THE SCHEDULE         Thursday, Oct. 28: SPU at Alaska Fairbanks, 8:00 p.m. 
                                      The Patty Center/Fairbanks, Alaska
                                      Live Webcast        Live stats

                                     Saturday, Oct. 30: SPU at Alaska Anchorage, 8:00 p.m. 
                                     Wells Fargo Center/Anchorage, Alaska
                                     Live Webcast         Live stats 


        Weekly release, with complete stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – So far, they've conquered volleyball road challenges in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. Now come two in Alaska this week for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.

Fresh off a victory at Saint Martin's last Thursday and a homecourt triumph against Western Oregon on Saturday, SPU will bring Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage into focus, seeking to complete a season sweep of both schools when they venture north.

Having scored three-game victories against both schools in Brougham Pavilion, Seattle Pacific visits Fairbanks on Thursday night at 8 PDT, and takes on defending conference champion Anchorage on Saturday night at 8. The Falcons will be going for their second straight season sweep of the Nanooks. And, they'll be hoping to pull off a similar feat against the Seawolves, thus turning the tables from 2009 when Anchorage won both matches against SPU on the way to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship.

On that particular subject, the Falcons and Western Washington enter this week still tied for first place in the conference at 12-1. But, Seattle Pacific, if it can win both in Alaska, has a chance to take sole possession of the top spot by week's end, since Western plays just once this week, that being at home on Saturday against Simon Fraser.

Regardless of those outcomes, the conference crown very well could come down to the showdown between the Falcons and Vikings next Thursday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m. in Brougham. The GNAC champ gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tournament, but both Seattle Pacific and Western are virtually guaranteed invitations, since they currently are ranked No. 2 and 3, respectively, in the West Region. The top eight teams qualify for NCAAs.

DIGGING UP A SCHOOL RECORD

Heading into her third season in an SPU uniform, it was only a matter of when – not if – Anna Herold would set a new school record for digs in a career.

'When' came last Saturday at home against Western Oregon. SPU's junior libero had 16 digs that day, giving her 1,557 for her career, and moving her past the old record of 1,552 set by Torii Mount from 2005-2008.

Heading into the match against the Wolves, Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS needed 12 digs to set the new standard. Toward the end of the second game in the three-game sweep, she got three digs within moments of each other on the same rally – her 10th, 11th and 12th of the day – to make it official. And, even sweeter, SPU won the point when Lindsey Wodrich slammed a kill.

“I don't feel like I did anything special,” Herold said. “I just went out, and I play my hardest all the time. To have the school record is a huge honor, because there have been a lot of awesome liberos before me.”

Herold needed just 274 games in less than three full seasons to break the record. Mount set the previous mark in 362 games over four seasons.

TURNING 20
For the 13th time in the 25 years of the volleyball program, and the third time during coach Chris Johnson's six seasons at the helm, Seattle Pacific has reached the 20-victory mark. The 20th came with last Saturday's sweep of Western Oregon.

The last time the Falcons moved into that neighborhood was in 2006, when they finished 24-3 (16-0 GNAC) and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

SPU's all-time record for wins in a season is 26, that being in 1989 when the team played a whopping 52 matches and finished 26-26. (Even with a run all the way to the NCAA final, teams wouldn't come close to that total today – the most they legally could play is 32.)
 
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
As good as Seattle Pacific has been this season, one of the things that actually makes coach Chris Johnson happy is that the Falcons still aren't as good as they can be – and his players know it.

“I think we're taking great confidence in our season so far in what we've been able to do,” he said. “But we still have our heads on our shoulders, so to speak. We know we have areas that we need to improve, and that's good. It's good to have things to work on and it's good to be humble and know that we're not a perfect team and we do have weaknesses that we need to work on.”

Johnson has seen where that work is paying off.

“I think our strengths are getting better and our weaknesses are getting better, as well,” he said. “Our attitude for the team has been very consistent for the whole season: We just want to play our best every match and work hard every practice, come what may.”

SCOUTING THE ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS (Oct. 28)
All-time series: SPU leads, 27-9. Current series streak: SPU won 3.
Last time: SPU 3, Alaska Fairbanks 0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-9 at Seattle; Oct. 2, 2010). Alaska Fairbanks on the Web.
Nanooks in a nutshell: Alaska Fairbanks typically plays everyone tough, but many of the breaks have gone the other way this fall. Of their nine GNAC losses, three of them have been in five games. In two others, the Nanooks took Game 1 before falling short. Tereza Bendlova ranks third in the conference in kills at 3.48 per game, and fourth in points at 3.89 per game. Erica Gage is a strong defensive presence, ranking No. 4 in blocks per game at 1.00. Bendlova had a double-double of 11 kills and 11 digs on Oct. 2 at SPU when the Falcons won in three games.

