THE SCHEDULE: Thursday, Oct. 29: SPU at Montana St. Billings, 6 p.m. PDT
Alterowitz Gymnasium/Billings, Mont.
Live Webcast and live stats on this link.
Saturday, Oct. 31: SPU at Western Washington, 7 p.m.
Sam Carver Gym/Bellingham, Wash.
Live Webcast and live stats on this link
Weekly release, with complete stats (PDF)
SEATTLE – Make no mistake about it: The Seattle Pacific Falcons made a lot less of them when last Thursday's volleyball match at Western Oregon was on the line -- and reaped the resulting reward.
Now, fresh off that four-game victory in Monmouth, SPU goes back onto the road this week for a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference matches with first place still very much at stake.
The Falcons visit Montana State Billings on Thursday night at 6, seeking to even the score after the Yellowjackets went home from Brougham Pavilion with a five-game victory on Oct. 3, fighting off six match points.
Then comes a Halloween night visit to Western Washington. The Vikings (8-4 GNAC), who were swept by SPU in Seattle on Sept. 30, aren't out of the conference title picture, either. They trail first-place Alaska Anchorage (9-2) by 1½ games, and have as many wins as the Falcons (8-2), but trail by two in the loss column.
Seattle Pacific will be seeking to show Billings and WWU the same kind of volleyball that worked so well following the intermission last week at Western Oregon. After making 15 attack errors through the first two games, the Falcons played error-free ball in Game 3, and had just four errors in Game 4 on the way to a 22-25, 25-23, 25-10, 25-14 victory.
SPU closes out its home schedule next week when Central Washington comes in on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m., and Saint Martin's calls on Brougham for Falcon Senior Day on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 4 p.m.
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
If last Thursday's final two games at Western Oregon were any kind of a momentum builder, it couldn't have come at a better time for Seattle Pacific.
“It's going to be a big week for us,” coach Chris Johnson said. “Montana State Billings is one of the teams that beat us. We had them beat, and we let them off the hook. So we have to in there knowing that and have confidence, and we have to finish.
Things won't be any less challenging at Western on Halloween.
“They're going to have a lively crowd. That should be fun,” Johnson said. “Our kids thrive on that kind of atmosphere. It raises the entire energy level.”
Once again last Thursday, depth was a big factor for the Falcons. Junior middle blocker Kylie Johnson (Tucson, Ariz.), who has played sparingly this fall, started Game 3, hammered a kill for the first point, and was a key contributor the rest of the night. Sophomore outside hitter Priscilla Collings (Chula Vista, Calif.) started the match, led with 18 kills and added 16 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.
“We had people in two different spots who hadn't been starting or haven't even been playing, and both of them really had great nights,” Johnson said. “Kylie was big. And Priscilla has been working hard all season, knowing the areas she needs to improve on. She's passing better, she's hitting well and playing good defense.”
SCOUTING MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
All-time series: SPU leads, 17-6. Current series streak: MSUB won 1. Last time: MSUB 3, SPU 2 (25-22, 19-25, 21-25, 31-29, 15-12 on Oct. 3 at Seattle). Montana State Billings on the Web.
Yellowjackets in a nutshell: They might be in the middle of the pack (6-5, 13-10 overall), but the Falcons will need no reminder that this team can't be overlooked or underestimated. Last Saturday, Billings won for the first time ever on Western Oregon's court, and did it in a sweep, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20. And it's no secret where the Yellowjackets are going on their attack: Devon Crotteau and Jennifer Boe. Crotteau leads the GNAC in kills with 395, which is 49 more than the next-highest total. She had 24 last time against SPU and took 64 swings. Boe has 253 kills, and had 12 on 50 attacks against the Falcons on Oct. 3. No one else had even 30 attacks for Montana State Billings that night.
SCOUTING WESTERN WASHINGTON
All-time series: WWU leads, 36-198. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 3, WWU (25-20, 25-22, 25-13 on Sept. 30 at Seattle). Western Washington on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: No matter what their record or where they are in the standings, Western always ranks as the toughest of tough challenges for Seattle Pacific. The Vikings got off to a fast start at first-place Alaska Anchorage last Saturday night, hitting an astonishing, error-free .650 in Game 1 and blowing past the Seawolves 25-8. But they couldn't sustain it and lost the next three games, 25-19, 25-16, 25-9. WWU's dangerous threats are Marlayna Geary with 346 kills, third-best total in the conference, and Emily Jepsen, who not only can put the ball down (253 kills), but can keep opponents from doing likewise (92 blocks, including 22 solos, both of which are No. 2 in the GNAC).
HOW TO THEY COMPARE?
(GNAC rank in parentheses)
Hitting percent SPU .213 (2) MSB .187 (6) WWU .209 (3)
Opponent hit percent SPU .154 (1) MSB .176 (5) WWU .177 (6)
Kills per game SPU 13.38 (1) MSB 11.61 (8) WWU 12.60 (5)
Assists per game SPU 12.51 (1) MSB 11.01 (7) WWU 11.67 (4)
Aces per game SPU 1.31 (8) MSB 1.53 (6) WWU 1.60 (2)
Blocks per game SPU 1.84 (5) MSB 2.10 (2) WWU 2.00 (4)
Digs per game SPU 16.72 (3) MSB 14.68 (8) WWU 16.55 (4)
MOST RECENT SPU STARTERS
Oct. 22 at Western Oregon, W 3-1
Player Kills Pct. Asts. Aces Digs Blocks
Sarah Risser 17 .125 0 2 16 1
Paige Hoffman 4 .267 0 0 4 0
Amber Johnson 12 .500 0 0 1 2
Priscilla Collings 18 .255 0 1 16 0
Angie Pricco 0 -1.000 0 0 1 1
Cortney Weedman 0 .000 33 2 5 0
Anna Herold (LIB) 0 .000 2 2 34 0
SEATTLE PACIFIC 64 .274 63 8 81 7
DOUBLE-DOUBLES AND OTHER DELIGHTFUL DIGITS
-- The Falcons hit the big 3-0 last week -- the big 3-0 in double-doubles, that is. The Falcons now have 30 of them for the season after junior outside hitter Sarah Risser (Santa Barbara, Calif.) had 17 kills and 16 digs for her 12th of the season, and sophomore outside hitter Priscilla Collings (18 kills, 16 digs) racked up her fourth. In addition, sophomore outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) and senior setter Cortney Weedman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) have five apiece, junior setter Joelle Perez (Vancouver, Wash./Heritage HS) has two, and freshman setter Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) also has two. Risser has 15 for her career, Wodrich has 10 for her career, Weedman has six, Collings has four, and Perez has three.
