Box score, play-by-play
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SEATTLE -- On a day when simply taking care of business on the volleyball court was paramount, the Seattle Pacific Falcons took care of it quickly.
Robin De Jong celebrated Senior Day with six kills and six blocks, and sophomore outside hitter Priscilla Collings led the way with 10 kills as SPU swept past Saint Martin's in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match that took just 65 minutes.
Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 25-14, 25-11, 25-18. It was the 16th straight time SPU (16-9, 10-3 GNAC) has beaten the Saints (3-20, 0-14 GNAC).
De Jong (Santa Barbara), a middle blocker who is close to winding up her Falcon career, hit .500 for the match, with those half-dozen kills and no errors on 12 total attacks. Collings (Chula Vista, Calif.) hit a solid .318 and also came up with nine digs.
Junior outside hitter Sarah Risser (Santa Barbara, Calif.) added nine kills and nine digs, helping Seattle Pacific stay in the chase with Alaska Anchorage for the conference championship. The Seawolves (12-2 GNAC) were idle on Saturday, and have just two matches remaining, including next Saturday's regular-season finale against Seattle Pacific in Anchorage.
With the race still that tight, the Falcons were well aware they had to get the job done on Saturday. Saint Martin's had taken a game off SPU earlier this season in Lacey, and coach Chris Johnson knew this was an improved Saints squad.
“We had to come out ready to play,” he said. “It was a good win for us. I think we could have played better for sure, especially in Games 1 and 3, but it was a good win. Our second game was excellent -- it's always nice to have a game with no hitting errors. And we blocked well today. We had talked about that beforehand.”
Saturday's match was supposed to be SPU's home finale. But the Falcons will be back on the Brougham Pavilion court at 7 p.m. Monday night to finish their match against Central Washington. The teams were tied at 24-24 in Game 1 on Thursday when a power outage hit the area, leaving the gym dark for more than an hour and forcing a postponement.
The Falcons took charge of Game 1 against the Saints with a five-point run that snapped a 3-3 tie. Sophomore setter Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) sparked it with back-to-back service aces.
SPU was down 7-5 in Game 2 when it ran off 10 straight points, the last nine of those with sophomore libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) serving. Four of the points came from SPU blocks.
The Saints had built a quick 4-0 lead in the third game, eventually stretching it to 7-2. The Falcons ran off six straight to edge ahead 8-7. Then at 9-9, Seattle Pacific put three straight on the board to go in front for good.
Senior setter Cortney Weedman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) had 18 assists, bringing her total to 962 and leaving her three matches to pick up the 38 she needs to hit 1,000 for her two-year Falcon career. Sophomore libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) came up with 12 digs. That gives her 532 for the year, well within range of her single-season school record of 579.
Senior middle blocker Jessica Bettencourt (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.) had four kills on Saturday, pushing her past 400 for her career. She now has 401.
SPU hit exactly their season average of .214 for the match. That included a no-error .556 performance in Game 2 (15 kills on 27 attacks). Saint Martin's had two games of negative hitting and wound up at -.011 for the match.
The Falcons are hoping to carry over some of the momentum from Saturday into Monday's resumption against Central Washington.
“So far in the first game, we've given them a lot of free points,” Johnson said. “We're not hitting very well in that game. That's one of the reasons it's as close as it is. We definitely can play better than we have so far in that match. They're obviously going to come out there and give us a fight.”
NCAA Women's Volleyball
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
Seattle Pacific 3, Saint Martin's 0
Game scores -- 24-14, 25-11, 25-18.
Service aces -- SPU: Shelby Swanson 3. StM: Two players with 1.
Kills -- SPU: Priscilla Collings 10, Sarah Risser 9, Robin De Jong 6. Saint Martin's: Teilissa Tua 6.
Blocks -- SPU: De Jong 6, Jessica Bettencourt 4, Collings 3. StM: Tua 4.
Assists -- SPU: Cortney Weedman 18, Shelby Swanson 10. StM: Cymbree Decosta 14.
Digs -- SPU: Anna Herold 12. StM: Kristin Anderson 11.
Hitting -- SPU .214 (35 kills, 13 errors, 103 attacks), StM -.011 (21 kills, 22 errors, 95 attacks).
Attendance -- 206.
Records
Seattle Pacific 16-9, 10-3 GNAC.
Saint Martin's 3-20, 0-14 GNAC.
Next match -- Central Washington at Seattle Pacific (conclusion of suspended match from Nov. 5), Monday, Nov. 9, Brougham Pavilion, 7 p.m.
