THE SCHEDULE: Thursday, Oct. 22: SPU at Western Oregon, 7 p.m.
New P.E. Building/Monmouth, Ore.
Live Webcast and live stats on this link.
Saturday, Oct. 24: Bye
Weekly release, with complete stats
SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific volleyball team proved again that it can get back on track quickly. That paid off for the Falcons last week, and their mindset is to keep it going this week in an ever-tighter Great Northwest Athletic Conference race.
After a friendly schedule of home matches through the first half of GNAC play, Seattle Pacific heads onto the road for its next three conference contests. The first of those is Thursday night at Western Oregon, a team that will have plenty of motivation after the Falcons wiped out a two-game deficit to score a five-game victory against the Wolves on Sept. 24 in Brougham Pavilion.
The Falcons have a bye on Saturday, their second and final one of the season, then go back on the road next week, visiting Montana State Billings on Oct. 29 and Western Washington on Halloween night.
Very few things went the Falcons' way last Thursday in a 3-0 loss at home to Alaska Anchorage. That allowed the Seawolves to climb into a first-place tie with SPU atop the standings.
But as they have done three other times this season after a loss, the Falcons immediately turned it around and returned to the win column, beating Alaska Fairbanks in four games last Saturday afternoon in Brougham Pavilion.
Seattle Pacific remains very much in the postseason picture. The guaranteed route to the NCAA West Regionals is to win the conference title. SPU and Anchorage enter this week knotted a 7-2, and it's possible it all could come down to the regular-season finale between the teams on Nov. 14 in Anchorage.
But SPU also was at No. 6 in last week's West rankings. The region's three conference champions -- GNAC, California Collegiate Athletic Association and Pacific West -- automatically advance. After that, the five highest-ranked teams among the non-champions earn berths.
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
It wasn't just any one thing that helped the Falcons bounce back last Saturday against Fairbanks. It was several things -- and coach Chris Johnson definitely noticed.
“We hit better (.221 for the match), and we were able to get them out of their system with our serving -- seven aces, and a lot of other really good serves,” he said. “And we made adjustments on our blocks. … It was a combination of things. We definitely had better intensity tonight.”
Johnson knows the Falcons will have plenty on their hands with Western Oregon on Thursday.
“They're very disciplined, and they have some good hitters on that team,” he said. “I think we can have confidence knowing that after we dropped the first two games (last time), we swept them. So we know we can beat them, but it's certainly going to be hard work at their place.”
Falcon sophomore libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) is looking forward to the upcoming road challenges.
“This team is pretty focused. We love going into other teams' gyms,” she said. “It isn't a particularly bad thing being on the road, although it's always nice to have our fans that fire us up.”
SCOUTING WESTERN OREGON
All-time series: SPU leads, 16-14. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 3, WOU 2 (17-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-19, 15-10 on Sept. 24, 2009, at Seattle). Western Oregon on the Web.
Wolves in a nutshell: Western Oregon graduated some outstanding hitters from last year's conference championship team. But the Wolves seemingly have just reloaded. Coming into this match, Laura Sakala ranks No. 1 in GNAC hitting at .365, and Lisa Martini is right behind at .361. In fact, Thursday's contest will feature the top three conference hitters, as SPU's Amber Johnson is at .354. Western Oregon lost in four games at Western Washington last Thursday, hitting just .084 for the match. Danielle Reese leads the Wolves in kills with 227; she had a match-high 19 against SPU in September.
HOW TO THEY COMPARE?
