Rewards rolled in for the UAA volleyball team and two of its players Monday after the Seawolves won two home matches last week to guarantee themselves at least a share of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship heading into the final week of the regular season.
UAA (27-2, 17-1 GNAC) beat Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington last week to run its winning streak to six matches. That sweep lifted the Seawolves two spots to No. 9 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II poll released Monday.
The Seawolves can clinch the conference crown outright for the second straight season with victory either Thursday at Seattle Pacific or Saturday at Saint Martin's. UAA is ranked No. 1 in the West Region. If it holds that designation, it will host the NCAA Division II West Regional for the second straight season.
UAA's prosperity last week led to a pair of GNAC individual awards — sophomore Leah Swiss on Monday was named Offensive Player of the Week and freshman Diana Fa'amausili was named Defensive Player of the Week.
Swiss delivered a career-high 27 kills is a four-set win over Northwest Nazarene and followed with 14 kills in a four-set win over Central Washington.
Fa'amausili generated eight blocks against Northwest Nazarene and another five against Central Washington, and she bagged 15 kills in each match.
Six different Seawolves have won weekly GNAC honors this season. The previous winners were seniors Morgan Hooe and Erin Braun, and sophomores Chrisalyn Johnson and Kyla Militante-Amper.