Tuesday, October 25, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – Alaska Anchorage’s Eve Stephens has consistently been one of the top players in Division II this season but her performance over the last week may be her best yet.

The senior right-side hitter has been named the American Volleyball Coaches Association/GameChanger Division II National Player of the Week for the second time this season. The award recognizes a week where Stephens averaged 6.88 kills, 2.88 digs, 0.82 blocks and 0.25 aces per set with a .414 hitting percentage.

Stephens is the first player this season at any level of the college game to earn AVCA Player of the Week honors twice.

Stephens was the prime mover for the Alaska Anchorage offense in both of last week’s matches. She finished with a double-double of 22 kills and 14 digs to go along with three blocks, two assists, an ace and a .333 hitting percentage in Thursday’s four-set loss at Simon Fraser.

She took things one step further on Saturday as the No. 9 Seawolves played at No. 10 Western Washington. Stephens set a GNAC record for kills in a four-set match with 33 to lead UAA to the four-set victory. She surpassed the previous conference record of 32 kills set by Alyssa Given of Seattle Pacific in 2006. Stephens also had nine digs, three assists, two blocks and an ace while compiling a .477 hitting percentage.

The week earned Stephens her fifth GNAC Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week award of the season and her sixth overall conference weekly award for the year.

For the season, Stephens is ranked second in Division II with 5.73 points per set, fourth with 4.40 kills per set, seventh with 390 total kills and 21st with 0.57 aces per set. She leads the conference in each category.

With the split, Alaska Anchorage enters the week with a 22-2 overall record and continues to hold first place in the GNAC at 12-1. The Seawolves play just one match this week, hosting in-state rival Alaska on Saturday.