THE SCHEDULE              Thursday, Sept. 16: SPU at C. Washington, 7:00 p.m. 
                                           Nicholson Pavilion/Ellensburg, Wash. 
                                           Live Webcast and live stats on this link

                                          Saturday, Sept. 18: NW Nazarene at SPU, 7:00 p.m. 
                                          Brougham Pavilion (2,650)/Seattle, Wash. 
                                          Live Webcast and live stats on this link


       Weekly release, with complete stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – A record-setting start. A spot in the national polls.

The Seattle Pacific Falcons are heading into their Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball schedule on a definite high note.

For the second straight weekend, the Falcons swept a preseason tournament. This time, it was a 4-for-4 performance in the Hawaii Invitational. That came on the heels of a similar four-match sweep at the season-opening Seawolf Spike in California.

That 8-0 start not only is the best in program history, it pushed SPU into the American Volleyball Coaches Association national Division II rankings this week.

Now, the Falcons will try to keep that momentum going when they travel to Ellensburg on Thursday for the GNAC opener against Central Washington. Then, they'll get to take their home court on Saturday for the first time this season when they play host to Northwest Nazarene at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.



NATIONAL IMPACT
For the first time since early in the 2007 season, the Seattle Pacific Falcons are in the national volleyball rankings.

The Falcons are No. 20 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association poll that was released on Monday. SPU picked up 188 points in the voting. Last week, Seattle Pacific was on the cusp of making the top 25, winding up atop the “others receiving votes” list (26th).

“I'm proud of them. It's nice to have the recognition for sure,” coach Chris Johnson said. “But when it comes down to it, it's recognition – it's not going to do anything to help us win our next match. We still have to keep doing what we're doing and keep working hard.”

Seattle Pacific is one of two GNAC teams and one of six West Region teams in this week's top 25. Tampa sits atop the poll. Conference rival Western Washington is No. 18. Cal State San Bernardino is No. 2, UC San Diego is No. 11, Cal State Los Angeles is No. 17, and surprising Cal State East Bay (at 7-0, the only other West Region team besides SPU to sport a perfect record) is No. 24.

ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER GNAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Redshirt freshman middle blocker Nikki Lowell, who hit at a .415 pace for Seattle Pacific through four matches of the Hawaii Invitational – including .714 in a three-game sweep of Chaminade – has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball Player of the Week for Sept. 6-12.

Lowell (Claremont, Calif. put down 41 kills with just seven errors on 82 total attacks as SPU won all four. In the Chaminade match, Lowell had 10 kills and no errors on 14 swings, then followed that up a few hours later with 12 kills and just one error on 23 swings in a three-game sweep of then-undefeated Hawaii Pacific on HPU's home court.

This is the second straight week an SPU player has been honored by the conference. Junior outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) was chosen last week after earning MVP honors at the Seawolf Spike tournament in Rohnert Park, Calif.

ALUMNI REUNION
In conjunction with the 25th anniversary season, all former Falcon players who went on to graduate are invited to an Alumni Night on Saturday, Sept. 25 when Saint Martin's visits Brougham Pavilion. A reception and dinner is set for 4 p.m., and the GNAC contest against the Saints starts at 7. Alumni are invited to send their favorite memories (up to approximately 150 words) to moschm@spu.edu. More information and a sign-up form for Alumni Night (the event is free) is available on this link.

SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS, COACH CHRIS JOHNSON SAYS …
Even having played some tough opponents in the two preseason tournaments, SPU coach Chris Johnson isn't expecting things to get any easier now that conference play is here.

“Central has four losses, but they're all to top-25 teams, and they're well coached,” Johnson said. “They do a good job of scouting out teams and other players, and they're definitely going to try to pick on any weaknesses they perceive. And we have to do the same to them. More than anything we have to take care of our own side of the net. If we can keep passing as well as we have been and defending as well as we have been, then we should be OK.”

Northwest Nazarene will be the first visitor of the season to Brougham Pavilion.

