THE SCHEDULE             Thursday, Oct. 7: SPU at Simon Fraser, 7:00 p.m. 
                                          West Gym/Burnaby, B.C. 
                                          Live Webcast          Live stats

                                          Saturday, Oct. 9: SPU at W. Washington, 7:00 p.m. 
                                          Carver Gymnasium/Bellingham, Wash. 
                                          Live Webcast           Live stats


       Weekly release, with complete stats (PDF)
       HOME MATCH PHOTO GALLERIES

SEATTLE – It's the match they've been waiting for all season. But on this week's volleyball schedule, it's not the first match on which the Seattle Pacific Falcons will be focusing.

As Saturday night's showdown at Western Washington comes closer on the calendar, the undefeated Falcons (15-0, 7-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) have other business to take care of before taking the court against the Vikings. That business will be Thursday night in Canada when SPU makes its first conference visit to Simon Fraser. The Clan got people's attention last Saturday when they took the first game of their match against WWU before falling short in four.

Saturday's match in Bellingham will pit two nationally ranked teams against each other: No. 12 Seattle Pacific and No. 17 Western.

The Falcons are coming off a busy week during which they swept three matches in Brougham Pavilion against Montana State Billings, Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks.

This week's two matches will bring Seattle Pacific to the midpoint of the GNAC schedule.





TWO CENTURY MARKS IN THE BOOK
When the Falcons polished off a three-game sweep of Western Oregon in Monmouth on Oct. 23, it was their 100th GNAC victory since the conference formed in time for the 2001-02 school year. With the subsequent wins against Saint Martin's and Montana State Billings, Seattle Pacific is now 102-59 all-time in the conference, and is the third school (joining Western Washington and Central Washington) to win 100 or more GNAC matches.

Then last Thursday – exactly one week later – coach Chris Johnson hit the 100-victory mark for his career when the Falcons swept aside Alaska Anchorage in Brougham Pavilion. He has collected all100 of those wins during his 5½ seasons on the SPU bench. Heading into this week's contests, Johnson has an all-time record of 101-50.

SWANSON SETS UP FOR AWARD

Shelby Swanson, who racked up 109 assists in three Seattle Pacific victories last week, has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball Player of the Week for Sept. 27-Oct. 2.

Sophomore setter Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) had 35 assists last Monday against Montana State Billings, 38 against Alaska Anchorage on Thursday and 36 against Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday. 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. She also came up with 16 digs, two blocks, two service aces, and was not charged with any ball handling errors.

Swanson is the third Seattle Pacific player to earn a Player of the Week award this year, joining Lindsey Wodrich (Sept. 6) and Nikki Lowell (Sept. 13).

SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
It's natural to look ahead to a big match. But SPU coach Chris Johnson is emphasizing a first-things-first philosophy heading into Thursday's contest at Simon Fraser.

“It'll be our first time up to Canada, and it'll be fun to be in a new gym,” Johnson said. “We're going to have a challenge getting the girls to focus on that one, because we know we have Western on Saturday, and they are super excited about playing up at Western. It's just a big rivalry, and it's always a great atmosphere up there.”

As always, though, it comes down to taking care of the basics.

“We just want to keep doing what we're doing, really focus and take care of business on our side and take care of the ball,” Johnson said.

Outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich agreed.

“We're just going to try to keep the same mindset we have, whether it's a home game or an away game. At the beginning of the season, we talked about it and said we weren't going to take any team for granted. We said we were going to respect everybody, no matter if we played them here or away, so we're just going to have the same mindset no matter where we are.”





SCOUTING SIMON FRASER (Oct. 7)
All-time series: SPU leads, 18-9. Current series streak: SPU won 5.
Last time: SPU 3, Simon Fraser 0 (15-6, 15-11, 15-3, Nov. 2, 2000 at Seattle). Simon Fraser on the Web.
Clan in a nutshell: After dropping their first 10 matches, including an 0-6 start in the GNAC, the Clan has started to step up their play. They picked up their first victory on Sept. 25 by getting past Alaska Fairbanks in five games on the road. Then last Saturday at home in Burnaby, Simon Fraser won the first game of its match against Western Washington, 27-25, before the Vikings came back to take the next three. Mariana Liarsky and KJ Fridfinnson are the top attackers for the Clan. Liarsky has a team-leading 117 kills; Fridfinnson had 91 and hits at a .205 clip. Jordan Drezet is one of the GNAC's better servers with 18 aces.

SCOUTING WESTERN WASHINGTON (Oct. 9)
All-time series: WWU leads, 36-20. Current series streak: SPU won 2.
Last time: SPU 3, Alaska Fairbanks 1 (25-17, 18-25, 25-17, 26-24, Oct. 31, 2009 at Bellingham). Western Washington on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Of the five stat categories that SPU leads, the Vikings are right behind them in three: hitting percentage, assists and kills. Western's offensive tandem of Emily Jepsen (3.2 kills per game; she hammered a career-high 19 in last Saturday's four-game victory at Simon Fraser) and Marlayna Geary (3.11) rank fifth and sixth in the conference. Geary had a combined 28 kills in last year's two matches against the Falcons, and Jepsen had 23. Jepsen leads in blocks at 1.15 per game, and libero Allison Gotz keeps the ball in play with 5.10 digs per game. Western has lost twice, but both were to quality teams on the road: No. 4-ranked Cal State San Bernardino in a preseason tournament at Western Oregon, and then at defending GNAC champion Alaska Anchorage in four close games on Sept. 25.

