Eve Stephens
Former Colony High crusher Eve Stephens is chasing UAA and GNAC records for career kills in style.
The Seawolf senior spiker is on pace to challenge the school’s single-season mark for attack percentage after another big-time effort tonight in a sweep of Findlay on Day 1 of the Nanook Classic at UAF. UAA has an 8-0 record this year with seven sweeps.
Stephens slammed a season-high 20 kills with just one error on 36 attempts for a fabulous .528 hitting percentage. And it’s not even her best effort of the season. The 6-foot-1 middle blocker hit .586 against Pittsburg State, .542 against Hawaii Pacific and .533 against Lubbock Christian.
Stephens, of Palmer, has racked up a season attack percentage of .429 on 124-for-247 hitting with 18 errors in eight matches. Only one UAA volleyball player in school history has hit .400 or better in a season – record-holder Robyn Burton at .416 in 2011. Stephens already tied for No. 5 on the Seawolves’ all-time list with a .330 percentage in 2018.
The two-time AVCA Second Team All-American continues to inch closer to the top spot for career kills in UAA and GNAC history after pushing her total to 1,551 in Fairbanks. The GNAC record is 1,628 held by Western Washington’s Abby Phelps from 2015 to 2018. The UAA record of 1,691 is held by Jen Szczerbinski, a record set 30 years ago.
Palmer’s Eve Stephens. Photo by Skip Hickey/UAA Athletics