SCOUTING THE ALASKA ANCHORAGE SEAWOLVES (Oct. 30)
All-time series: SPU leads, 26-12. Current series streak: SPU won 1.
Last time: SPU 3, Alaska Anchorage 0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-14 at Seattle; Sept. 28, 2010). Alaska Anchorage on the Web.
Seawolves in a nutshell: After getting slammed by Western Washington last Thursday in Bellingham, 25-13, 25-11, 25-10, Anchorage bounced back in with a three-game sweep of Simon Fraser last Saturday. While the Seawolves would need to win out and get plenty of help from elsewhere to claim another conference crown, their primary goal at this point is staying in the hunt for an NCAA playoff berth. UAA gave the Falcons all they could handle on Sept. 30 in Seattle, building three-point leads late in Games 1 and 2 before Seattle Pacific rallied, and SPU then dominated Game 3. Robyn Burton had 11 kills for Anchorage that night, and she ranks No. 2 in conference hitting at .316. McKenzie Moss averages a team-leading 2.88 kills per game (eighth in the GNAC), and Jackie Matthisen is at 2.62.

HOW TO THEY COMPARE?
(With conference ranking)             SPU             UAF             UAA
Hitting percent                                  .227 (2)       .137 (7)      .210 (3)
Opponent's hitting percent           .115 (1)       .193 (7)      .148 (2)
Kills per game                                13.72 (1)    11.35 (5)    12.16 (3)
Assists per game                          12.75 (1)    10.63 (5)    11.43 (3)
Aces per game                                 1.70 (3)      1.11 (10)    1.41 (6)
Blocks per game                             1.96 (3)      1.82 (7)       2.57 (1)
Digs per game                               16.51 (1)    14.41 (7)    13.72 (8) 

POLLING PLACE
The Falcons
retained their No. 13 position in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II poll, which was released on Monday. SPU received 390 points in the voting. Western Washington climbed two spots to No. 15 with 343 points.

Once again, a change took place at the top – and now, it's a tie, with Concordia-St. Paul jumping from No. 5 to No. 1, joined by Wayne State of Nebraska, which moved up from No. 3. Minnesota-Duluth, last week's No. 1 team, is now No. 3.

The Falcons also stayed put at No. 2 in this week's NCAA West Region poll behind defending regional champ Cal State San Bernardino.

The three conference champions – GNAC, California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and Pacific West – automatically qualify for the NCAA West Regionals. The next five highest-ranked teams among the non-champions get the remaining berths.

The top-ranked regional team earns the right to host the tournament.

Based this week's poll, two GNAC schools would qualif for NCAAs: Seattle Pacific (No. 2) and Western Washington (No. 3). Alaska Anchorage currently is No. 8, but because the Pac West is guaranteed at least the spot reserved for its conference champion, current No. 9 Hawaii Pacific would get the final regional berth.

The next regional poll comes out next Wednesday, Nov. 3.

MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
--Senior outside hitter Sarah Risser (Santa Barbara, Calif.) is 52 points away from 1,000 for her career.
--Junior outside hitter Paige Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.) is just eight kills way from 500, and needs 6½ more points to reach 600.
--Freshman middle blocker Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) needs nine kills to reach 200.
--Junior outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) needs just two more games for her 200th in an SPU uniform.

