads Division II in attendance, having seen 18,816 fans come through the turnstiles in 14 matches for an average of 1,344 per game. The Seawolves have broken their single-match attendance record six times this season and had 2,002 see their team beat Northwest Nazarene on Nov. 7.

The Seawolves makes their seventh straight appearance in the playoffs and enters the tournament with a 26-2 overall record. They finished the regular season ranked No. 9 in the final regular season AVCA Division II Coaches Poll, their highest ever ranking. Alaska Anchorage opened the season with a school record 16-match winning streak and finished the regular season having won 11 straight. The Seawolves finished the regular season leading the GNAC in hitting percentage (.240), opponent hitting percentage (.122) and finished second in assists per set (12.71), kills per set (13.68) and aces per set (1.56). Nationally, Alaska Anchorage is ranked fifth in Division II in blocks (2.69 per set), 12th in opponent hitting percentage and 32nd in kills per set.

Senior outside hitter Katelynn Zanders leads Alaska Anchorage offensively, ranking second in the GNAC with an average of 3.75 kills per set. Senior right side Julia Mackey is fifth in the league with a .311 hitting percentage while junior setter Morgan Hooe leads the GNAC and is 28th in Division II with 10.67 assists per set.

Western Washington earned the No. 2 seed in the West Region and their fifth conseutive postseason invitation after finishing second in the GNAC at 17-3, 23-5 overall. The Vikings enter the tournament with a No. 16 ranking in the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll. After losing their first two matches of the season to Tampa and Wheeling Jesuit, the Vikings roared back to win 16 straight matches. They enter the tournament having won seven of their last eight matches. Western Washington finished the regular season leading the GNAC in kills (13.81 per set) and assists (12.81 per set) and were second in hitting percentage (.254) and digs (16.69 per set). In the national stats, Western Washington is 16th in Division II in both blocks per set (2.48) and hitting percentage (.254) and are 27th in assists per set.

Senior outside hitter Rachel Roeder and freshman middle blocker Kayleigh Harper lead the Western Washington offense. Roeder finished seventh in the GNAC in kills (3.19 per set) and ninth in hitting percentage (.292). Harper finished third in the league with a .335 hitting percentage. She was second in the GNAC and No. 6 in Division II with 1.40 blocks per set.

Central Washington enters the tournament as the West Region’s No. 3 seed and finsihed third in the GNAC at 16-4, 20-7 overall. The Wildcats, making their fourth straight playoff appearance, were ranked as high as No. 24 in the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll two weeks ago and finished the regular season among those receiving votes. After taking three losses to open the season, Central Washington went on to win 11 straight matches. They enter the tournament having won 10 of their last 12 matches. The Wildcats currently lead Division II in blocks, averaging 2.92 per set and are third in the GNAC in both hitting percentage (.234) and assists (12.03 per set).

Senior middle blocker Linden Firethorne and sophomore middle blocker Sabrina Wheelhouse give the Wildcats a nice one-two punch at the net. Firethorne is third in the GNAC with kills at 3.58 per set while Wheelhouse is second in the league in hitting percentage (.365). Wheelhouse is ranked eighth in Division II with 1.37 blocks per set and is ranked 16th in hitting percentage. Senior middle blocker Kaitlin Quirk finished eighth in the GNAC with a .292 hitting percentage and is ninth in Division II with 1.36 blocks per set.