-- The Falcons are back up to No. 2 in hitting in the GNAC at .213 after having dropped to third (.210) the previous week. Alaska Anchorage now has a 10-point lead at .223.
-- SPU continues to lead the GNAC in three other statistical departments: kills per game (13.38), assists per game (12.51) and toughest team to hit against (.154). The Falcons rank 24th in all of Division II for assists per game and 27th in kills per game.
-- Seattle Pacific's streak of keeping its opponents below .200 hitting ended at 12 against Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 15, but the Falcons have started a new such streak, keeping their last two opponents below .200 (.148 for Alaska Fairbanks, .152 for Western Oregon).
-- Risser has climbed into the top 20 in Division II for kills per game. Risser ranks No. 18 this week at 3.89. Topping the list is Jane Chafeh of Cal State Santa Barbara at 4.74.
-- Amber Johnson (Mount Vernon, Wash./Mount Vernon HS) ranks 25th in D-2 in hitting percentage at .363. Xie'Ara Maybank-Smallings of Elizabeth City State (N.C.) leads at .432.
-- With six regular-season matches left, sophomore libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) needs to average 16.5 digs per match to break her own single-season school record total of 579 set last year. She enters this week averaging 5.53 digs per game for the season, putting her at No. 15 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 6.33.
Click on this link for a complete look at GNAC statistics. Click on this link for a look at SPU's national rankings.
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
-- Senior middle blocker Robin De Jong (Santa Barbara, Calif.), who missed the early part of the season with an injury, now is within six kills of 200 for her career.
-- Sophomore middle blocker Amber Johnson is just half a point shy of 200 in her first season as a Falcon. She also is approaching her 100th block, starting the week with 87.
-- Priscilla Collings needs two more digs to reach 200.
-- Though she is in just her second and final season here, reaching 1,000 assists as a Falcon is a possibility for Cortney Weedman. She is at 891 with seven matches to go, earning 504 of those this season. Weedman needs to average 18 per match through the rest of the schedule to reach the millennium mark.
-- Senior middle blocker Jessica Bettencourt (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) is 32 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.
-- 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.
MILESTONES MADE
-- Sarah Risser's 17 kills at Western Oregon last Thursday gave her exactly 500 for her SPU career.
-- When Kylie Johnson came on for the final two games at Western Oregon, she would up with five kills, giving her 100 as a Falcon.
FALCON REPLAY
Junior middle blocker Kylie Johnson stepped into the starting lineup for the third game, immediately hammered a kill, and that helped set the tone for the rest of the night as the Falcons took care of Western Oregon in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match last Thursday in Monmouth.
Scores on the Wolves' home court in the New P.E. Building were 22-25, 25-23, 25-10, 25-14.
The Falcons (14-8, 8-2 GNAC) certainly weren't short of productive performances. Sophomore outside hitter Priscilla Collings had 18 kills and 16 digs, and junior outside hitter Sarah Risser racked up 17 kills and 16 digs. Risser had her 12th double-double of the year and has reached exactly 500 kills for her career. Collings earned her fourth double-double of the season.
But it was the 6-foot-1 Johnson (Tucson, Ariz.), who had seen action in just 20 games so far, who provided the timely boost. She wound up with five kills on six swings for an .833 percentage, and also added a block. The first of those kills started SPU on a 4-0 run to open Game 3. The last of them set up match point at 24-14 in Game 4, which Risser then immediately converted with her final kill of the night.
POLLING PLACE
SPU was at No. 6 in the first NCAA West Regional rankings of the season, which were released on Oct. 15. The next rankings are due out on Thursday, Oct. 29. The region's three conference champions (GNAC, California Collegiate Athletic Association and Pacific West), plus the next five highest-ranked teams in the final poll who did not win their conference crown, advance to the NCAA tournament.
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 a four-game win at Central Washington on Oct. 8, 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 play their final two home matches of the season next week. Central Washington comes to town on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. Then on Saturday, Nov. 7, it's Senior Day in Brougham Pavilion when SPU entertains Saint Martin's at 4 p.m. That will be one of three Senior Days as part of a Falcon athletics tripleheader. The volleyball match against Saint Martin's in Brougham is surrounded by two soccer games at Interbay Stadium. The women meet Northwest Nazarene at 1 p.m., and the men take on their NNU counterparts at 7 p.m.
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look at results, schedules and notes from the GNAC.
GNAC STANDINGS
Conference Overall
Alaska Anchorage 9-2 17-7
Seattle Pacific 8-2 14-8
Western Washington 8-4 15-8
Northwest Nazarene 7-4 14-10
Montana State Billings 6-5 13-10
Central Washington 4-7 12-10
Western Oregon 4-7 7-15
Alaska Fairbanks 3-7 9-12
Saint Martin's 0-11 2-17