HOW TO THEY COMPARE?
(With conference ranking)                 SPU             SFU             WWU
Hitting percent                                      .230 (1)       .164 (5)       .222 (2)
Opponent's hitting percent                .111 (1)       .258 (10)    .166 (5)
Kills per game                                     13.82 (1)    10.91 (7)     13.27 (2)
Assists per game                               12.88 (1)    10.24 (7)    12.46 (2)
Aces per game                                      1.73 (2)      1.53 (5)       1.66 (3)
Blocks per game                                   1.99 (4)      1.49 (10)     2.21 (2)
Digs per game                                     16.69 (1)    11.51(10)    15.88 (3)

POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific continued its upward climb in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II poll. The Falcons moved up three spots to No. 12 in this week's poll, which was released Monday, receiving 439 points in the voting.

The Falcons are one of just four remaining undefeated Division II teams in the country. The others are No. 1 Wayne State of Nebraska (16-0), No. 14 Northern Michigan (13-0) and co-No. 21 Dowling of New York (12-0). Minnesota Duluth, which was ranked No. 1 last week at 14-0, dropped a four-game, No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown at Wayne State last week, 25-17, 23-25, 25-22, 25-21, and now is 15-1 for the season.

GNAC preseason favorite Western Washington (9-2, 6-1 GNAC) moved up one spot to No. 17.

MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
-- Junior libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) now has 1,482 digs for her career and needs just 71 more to pass the SPU career mark of 1,552 set by Torii Mount from 2005-08.
--Sophomore middle blocker Angie Pricco (Briar, Wash./Blanchet HS) is nine blocks away from reaching 100 for her career. She has 41 this year. She also needs just 11 more kills to reach 100.
--Senior outside hitter Sarah Risser (Santa Barbara, Calif.) is closing in on 2,500 total attacks for her career (she has 2,421) and 1,000 points (she's at 873).
-- Sophomore setter Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS), averaging more than 11 assists per game, now has 958 for her career, leaving her a mere 42 shy of 1,000.
-- Junior outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) is approaching the 500 mark in kills (currently 487) and digs (483).
--Junior outside hitter Paige Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.) is 52 kills way from 500.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES AND OTHER DELIGHTFUL DIGITS
--Through 15 matches, the Falcons have put 16 double-doubles into the book: seven by Sarah Risser, five by Lindsey Wodrich, two by Shelby Swanson, and two by Paige Hoffman. All are kill-dig double-doubles except for Swanson's, whose are assist-dig. Last year, Risser now has 26 for her career, Wodrich has 15 and Swanson has five. Both of Hoffman's have come this year. 
-- The Falcons have posted six straight three-game sweeps, and have 10 in 15 matches so far.
-- SPU has kept 14 of its 15 opponents below .200 below .200 hitting this season. In five of those matches, opponents went steadily down in hitting percentage from first game to last.
--The Falcons lead the GNAC in five major statistical categories: hitting percentage (.230), opponents' hitting percentage (.111), kills per game (13.82), assists per game (12.88) and digs per game (16.69).
--In those same five categories a year ago after the same number of matches (15), those numbers were .213 SPU hitting, .149 opponents' hitting, 12.83 kills per game, 11.92 assists per game and 15.07 digs per game.
--Individually, Seattle Pacific has three GNAC leaders: Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) in hitting (.378), Swanson in assists (11.43) and Anna Herold in digs (5.67).
-- Risser is No. 2 in kills at 4.00 per game, No. 2 in points at 4.55 per game, and No. 3 in service aces at 0.39.
--Lowell and Angie Pricco are tied for third in blocks at 0.98 per game.

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
--Shelby Swanson remains No. 6 in all of Division II for assists per game at 11.43.
--Anna Herold ranks No. 13 in digs per game at 5.67.
--Sarah Risser has climbed seven spots to 16th in kills at 4.00.
--Nikki Lowell has climbed into the top 25 for hitting percentage with her .378 average.
--The Falcons are 11th in kills per game (13.82) and 12th in assists per game (12.88).

Click on this link for a look at how SPU and GNAC players and teams stack up in NCAA Division II. 

ON THE HONOR ROLL
--Junior outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich was named the GNAC Player of the Week on 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.
--Redshirt freshman middle blocker Nikki Lowell made it two straight GNAC Player of the Week awards 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.

UP NEXT
The Falcons start the second half of conference play next week with a visit to Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, Oct. 14, and a home contest against Central Washington on Saturday, Oct. 16. SPU swept past the Crusaders in Brougham Pavilion on Sept. 18, just two nights after they opened their GNAC schedule with a tight four-game victory at Central. Thursday's match at NNU begins at 6 p.m. PDT, and Central Washington comes calling at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

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.

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                                 7-0                 15-0
Western Washington                    6-1                    9-2
Central Washington                      5-2                    7-5
Western Oregon                            5-3                    7-6
Alaska Anchorage                         4-3                    9-6
Northwest Nazarene                     4-4                    4-9
Alaska Fairbanks                           2-5                    4-9
Montana State Billings                  2-5                    2-14
Simon Fraser                                  1-7                    1-11
Saint Martin's                                  1-7                    1-12