ELLENSBURG -- Career nights don't matter as much if the final score goes the wrong way.
Sarah Risser's career night mattered plenty for the Seattle Pacific volleyball team on Thursday. Jessica Bettencourt and Angie Pricco made sure of it.
Risser hammered a personal-best 22 kills for the Falcons -- the last of which staved off a game point -- then Bettencourt and Pricco teamed up on three consecutive blocks to end the match, as SPU pulled out a 3-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball victory against Central Washington.
Scores in Nicholson Pavilion were 25-12, 25-23, 23-25, 26-24.
“I aim for 20 every game,” said Risser, who has had three matches of 18 kills and two more of 19 this year, but still hadn't matched her previous career high of 21, set in August 2008 against Cal State Stanislaus. “I've been wanting it, so that's what I aim for.”
The Falcons (11-7, 5-1 GNAC) remained atop the conference standings, bouncing back from last Saturday's five-game loss to Montana State Billings. Central Washington fell to 9-8, 1-5 in the GNAC.
“That was huge, because as long as we have just one loss, we're still in control of our own destiny. And that's a good feeling,” coach Chris Johnson said. “They ran a few points on us (in Game 2), and we got a little rattled and gave them some hope. But (overall), we did a great job of keeping our composure throughout the match.”
SPU returns to the court on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Northwest Nazarene in Brougham Pavilion on Dig Pink Night for breast cancer awareness in Brougham Pavilion. The Crusaders (12-7, 5-2 GNAC) stayed just half a game behind the Falcons in the standings with a five-game victory at Western Washington on Thursday.
Junior outside hitter Risser (Santa Barbara, Calif.), who hit .333 for the night, added 14 digs to go along with her 22 kills, securing her ninth double-double of the season and her 12th as a Falcon. Senior setter Cortney Weedman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) racked up 25 assists and 14 digs for her fourth double-double of 2009 and the fifth of her career. She now has 392 assists for the season, moving her past last year's 387.
But it took that late-match defensive effort by senior middle blocker Bettencourt (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) and Pricco (Briar, Wash./Blanchet HS) to give all those numbers more meaning.
“It's such a relief to know that your blockers are up there and you can trust them so much,” Risser said.
Bettencourt finished with six blocks for the night. Pricco and sophomore middle blocker Amber Johnson (Mount Vernon, Wash./Mount Vernon HS) had five apiece.
The Falcons were down 24-22 in the fourth game. Risser got a kill to make it 24-23, then stepped up to serve. On the next three points, Central's Kady Try went for the kill, only to have Bettencourt and Pricco jump up for the block, resulting in a Falcon point each time to clinch the match.
“That was phenomenal. Jessica has been working hard on that in practice all week,” Johnson said.
QUICK START, BUT THEN …
Seattle Pacific began as if was going to put an easy one into the books. Up 15-11 in Game 1, the Falcons ran off nine straight points for a 24-11 bulge, saw Central get one back, the closed it out on a kill by Risser.
SPU raced to a 19-9 lead in Game 2. But that's when Central Washington started climbing back into it, getting as close as 23-22, then 24-23. But once again, Risser pounded the timely kill to finish the game and give the Falcons a 2-0 lead.
A 14-11 lead in Game 3 melted away under a 5-0 Wildcat scoring run. The teams went back and forth, with Seattle Pacific finally edging back in front, 22-21. But at 23-all, Central got the final two points, and carried that momentum right over into Game 4, building leads of 4-1 and 9-4.
SPU rallied back for a 15-14 lead. At 22-22, Marcy Hjellum and Try had back-to-back kills, putting the Wildcats in position to force a deciding fifth game.
But Central Washington never got another point after that.
“I wasn't even jumping and screaming with everyone after the match. I was just in awe,” Risser said. “I was so proud of us to come out and win that fourth game coming from behind."
Johnson said even the early deficit in the fourth game didn't throw the Falcons off their plan.
“We just wanted to make sure we were playing our game and doing things right,” he said.
Sophomore libero Anna Herold came up with 32 digs, her second-highest total of 2009 and moving her closer to 1,000, as she now has 954. Priscilla Collings came off the bench for 12 kills, moving her past .200 for her career, and hit .320.
The Falcons, leading the GNAC in hitting at .214, hit .222 on Thursday. They limited Central Washington to .123, the 11th straight match they have kept their opponent below the .200 mark.
