NAMPA, Idaho -- Nothing quite like a little gut check to start the conference volleyball schedule.
Nothing quite like passing that little gut check, either.
Sophomore Priscilla Collings hammered a career-high 22 kills, and fellow sophomore Lindsey Wodrich tied her career high with 19 kills as the Seattle Pacific Falcons rallied from a 2-1 deficit to pull out a five-game victory against Northwest Nazarene in their Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener on Thursday night.
Scores were 20-25, 25-15, 21-25, 25-23, 15-6.
It was the first five-game victory in four tries this season for SPU (7-6, 1-0 GNAC) and the second straight time it has beaten the Crusaders (8-5, 1-1 GNAC) in five games at Nampa.
“We did a very good job (in Game 5) of coming out aggressive and disciplined and putting the ball away when we had opportunities,” said SPU coach Chris Johnson, whose 2008 team also won in five at NNU as part of a late-season four-match winning streak. “We played good solid defense and we shut them down. We did a great job in Game 5 of playing our game and our tempo and staying in control of our emotions.”
Senior setter Cortney Weedman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) set a career high with 35 assists, eclipsing her previous high of 30, which she set last year at Northwest Nazarene. Weedman (photo left) also had 14 digs to make her one of three Falcons with double-doubles.
Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) had 18 digs to go along with her 19 kills, and Collings (Chula Vista, Calif.) had 13 digs in addition to her 22 kills. Collings' previous career high was 18 kills. For Wodrich, it was the third time in her Falcon career that she has posted 19.
Sophomore libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) led SPU with 28 digs, and sophomore Amber Johnson (Mount Vernon, Wash./Mount Vernon HS) hit a whopping .591.
“We had three big huge weapons on our side with Lindsey and Priscilla, and then Amber had 13 kills and no errors -- that's unheard of,” Johnson said. “And we got kills from our opposites, too (seven from Paige Hoffman and five from Jessica Bettencourt). We were really hitting well.”
The Falcons have won six of their last seven (including a no-count triumph against defending Canadian champ British Columbia last weekend) heading into their Saturday match against Saint Martin's in Lacey at 7 p.m. (live Webcast on this link). Northwest Nazarene, which captured its GNAC opener last week in four games at Montana State Billings, had a four-match winning streak halted.
After racing to a 4-1 lead to open Game 5, Seattle Pacific snapped a 4-4 tie with six straight points. A kill by Johnson put the Falcons in front for good at 5-4, then Wodrich served up the next five in a row as SPU took command at 10-4 and never was threatened again.
It was Collings who pounded the match-clinching kill, just as she did to close out Game 4 to tie the match at 2-2.
“Priscilla started out hitting zero in Game 1, and after that, she had 18 kills and just five errors. She did a good job of staying steady,” Johnson said.
SPU got off to a slow start, falling into a 13-3 hole in Game 1. The Falcons eventually narrowed it to 20-16, but could get no closer.
Wodrich served four straight points to cap a 5-0 SPU run in the second game that produced a 5-2 lead. A later 6-0 run, this time with Weedman serving five straight points, stretched it all the way to 17-8.
The Crusaders led from start to finish in Game 3, never letting Seattle Pacific get closer than one, the last time at 16-15. NNU also led through the first half of the fourth game before the Falcons caught up at 14-14. It was tied at 21-21 when a kill by sophomore Johnson put SPU in front for good at 22-21, and Collings eventually clinched it with a kill.
“That third game was the only one we had a bad hitting percentage (just .111),” Johnson said. “Then we made the necessary changes and adjustments that we needed to make. We just dug more balls in those last couple games.”
Put more balls away, too. Seattle Pacific hit .269 in the fourth game, .444 in the fifth game, and .247 for the match.
“Our hitters did a real good job of adjusting to the opponent's defense,” Johnson said. “We would tell them, 'They shifted, so hit it to the other place now.' and they did.”
Lindsay Grant let Northwest Nazarene with 15 kills, and Cammy Dranginis added 14. Dranginis, who last week set the GNAC career record for blocks with 403, added eight more on Thursday.
NCAA Volleyball
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Harmon & Elizabeth Johnson Sports Center/Nampa, Idaho
Seattle Pacific 3, Northwest Nazarene 2
Game scores -- 20-25, 25-15, 21-25, 25-23, 15-6.
Service aces -- SPU: Two players with 1. NNU: Eki Punimata 4.
Kills -- SPU: Priscilla Collings 22, Lindsey Wodrich 19, Amber Johnson 15. NNU: Lindsay Grant 15, Cammy Dranginis 14.
Blocks -- SPU: A. Johnson 3, Kylie Johnson 3, Jessica Bettencourt 2. NNU: Cammy Dranginis 8, Carly Dranginis 6.
Assists -- SPU: Cortney Weedman 35, Joelle Perez 14. NNU: unimata 29, Amy Higginson 16.
Digs -- SPU: Anna Herold 28, Wodrich 18, Weedman 14, Collings 13. NNU: Grant 21, Haley Hevern 21.
Attendance -- 710.
Records
Seattle Pacific 7-6, 1-0.
Northwest Nazarene 8-5 1-1.
Next match -- Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, Saturday, 7 p.m. (www.greatnorthwest.tv).
