Eve Stephens
At this point, the GNAC might as well just name its player-of-the-week award after Eve Stephens.
The UAA volleyball star from Palmer earned her record 11th honor after leading the Seawolves to a pair of wins over the weekend.
Stephens slammed 34 kills on .291 hitting as UAA swept Western Washington in three sets and knocked off Simon Fraser in four.
The 6-foot-1 rocket right-hander averaged 5.07 points and 4.71 kills in the two victories.
Stephens (Colony) claimed her 11th GNAC weekly honor to set a record in the 20-year-old league previously shared by Western Washington’s Kayleigh Harper (2015-18) and Calley Heilborn (2019-present).
UAA volleyball star Eve Stephens of Palmer broke UAA’s career kills record. Photo by Skip Hickey/UAA Athletics
She also has the most kills (1,698) and points (2,017) in GNAC and UAA history and is the NCAA Division II active career leader in both categories.
The Seawolves sit atop the conference at 6-0 and are 16-1 on the season. Thanks to last weekend’s sweep, UAA moved up three spots to No. 11 in the AVCA national poll, leapfrogging Western Washington, which fell from 13th to 12th.
Brooke Dexter
Saturday’s match against Simon Fraser featured another big hitter in Brooke Dexter of Anchorage. Dexter (West) is a sophomore outside hitter for Simon Fraser and delivered 17 kills and a .516 hitting percentage on 31 attack attempts.
Both Stephens, Dexter and North Pole’s Ainsley Smith of UAF are prominently featured among the GNAC leaders:
GNAC Leaders from Alaska
Kills
1) Stephens 4.59
7) Dexter 2.93Hitting Percentage
3) Stephens .378
9) Dexter .320Assists
7) Smith 5.68Aces
1) Stephens 0.61Points
1) Stephens 5.61
8) Dexter 3.44