“We're excited to finally have a match at home,” Johnson said. “Both times we played NNU last year, we were without one of our starting outside hitters. They're scrappy. It can be frustrating trying to find a place to put the ball down against them sometimes.”

SCOUTING CENTRAL WASHINGTON
All-time series: Central leads, 31-28. Current series streak: Central won 1.
Last time: Central 3, SPU 2 (27-25, 25-12, 15-25, 15-25, 15-13, Nov. 9, 2009 at Seattle). Central Washington on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central is off to a 2-4 start, but all four losses have come to nationally ranked opponents. The latest of those was last Sunday when the Wildcats, playing at home, took No. 18 Western Washington to five games before falling. Without question, Central leading offensive threat is senior outside hitter Kady Try, who has 100 kills – 70 more than her nearest teammate – and hits a solid .233. Erin Smith leads with 15 blocks, Try has 10, and libero Brandie Vea helps keep the ball in play with 79 digs. The match will feature the top two producers in kills per game: Try (4.55) and SPU's Sarah Risser (3.86).

SCOUTING NORTHWEST NAZARENE
All-time series: SPU leads, 16-4. Current series streak: SPU won 3.
Last time: SPU 3, Northwest Nazarene 2 (25-14, 23-25, 26-28, 27-25, 15-10.). Northwest Nazarene on the Web.
Crusaders in a nutshell: The last three times these teams have played – all of them SPU victories – the match has gone five games. Total points in those 15 games: 321 for SPU, 300 for NNU. The Crusaders lost their first five matches this season, including a five-gamer to Western Washington in their GNAC opener, but scored a pair of three-game sweeps against Simon Fraser last Saturday. Northwest Nazarene is led by Reisa Fessler (57 kills), Becky Flores (54 kills, .221 hitting) and Carly Dranginis (53 kills). Flores also has 22 blocks, and Haley Abbott has 20.

HOW TO THEY COMPARE?
(With conference ranking)            SPU         Central         NNU
Hitting percent                                 .214 (1)     .161 (4)      .138 (7)
Opponent's hitting percent           .131 (1)     .208 (7)      .180 (5)
Kills per game                                13.83 (1)  10.32 (7)       9.89 (9)
Assists per game                          13.03 (1)    9.68 (7)       8.74 (9)
Aces per game                                 1.69 (3)    0.82 (10)    1.52 (5)
Blocks per game                             1.84 (T6)  1.36 (9)       1.93 (4)
Digs per game                                17.62 (2)  15.18 (7)    15.41 (6)

POLLING PLACE
As the Falcons head into their first week of conference play, they have been picked for a third-place finish in the GNAC preseason coaches poll. Seattle Pacific received 53 points in the voting, and its third-place position is a climb of one spot from last year's preseason poll.

Perennial power Western Washington was picked as the favorite to win the conference title – but not by much. The Vikings received four first-place votes and had 72 points in the polling. Defending champion Alaska Anchorage also received four first-place votes and wound up with 67 points.

The poll and a conference preview, including capsule summaries of each team, are available by clicking on this link.

FALCON REPLAY

Sarah Risser posted a double-double of 13 kills and 12 digs, Nikki Lowell added 12 kills in another outstanding hitting performance, and Shelby Swanson set up 37 assists Saturday night as SPU downed Hawaii Pacific in its final match of the Hawaii Invitational, 3-0.

Scores against the previously undefeated Sea Warriors were 25-23, 26-24, 25-18, as the Falcons polished off a four-match sweep on Oahu.

Seattle Pacific opened the tournament with a four-game victory against Hawaii Hilo, 25-11, 25-24, 22-25, 25-18.

Risser hammered 19 kills and came up with 13 digs, junior outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich had 13 kills and 17 digs, along with three blocks, and junior outside hitter Paige Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.) logged 12 kills, 15 digs, three blocks and two service aces. Sophomore setter Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) earned 49 assists, just three short of her career high, and junior libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) had 28 digs.

