ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University volleyball team hopes to split its trip to the Last Frontier as it plays visitor to a trending University of Alaska Fairbanks team on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT. 
 
GAME INFORMATION
Wildcats at Alaska Fairbanks
Saturday | 3 p.m. PT
Alaska Airlines Court | Fairbanks, Alaska. 
 
QUOTABLE 
"UAF is athletic and play with good energy," CWU Head Coach Mario Andaya said. "They're playing well so we will need to go in and compete with our best stuff." 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats enjoyed a successful opening weekend on their home court, picking up two GNAC wins. The first came on Sept. 26 when the Wildcats grounded the Seattle Pacific Falcons 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-12). Then on Sept. 28, the Wildcats conquered the Saint Martin's Saints 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-18) inside Nicholson Pavilion.
 
The Wildcats outplayed the Falcons in a handful of categories. Most notably, the Wildcats had 48 kills to the Falcon's 28. The team also defended well, scooping up 61 digs while holding the Falcons to .117 hitting percentage. The Wildcat offense was rolling as they racked up 46 assists and hit at a .231 clip.
 
Makala Swart and Diana Fa'amausili tied for a game-high 11 kills. Swart was the only Wildcat to record a double-double. She added 10 digs to her night's production. Fa'amausili was ultra-efficient, hitting at a .563 clip. Another efficient outing came from Bridgette Webb who had nine kills on a game-high .571 hitting percentage. Julia Mellander and Ashley Kaufman chipped in eight kills of their own. Gabrielle Aihara had an excellent night, picking up 44 assists in the home opener. 
 
Defensively, the Wildcats had a strong night. Fa'amausili and Mellander led the team with three assisted blocks. Sydney Remsberg and Kaufman tied for a team high 12 digs. Kyla Morgan added eight digs to the team's defensive efforts. 
 
The Wildcat offense could not be stopped against the Saints. Kaufman and Webb led the Wildcats with nine kills each, while Swart and Fa'amausili amassed eight kills each. Central finished with a hitting percentage of .381. Aihara amassed 30 assists on the afternoon. Swart led the Wildcats defensively with 15 digs.  She added one block to her total as well.  Webb sat atop the box score in blocks with four.  Central was 11-15 in sideout opportunities in the first set, converting at a clip of 73 percent.  
 
The Wildcats stumbled against the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-18) on Thursday night. The Alaskan Airlines Center proved to be a tough place to play for the Wildcats as they took on the Seawolves. The Seawolves held the Wildcats to a .163 hitting percentage while hitting .302 on their home court. The Wildcats were forced into 19 attack errors while the Seawolves had eight total blocks. 

Swart led the Wildcats with 11 kills. Kaufman finished with a double-double for the Wildcats. Kaufman had 10 kills while adding 11 digs. Webb was efficient in her offensive attacks. Webb added seven kills on a team-high .278 hitting percentage. Webb was also tough to deal with at the net, coming up with two assisted blocks on the night. 

Aihara distributed the ball well. The senior setting had 32 assists while adding 13 digs to the Wildcats defensive effort. Morgan led all players with 21 digs. 

WILDCATS IN THE GNAC
Defense remains to be the calling card for the Wildcats as they work through the early stages of their GNAC schedule. The Wildcats have blocked the third most attacks in conference with 2.20 blocks per set. The team ranks second with 17.78 digs per set.

Individual performances have helped make that defense as stout as it is. Morgan ranks second in conference with 5.47 digs per set. Mellander ranks third in conference with 1.20 blocks per set. Fa'amausili ranks seventh in blocks with .98 per set. 
 
The Wildcats also have their share of offense standouts. Aihara's 10.20 assists per set is the second best in conference. Swart ranks sixth in conference with 3.32 kills per set. The team also ranks third in both assists (12.08) and second in kills (13.00) per set. 
 
SCOUTING ALASKA FAIRBANKS
The Nanooks have been a program on the rise since the middle part of the 2018 season. The team went on an impressive second-half run to finish tied for fourth in the conference in 2018 and improve by seven conference wins from the 2017 season. The surge was bolstered by a seven-match win streak that went into October and a finish that saw the Nanooks win 11 of their last 14 matches. Alaska finished the season with a .182 hitting percentage and 12.20 kills per set.

That same momentum has carried into the 2019 GNAC play. After splitting their matches at the Colorado School of Mines Classic and taking just one of their four matches at the DII West Region Showcase, the Nanooks went undefeated in the first two weekends of GNAC play. During that run. The team beat the Alaska Anchorage in 3-1 (21-25, 25-19. 25-22, 25-22). On Thursday, the team fell in five sets to Northwest Nazarene.

The team's early season conference success can be attributed to the stability of returning five starters. Cate Whiting was a First Team All-GNAC selection a season ago after finishing with 9.97 assists and 2.30 digs per set. She also accumulated a .273 hitting percentage. She was selected to land on the All-Conference team again in this year's preseason poll. This season, she leads the Nanooks with 376 assists on 40 sets played for an average of 9.40 assists per set. 

Last weekend, Whiting made headlines as her performance netted her the American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Week award. Whiting paced the Nanooks to a pair of come-from-behind victories as she racked up 77 assists, 11 kills, eight aces, 21 digs and five blocks in two matches. She averaged 8.56 assists and 0.89 aces per set in nine sets.
 
Another standout for the Nanooks is Lahra Weber. Weber was selected to First Team All-GNAC a season ago. She finished fourth in league with 3.61 kills per set on a .194 hitting percentage. Weber was a part of the 2019 All-Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. This season, Weber ranks second on the team with 101 kills and is averaging 2.53 kills per set. 
 
Leading the Nanook offense this season is Kim Wong. Wong was strong on both sides of the net a season ago as she averaged 1.80 kills and 1.02 blocks per set while finishing with 101 total blocks. This season, she has 102 kills for an average of 2.68 per set. Defensively, Wong has 39 total blocks, 36 of which have been assisted on. 
 
AveRee Reynolds has emerged as another key piece for the Nanooks this season. Reynolds ranks third on the team with 94 kills for an average of 2.35. She's also one of the team's best defenders, ranking second in blocks with 30 total and three solo blocks. 

SERIES HISTORY
Since the year 2002, the Wildcats are 29-5 against the Nanooks. The matchup has been fairly one-sided, as the Wildcats have their last 17 meetings. The Wildcats have fallen four times on the road, compared to just once inside Nicholson Pavilion. Last season, the Wildcats won 3-1 (25-15, 24-26, 25-23, 25-22) on the road before sweeping the Nanooks at home on Nov. 10.