By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

Photography by: Stephanie Burgoon

PORTLAND, Ore. – A raucous crowd of fifth graders inside the Alaska Airlines Center kicked off a successful final week of the regular season for the Alaska Anchorage volleyball team, which finished its 2024 campaign with a pair of impressive Great Northwest Athletic Conference victories and was named the GNAC Team of the Week on Monday.
 
UAA (16-12, 10-8 GNAC) took down fourth-place Western Washington in straight sets during Thursday’s Alaska School District Digs Higher Education field trip day, which brought upwards of 3,000 elementary school kids

to the arena. The Seawolves continued buzzing off the momentum in their Saturday match, sweeping second-place Simon Fraser to close out the year with a pair of victories.
 
“That one was really fun,” UAA head coach Stacie Meisner said on playing in front of the fifth-grade fans. “It was a really loud environment, and the kids had a great time. The players were able to interact with them before and after the match, and it was special for those kid who not only have never come to a game but have never been on a college campus. Starting to introduce kids to what it’s like to be on a campus when they are young is really important. Having this kind of community engagement is not just special, but it is important we continue to do this in the future.”
 
It was the second straight week with a headline crowd at UAA, after it reclaimed the NCAA Division II volleyball attendance record in its home match against Alaska Fairbanks on Nov. 16. UAA originally broke the attendance record with 3,888 fans in 2022, before the University of Nebraska Kearney brought in 4,003 fans to a match last fall. The Seawolves reclaimed the distinction two weeks ago, with a total of 4,388 fans filling out the green seats at the Alaska Airlines Center. “This is the third year we have done it, and it has always been a success,” Meisner said of the annual Pack the House night. “It really speaks to the community here in Anchorage and how much they support UAA athletics as a whole. We were able to get people in the door who maybe have never come to a game before, which helps generate long-term interest in supporting the program. We are grateful to have the support we do, and it is something really special to play in front of a crowd that big. It is not something that happens often at the D2 level.”
 
 
The Seawolves had the memory of a 3-2 loss to the Vikings on Sept. 21 on their minds at the outset of Thursday’s match, as they turned the tables to even the season series between the teams with a 25-22, 25-17, 25-17 triumph. Junior Tia Allen posted an 11-kill, 13-dig double-double to lead the way, while Bella Burney and Katie Birtcil each had three block assists. “Going into last week in general, the team wanted to go out on a high note for our seniors,” Meisner said. “We had a lot of good energy and excitement before and during the match against WWU with the kids in the arena, and that played a role. Our team came out focused, and wanted to be competitive and get a bit of redemption from that match earlier in the year after we let them reverse sweep us.”
 
Libero Madison Galloway had 19 digs while Hannah Trotter (14 assists) and Kadyn Osborne (12 assists) split the duties of coordinating the offense in the win over the Vikings. Senior Bethany Tuchardt, who averaged 2.23 kills per set this season, contributed eight kills to the offensive effort. “She has a great vertical, and has worked hard this year on increasing her arm speed and hitting the ball harder,” Meisner said on Tuchardt. “She’s a reliable pin hitter who we can put on the outside or right side, and we know she will be able to score points when she’s in the front row.”
 
Saturday’s win over the Red Leafs brought UAA closure, as its 2024 conference schedule began with a 3-0 defeat in Burnaby, B.C., on Sept. 19. The Seawolves flipped the script in convincing fashion, cruising to a 25-13, 25-17, 25-20 triumph to close the season. “We knew we would have to play some of our best volleyball to have a competitive match,” Meisner said on the team’s approach to facing SFU. “Our team has grown a lot through the season and found ways to improve a little bit each week. Simon was our first conference match, and getting to play them at the very end and have a much better performance at home shows the work and effort we have put in throughout the season to get better week after week.”
 
Osborne followed with 21 assists in the win over the Red Leafs, marking her 12th match this season reaching 20 assists. The senior from Anchorage racked up 673 assists in her two-year career, averaging 5.18 per set for her hometown team. “She did an excellent job all year long of distributing the ball to our attackers and helping us have a balanced attack,” Meisner said. “She did a great job feeding the middle when teams least expected it, and that’s how Leilani (Elder) was able to have higher hitting efficiencies. Defensively Kadyn does a nice job in the back row getting digs.”
 
Leilani Elder, a fourth-year senior on the squad, came through with seven total blocks last week while adding a dozen kills in her final matches as a Seawolf. Elder led the team and ranked eighth in the GNAC this fall with 1.06 blocks per set and totaled 304 blocks (0.92 per set) in her four-year career at UAA. “She has been in the program four years and played every single year,” Meisner said on Elder. “She has continually gotten better and she really had a great year. She had some good offensive output for us and good movement on the block. She was a solid, steady force in the front row for us.”
 
In her first season on the floor for the Seawolves, Allen played a pivotal role both offensively and defensively. In the win over the Vikings Thursday, she recorded her eighth double-double of the season, and she led the team with 2.35 kills per set this fall while ranking 13th in the GNAC with 2.98 digs per set this fall. “Tia is not just an athlete, but she is a competitor,” Meisner said. “She is a captain on our team, and she plays a really big role athletically and as a leader on our team. She had a tremendous week and is another player who continues to work hard week after week. She is the cornerstone to our team.”

Fueling the UAA defense all season long have been Burney and Galloway, who each contributed in last week’s wins. Burney added five block assists against the Red Leafs to give her eight total on the week, and she finished her sophomore season second on the squad with 0.81 blocks per set. “Bella is a tremendous athlete,” said Meisner. “She is only a sophomore, and she continues to get better week after week. She has tons of athleticism and continues to have a high ceiling. Getting her back in the middle this year helped us out. She’s a force in the middle and can get the ball at any given time. She really did some nice things this week, and we are excited to have her for two more years.”
 
Galloway meanwhile ranked sixth in the GNAC this season with 4.07 digs per set and reached double figures in digs in 24 of 28 matches played. Through the first three seasons of her collegiate career, Galloway has accumulated 953 digs. Her digs per set mark this fall was more than a full dig higher than her previous single-season best of 2.84 which she posted in 2023. “Madison is a force on defense,” said Meisner. “She sees the ball really well, refuses to let the ball hit the ground without getting on the ground herself, and that has resulted in her getting a lot of digs. She’s a great athlete and provides a great foundation for us defensively. We are one of the top teams in the conference in digs per set, and that has a lot to do with her.”
 
A newcomer to the roster this season, Birtcil has made an immediate impact ranking second on the team with 2.34 kills per set and second on the team with 3.04 digs per set. A transfer from New Mexico State, Birtcil recorded her seventh double-double of the year with 13 kills and 13 digs in the win over SFU on Saturday. “Katie came in as a grad transfer for her final year of eligibility, and really filled a nice role on our team,” Meisner said. “She had offensive output in both the front and back rows and did nice things defensively and in serve-receive. She may not have the highest offensive numbers, but she is a player who demanded respect and teams tried to keep the ball away from her. Katie helped us have a balanced offensive attack and opened up things for some other hitters to have success.