SEATTLE -- They started well and finished well. It was in the middle of their volleyball match when things went sour for the Seattle Pacific Falcons on Thursday night.
The Falcons took the first game of their Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest from 12th-ranked Western Washington, but the Vikings, after seeing SPU stave off two match points near the end, came back for a four-game victory in Brougham Pavilion.
Scores were 25-27, 25-14, 25-15, 27-25.
“We came out ready to go and won Game 1, then Games 2 and 3 were bad. But in the fourth game, we fought off two game points and never gave up at the end, so that was great,” Falcons coach Chris Johnson said. “We had 18 kills in both of those games, and that's a lot of kills. We hit .255 (in Game 1) and .240 (in Game 4). We needed more games like that.”
Senior Nikki Finley (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) led the Falcons (4-17, 2-10 GNAC) with 20 kills, one short of her career-high 21 that she established just last Thursday in a three-game sweep of Alaska Anchorage in Brougham. Freshman Priscilla Collings (Chula Vista, Calif.) added 18 kills, her career high.
Collings, in fact, wound up with a double-double. She had 15 digs to go along with her kills.
“That was her best match of the season -- it was kind of a coming-out party for her,” Johnson said of Collings' performance. “It's great to have that fire on the court that she brings.”
Megan Amundson led Western Washington (17-2, 9-2 GNAC) with 21 kills, Angie Alvord had 13, and Tiana Roma added 12.
SPU was down 17-14 in the first game, then ran off six straight points for a 20-17 lead. Western got back into a 25-25 tie, then the Falcons got the last two points, clinching it on a kill from sophomore Kylie Johnson (Tucson, Ariz.) that went out off a Western Washington player.
The Vikings led virtually from start to finish in Game 2. Western Washington scored four of the first five points and never trailed. The third game was tied at 14-14 when the Vikings went on an eight-point run, all with Angie Alvord serving.
Seattle Pacific built an 18-15 lead in a back-and-forth Game 4. But Western Washington eventually went up 24-23. The Falcons saved that match point, and one more at 25-24 before the Vikings closed it out.
Cortney Weedman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) came up with 23 assists for Seattle Pacific, and Joelle Perez (Vancouver, Wash., Heritage HS) was close behind her with 22. Freshman Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash., Shorecrest HS) had 21 digs. Herold ranks No. 3 nationally in Division II in digs with an average of 5.88 per game.
Kari Rice had 51 assists for Western Washington.
For the match, the Vikings, who are the top-hitting team in the conference, hit .245. Seattle Pacific hit .135.
SPU finishes the home portion of its schedule on Saturday night at 7 against Montana State Billings in Royal Brougham Pavilion. It will be Senior Night, and the Falcons will be try to bounce back from a three-game sweep at the hands of Billings on Oct. 4 in Montana.
Seattle Pacific simply couldn't find its groove in that first match against the Yellowjackets. Johnson said his team hasn't forgotten about that one.
“We've had a new-found energy in practice on Wednesday and for half of the match today,” he said. “I think we're going to experience that the whole way on Saturday and get out of here with a big win.”
NCAA Volleyball
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Brougham Pavilion, Seattle, Wash.
(No. 12) Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 1
Game scores -- 25-27, 25-14, 25-15, 27-25.
Service aces -- WWU: Kathryn Mertens 2. SPU: Priscilla Collings 2.
Kills -- WWU: Megan Amundson 21, Angie Alvord 13, Tiana Roma 12. SPU: Nikki Finley 20, Collings 18.
Blocks -- WWU: Alvord 5, Amundson 2. SPU: Robin De Jong 4, Kylie Johnson 3, Joelle Perez 3, Paige Hoffman 2.
Assists -- WWU: Kari Rice 51. SPU: Cortney Weedman 23 Perez 22.
Digs -- WWU: Allison Gotz 29, Haleigh Adkins 19. SPU: Anna Herold 21, Collings 15, Torii Mount 14.
Attendance -- 223.
Records --
Seattle Pacific 4-17,2-10 GNAC.
Western Washington 17-2, 9-2 GNAC.
