UAA volleyball racks major GNAC awards, including Player of the Year for setter Morgan Hooe

After UAA volleyball's exceptional team accomplishments — blowing through the Great Northwest Athletic Conference for a second straight title and earning the right to host the NCAA Division II West Regional for the second straight year — individual rewards started rolling in Tuesday.

Senior setter Morgan Hooe was voted Player of the Year by league coaches, who also judged Chris Green Coach of the Year for the second straight season and fourth time in his nine seasons, and chose right-side hitter Diana Fa'amusili Freshman of the Year.

UAA senior middle blocker Erin Braun and sophomore outside hitter Leah Swiss joined Hooe and Fa'amusili on the first team, giving the Seawolves a league-high four players on the 15-player first team. UAA sophomore libero Kyla Militante-Amper was voted honorable mention.

[Next up for the Seawolves is the NCAA Division II West Regional, which they host for the second straight season]

The Seawolves, ranked No. 9 nationally in NCAA Division II, bolted through the regular season with a 29-2 record that included a 19-1 conference mark. They own an eight-match winning streak after generating a school-record, 20-match winning streak earlier this season, and they are the No. 1 seed in the West Regional, set for Dec. 1-3 at the Alaska Airlines Center on UAA's campus. The 29 wins also are a school record.

Hooe, of Anchorage, is the second straight Seawolf to be voted GNAC Player of the Year — her close friend Katelyn Zanders of Anchorage bagged the honor in 2015 — and the fourth to win the award. Jackie Matthisen won in 2011 and Calli Scott, currently a graduate assistant coach with the Seawolves, won in 2009.

As UAA setter, Hooe orchestrates the team, and she delivers multiple dimensions. She averages 10.57 assists per set, along with 1.28 kills and 2.80 digs. Her .396 attacking percentage led the league.

Like Hooe, Swiss is a repeat first-teamer. She delivered nine or more kills in 27 of 31 matches, including a career-high 27 against fellow West Regional qualifier Northwest Nazarene. Braun averages 1.15 blocks per set and her .312 attack percentage ranked fourth in the conference. Fa'amusili was the only freshman voted to the first team.

Green in nine seasons has guided the Seawolves to a 188-71 record (.726 winning percentage). Under his watch, the Seawolves have qualified for the NCAA tournament four straight seasons and seven times in the last eight seasons. In 28 seasons before Green's arrival, UAA qualified for the NCAAs twice.

Hooe and Braun will become the first Seawolf players in program history to play in the NCAA tournament all four of their seasons.