(GNAC rank in parentheses)
Hitting percent SPU .210 (3) WOU .189 (7)
Opponent hit percent SPU .154 (1) WOU .229 (9)
Kills per game SPU 13.24 (1) WOU 12.01 (6)
Assists per game SPU 12.33 (1) WOU 11.13 (6)
Aces per game SPU 1.28 (8) WOU 1.58 (4)
Blocks per game SPU 1.89 (5) WOU 1.69 (6)
Digs per game SPU 16.55 (4) WOU 15.85 (5)
MOST RECENT SPU STARTERS
Oct. 17 vs. Alaska Fairbanks, W 3-1
Player Kills Pct. Aces Asts. Digs Blocks
Sarah Risser 17 .238 1 0 16 0
Paige Hoffman 5 .238 0 0 2 7
Lindsey Wodrich 9 .107 1 0 13 2
Amber Johnson 9 .333 0 0 1 9
Angie Pricco 0 -.250 0 0 0 0
Cortney Weedman 2 .667 2 23 3 0
Anna Herold (LIB) 0 .000 3 5 25 0
SEATTLE PACIFIC 53 .221 7 50 64 23
DOUBLE-DOUBLES AND OTHER DELIGHTFUL DIGITS
-- After getting blanked in the double-double department against Anchorage, the Falcons picked up another one on Saturday against Fairbanks as junior outside hitter Sarah Risser (Santa Barbara, Calif.) tallied her 11th of the season, this time with 17 kills and 16 digs. She now has 14 for her career. The Falcons have posted 28 double-doubles this fall. In addition to Risser's 11, sophomore outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) and senior setter Cortney Weedman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) have five apiece, sophomore outside hitter Priscilla Collings (Chula Vista, Calif.) has three, junior setter Joelle Perez (Vancouver, Wash./Heritage HS) has two, and freshman setter Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) also has two. Wodrich has 10 for her career, Weedman has six, and Collings has three, as does Perez.
-- The Falcons continue to lead the GNAC in three other statistical departments: kills per game (13.24), assists per game (12.33) and toughest team to hit against (.154). SPU's streak of keeping its opponents below .200 hitting ended at 12 against Alaska Anchorage last Thursday, but the Falcons started a new such streak on Saturday by limiting Alaska Fairbanks to .148 hitting, which included a -.056 in the decisive fourth game.
-- Risser is now among the top 25 in Division II for kills per game. She ranks No. 23 this week at 3.87. Topping the list is Melinda Bastian of Benedict College (S.C.) at 4.93
-- Amber Johnson (Mount Vernon, Wash./Mount Vernon HS) ranks among the top 35 in two categories: 32nd in blocks per game (1.06; Shawna Hines of Abilene Christian (Texas) leads at 1.54), and 35th in hitting percentage (.354; Xie'Ara Maybank-Smallings of Elizabeth City State (N.C.) leads at .432).
Click on this link for a complete look at GNAC statistics. Click on this link for a look at SPU's national rankings.
MAKING A MILLENNIAL MILESTONE
When sophomore libero Anna Herold came up with 10 digs against Alaska Anchorage last Thursday, it put her at exactly 1,000 as a Falcon. She added 25 more against Fairbanks on Saturday, giving her 446 for the season.
With seven regular-season matches left, Herold needs to average 19 digs per match to break her own single-season school record total of 579 set last year. She enters this week averaging 5.37 digs per game for the season, putting her at No. 19 in the national NCAA Division II rankings. Last year, Herold finished fourth in D-2 at 6.03 per game. Lauren Flynn of Texas A&M-Commerce is the D-2 leader this fall at 6.25.
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
-- Senior middle blocker Robin De Jong (Santa Barbara, Calif.), who missed the early part of the season with an injury, was back in action against Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday and had three kills, brining her within six of 200 for her career.
-- Sarah Risser is 17 kills away from 500.
-- Kylie Johnson (Tucson, Ariz.) needs just five kills to reach 100.
-- Joelle Perez, after racking up 1,718 assists in her first two seasons, needs 71 to reach 2,000. Now at 1,929 after picking up nine against Western Oregon last week, Perez has climbed into the GNAC's all-time top 20 for assists.
-- Though she is in just her second and final season here, reaching 1,000 assists as a Falcon isn't out of the question for Cortney Weedman. She is at 858 with seven matches to go, earning 471 of those this season. Weedman would need to average 20 per match through the rest of the schedule to reach the millennium mark.
-- Senior middle blocker Jessica Bettencourt (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) is 40 points away from 500. She would become the second Falcon this year to break the 500-point mark, joining Sarah Risser, who currently has 537.0.
