UAA's Burney, Ivakina make preseason All-GNAC Team

Portland, Oregon (Aug. 25) - After helping their team to a share of the league title last year, Alaska Anchorage seniors Bella Burney and Lee Ivakina were named Tuesday to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason All-Conference Team.

A 6-0 middle blocker, Burney led UAA and ranked seventh in the 2025 GNAC stats with a .285 attack percentage, while her 0.96 blocks per set ranked tenth. The Tumwater, Wash., product ripped at least five kills in all but two contests last season, including a pair of 13-kill, plus-.475 efforts in victories over Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific.

A 6-0 outside hitter, Ivakina was an All-GNAC performer in her first season as a Seawolf, posting 15 double-doubles in 29 matches. The Bulgarian was top-8 in the conference in both kills (3.22) and points (3.68) per set, along with 19th in digs per set (2.78), helping UAA to a 23-6 record and an NCAA Tournament berth.

Coming off a 2-2 record in their regular-season openers in Hawaii, the Seawolves make their home debut this week with matches against Texas Woman's (Thur., 7:30 p.m.), Lenoir-Rhyne (Fri., 7:30 p.m.) and Chico State (Sat., 5 p.m.) at the Alaska Airlines Center. Find the complete schedule, tickets and more at GoSeawolves.com.