UAA's Gabriel earns GNAC weekly honor

Portland, Oregon (Sept. 8) - UAA junior Kyana Gabriel was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) volleyball offensive player of the week Tuesday after helping her team to a pair of victories and a near upset.

The outside hitter posted 3.64 kills per set on .420 hitting and 0.82 aces per set as the Seawolves went 2-1 at Ice Block Classic in Fairbanks.

On Friday, the Hilo, Hawaii, native started with nine kills on .692 hitting (9-0-13) and a pair of aces to power a sweep of Minnesota State, registering a UAA top-20 single-match attack percentage. Later Friday, Gabriel had eight kills on .500 hitting (8-1-14) in a sweep of Tiffin and tied the third-best figure in program history with six aces. She finished Saturday with a UAA season-high 23 kills on .333 hitting (23-5-54) in a 3-2 loss to No. 9 Fresno Pacific, while her 15 digs secured her double-double of season.

"Kyana competed with confidence, made an impact in every game, and showed why she was one of the top players in the tournament," said UAA head coach Morgan Hooe. "She made big plays when her team needed them, battled at the net and continued to impact the game from start to finish."

Gabriel and the Seawolves (7-3) open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this week with matches against Seattle Pacific (Thur., 7 pm) and Montana State Billings (Saturday, 7 p.m.) at the Alaska Airlines Center. Admission is free Thursday for kids 12-and-under, courtesy of Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. For tickets and more, visit GoSeawolves.com.