MILESTONES MADE
--Anna Herold has passed the SPU career mark for digs. Herold comes into this week with 1,557, five more than the old record of 1,552 set by Torii Mount from 2005-08. Herold's total puts her at No. 5 on the all-time GNAC list. The next rung is 1,578 by Claire Carpenter of Western Oregon from 2004-07. The all-time leader is 2,695 by Western Washington's Courtney Schneider from 2004-07.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES AND OTHER DELIGHTFUL DIGITS
--Through 21 matches, the Falcons have put 21 double-doubles into the book: nine by Sarah Risser, six by Lindsey Wodrich, four by Shelby Swanson, and two by Paige Hoffman. All are kill-dig double-doubles except for Swanson's, whose are assist-dig. Risser now has 28 for her career, Wodrich has 16 and Swanson has seven. Both of Hoffman's have come this year.
-- SPU has kept 19 of its 21 opponents below .200 hitting this season. In five of those matches, opponents went steadily down in hitting percentage from first game to last. The Falcons also have kept eight opponents below .100 hitting, including a -.136 by Saint Martin's that ranked as the third-best defensive mark in GNAC history. SPU limited Northwest Nazarene to .000 in one match and Western Oregon to .000 in another.
--The Falcons lead the GNAC in four major statistical categories: opponents' hitting percentage (.115), kills per game (13.72), assists per game (12.75) and digs per game (16.51).
--Individually, sophomore setter Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) leads the GNAC in assists at 11.39 per game.
--Nikki Lowell has regained the GNAC hitting lead at .371. She was No. 2 last week.
--Paige Hoffman has climbed to No. 4 in hitting at .288.
--Sarah Risser remains No. 2 in kills at 3.88 per game, and No. 2 in points at 4.45.
--Anna Herold  is No. 2 in the GNAC in digs per game at 5.28. Allison Gotz of Western Washington leads at 5.47.
--Lowell and sophomore middle blocker Angie Pricco (Brier, Wash./Blanchet HS) jumped two spots apiece to No. 5 and 6, respectively, in blocks per game at 0.99 and 0.93.
-- Lindsey Wodrich moved up to No. 4 in GNAC kills this week at 3.17, maintaining that exact per-game average for the second straight week.

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
--Nikki Lowell has jumped into the national top 25 in hitting. Her .371 average ranks No. 23 this week.
--Shelby Swanson is No. 7 in all of Division II for assists per game at 11.39. The leader is Amanda Konetchy of Concordia-St. Paul at 12.75.
--Sarah Risser ranks No. 15 in kills per game at 3.88. She moved up one notch to No. 15 in points per game at 4.45.
--Anna Herold ranks No. 22 in digs per game at 5.28.
--The Falcons are No. 14 in D-2 for assists at 12.75. They rank 19th in kills at 13.72. The top marks are 14.37 assists and 15.43 kills, both by Southwest Minnesota State.
--SPU is 50th nationally in digs per game at 16.51. The leader is Hawaii Pacific at 20.62. The Falcons swept the Sea Warriors earlier this season, but eventually could face them again in the West Regional tournament.

Click on this link for a look at where Seattle Pacific and GNAC players and teams rank in NCAA Division II statistics.

ON THE HONOR ROLL
--Lindsey Wodrich now has two GNAC Player of the Week awards this season. Her first one came Sept. 7 after earning MVP honors at the season-opening Seawolf Spike in Rohnert Park, Calif. Wodrich capped her performance in the Labor Day weekend tournament when she hit .455 with 17 kills as the Falcons swept past Sonoma State on the Seawolves' home court. She earned the second on Oct. 18 after a career-high 26 kills in a three-game sweep of Central Washington two days earlier.
--Nikki Lowell made it two straight GNAC Player of the Week awards for SPU when she was recognized on Sept. 13 for her performance in the Hawaii Invitational. Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) hit a sky-high .714 in a three-game sweep of Chaminade on Sept. 11. For the four-match tournament, Lowell put down 41 kills with just seven errors on 82 total attacks.
--Shelby Swanson, who racked up 109 assists in three Seattle Pacific victories during the final week of September, was named the GNAC Player of the Week for Sept. 27-Oct. 2. The sophomore setter had 35 assists against Montana State Billings, 38 against Alaska Anchorage and 36 against Alaska Fairbanks. That gave her an average of 12.11 per game for the three matches, all of which SPU swept in three games. Swanson's work helped the Falcons post a solid .292 hitting percentage for the three matches.

UP NEXT
The rematch that the Falcons have been waiting for comes next Thursday, Nov. 4, when Western Washington visits Brougham Pavilion at 7 p.m. SPU will be looking to even the score after getting swept by the Vikings on Oct. 9 in Bellingham. The Falcons then close out their home schedule on Saturday, Nov. 6, against Simon Fraser at 7 p.m. That will be Senior Night, when Sarah Risser and Joelle Perez will be saluted for their career contributions to the program.

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.

SPU students who show their school identification will be admitted free to all home matches.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look at results, schedules, stats and notes from the GNAC.


GNAC STANDINGS 
                                                Conference         Overall
Seattle Pacific                             12-1                 20-1
Western Washington                12-1                 15-2
Alaska Anchorage                        8-4                 13-7
Western Oregon                           8-5                 10-8
Central Washington                    7-5                    9-8
Northwest Nazarene                   5-8                    5-14
Montana State Billings                4-9                    4-18
Simon Fraser                               4-10                  4-14
Alaska Fairbanks                         3-9                    5-13
Saint Martin's                                1-12                 1-17