MILESTONES MADE
-- Lindsey Wodrich rolled a 300 of sorts last week -- not once, but twice. Her five kills against Anchorage pushed her past 300 for her career in that department; she now totals 312. Then, the 13 digs she came up with on Saturday against Fairbanks moved her into that stat's 300 neighborhood, as well. She starts this week with 301.
-- Paige Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.) had seven blocks against Fairbanks, giving her 101 for her career. That also pushed her past her 2008 freshman year season total of 48.
FALCON REPLAY
No question about it: Last Saturday when they stepped onto the volleyball court, the Falcons were plenty wide awake.
Sarah Risser posted her 11th double-double of the season, recording 17 kills and 16 digs, and Amber Johnson had a career-high nine blocks as Seattle Pacific got back on the winning track with a four-game victory against Alaska Fairbanks, 25-21, 19-25, 25-15, 25-15. The Falcons bounced back from last Thursday's three-game loss to Alaska Anchorage.
Risser hit at a .238 clip for the match. Sophomore middle blocker Johnson had nine kills to go along with her nine blocks. Senior setter Cortney Weedman had 23 assists, and freshman setter Shelby Swanson added 22. Anna Herold, who began the match with exactly 1,000 digs for her Falcon career, added 25 more. Sophomore Lindsey Wodrich had 13 digs and nine kills.
Last Thursday against Anchorage, Risser had 11 kills and hit .296, but the night belonged to the Seawolves as they scored a three-game sweep, 25-16, 25-20, 25-17. That left the two teams deadlocked atop the GNAC standings. Weedman had 17 assists, and Shelby Swanson earned 13.
POLLING PLACE
The Falcons received four votes in last week's American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, but were not in this week's listings. Alaska Anchorage was the only GNAC team receiving votes, picking up four, and was one of seven teams in the West Region to be ranked or receive votes.
SPU was at No. 6 in last week's first NCAA West Regional rankings of the season. The next rankings are due out next Thursday, Oct. 29.
ON THE HONOR ROLL
-- Junior outside hitter Sarah Risser was named the GNAC Player of the Week for Oct. 5-10, the first Falcon to be honored by the conference this season. Risser had a career-high 22 kills, along with 14 digs, in last Thursday's four-game win at Central Washington, then had another 22 kills and 27 digs as SPU beat Northwest Nazarene in five games on Oct. 10.
-- Risser and sophomore middle blocker Amber Johnson were named to the all-tournament team at the Western Washington Invitational on Sept. 12. In the four tournament matches against Notre Dame de Namur, Grand Canyon, No. 7-ranked West Texas A&M and defending Canadian champion British Columbia, Risser led in kills per game (4.27), pounding 64 altogether. She double-doubled in kills and digs in the first three matches. Johnson set the pace in hitting percentage at .477, with 27 kills and just three errors on 51 attacks.
TICKET TALK
Tickets for SPU's home matches can be purchased at Brougham Pavilion (3414 3rd Ave. W.) on match day. Ticket windows open one hour prior to the listed start time for all home matches.General admission tickets are priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens.
Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special general admission rates by calling (206) 281-2085 at least 72 hours in advance.
UP NEXT
The Falcons will try to even the score with Montana State Billings when they visit the Yellowjackets next Thursday night at 6 p.m. PDT. Billings came back for a five-game victory in Brougham Pavilion on Oct. 3. Then on Halloween night, Seattle Pacific will go for a season sweep of Western Washington as the head to Bellingham for a 7 p.m. match in Carver Gym.
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look at results, schedules and notes from the GNAC.
GNAC STANDINGS
Conference Overall
Alaska Anchorage 7-2 15-7
Seattle Pacific 7-2 13-8
Western Washington 7-3 14-7
Northwest Nazarene 6-4 13-9
Central Washington 4-5 12-8
Montana State Billings 4-5 11-10
Western Oregon 4-5 7-13
Alaska Fairbanks 2-6 8-11
Saint Martin's 0-9 2-15