In a 25-11, 25-17, 25-22 victory against Brigham Young-Hawaii, the Falcons hit .516 in Game 1 in building a quick 17-6 lead. Swanson finished with her second assist-dig double-double of the year with 38 of the former and 10 of the latter.

The Falcons opened the second day of the tournament with a 25-18, 25-19, 25-18 sweep of Chaminade, led by the stratospheric .714 hitting of Lowell. Risser led the way with 15 kills and had her best hitting match of the season at .316. Hoffman hit .391 in hammering 10 kills, and Swanson set up 38 assists.

MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
-- Junior libero Anna Herold now needs just 184 digs to pass the SPU career mark of 1,552 set by Torii Mount from 2005-08. She has an excellent chance of setting that record at home as the Falcons play five of their first seven GNAC matches in Brougham Pavilion.
--Junior outside hitter Paige Hoffman is on the brink of 500 points. She has 467. She also is just 10 kills away from 400.
-- With 327 assists in just the first eight matches, sophomore Shelby Swanson is well on the way to the 1,000 career mark. She currently has 702.
-- Junior outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich is approaching the 500 mark in kills (currently 427) and digs (415).
-- The Falcons are three victories away from their 100th in GNAC play.

MILESTONES MADE
-- Sarah Risser has moved past 750 career points. She picked up 65.5 in Hawaii last week, giving her 765.5 for her career.
-- Lindsey Wodrich broke through the career 500-point mark, earning 40 in Hawaii to give her 507.
-- Nikki Lowell doubled her previous career high for single-match blocks when she had eight against Hawaii Hilo.
--Shelby Swanson now has played more than 100 games as a Falcon, starting all 13 last week to give her 103 games for her career. She also set a single-match career high for blocks with four against Hilo, the same match in which she also recorded a career-high three kills.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES AND OTHER DELIGHTFUL DIGITS
--Through eight matches, the Falcons have put 11 double-doubles into the book: five by Sarah Risser, three by Lindsey Wodrich, two by Shelby Swanson, and one by Paige Hoffman. All are kill-dig double-doubles except for Swanson's, whose are assist-dig. Risser now has 23 for her career, Wodrich has 13 and Swanson has five. Hoffman's was her first.
-- Seattle Pacific still has not allowed any opponent to hit .200 or better for a match. The Falcons also have kept two of their first eight opponents below .100 (.097 for Chico State on Sept. 4, and .097 for BYU-Hawaii last Friday. On average, SPU allows just a .131 opponents' hitting percentage, the lowest mark among the 10 GNAC schools so far. Last season, Seattle Pacific kept 20 of its 29 opponents below .200 hitting.
--The Falcons lead the GNAC in four major statistical categories: hitting (.214), opponents' hitting percentage (.131), kills per game (13.83), and assists per game (13.03). They are No. 2 in digs per game (17.62), No. 3 in service aces per game (1.69) and tied for sixth in blocks per game (1.84).
--Individually, Seattle Pacific has three GNAC leaders: Nikki Lowell in hitting .381, which is 101 points better than second-place Bailey Jones of Western Washington), Swanson in assists (11.28) and Anna Herold in digs (6.07).
-- Risser is No. 2 in kills at 3.86 per game.
-- With Swanson leading the way, the Falcons are averaging a GNAC-leading 12.56 assists per game.
-- Lowell is the GNAC's leading hitter so far at .355 with 50 kills and just 12 errors on 107 swings.

UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific plays another road-home combination next week. The Falcons visit Western Oregon in Monmouth next Thursday, Sept. 23, then come home for Alumni Night and the celebration of 25 years of SPU volleyball on Saturday, Sept. 25 against Saint Martin's at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.

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
Western Washington             2-0                             5-1
Western Oregon                     2-0                             4-3
Northwest Nazarene              2-1                             2-5
Alaska Anchorage                  1-1                             6-4
Alaska Fairbanks                   1-1                             3-5
Central Washington              1-1                             2-4
Seattle Pacific                         0-0                             8-0
Montana State Billings          0-0                             0-8
Saint Martin's                          0-2                             0-7
Simon Fraser                          0-2                            0-7