THE SCHEDULE         Thursday, Sept. 23: SPU at W. Oregon, 7:00 p.m. 
                                      New P.E. Building/Monmouth, Ore. 
                                      Live Webcast and live stats links on this link

                                      Saturday, Sept. 25: Saint Martin's 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 – One match was a tight one. One was a sweep.

Either way, two more went into the volleyball win column for the Seattle Pacific Falcons last week.

Now, with their record-setting season start extending into the Great Northwest Athletic Conference portion of the schedule, the Falcons will head back out on the road on Thursday with a trip to Western Oregon, then return home on Saturday to square off against Saint Martin's and celebrate 25 years of the school's volleyball program. They're also going for their 100th GNAC win.

Seattle Pacific carries the momentum of winning its first two conference matches into this week's play. The Falcons turned back a strong challenge from Central Washington on the Wildcats' home court last Thursday in Ellensburg, winning in four games. Then last Saturday, after having gone to five games in its previous three matches against Northwest Nazarene, SPU rolled to a three-game victory.

Royal Brougham Pavilion figures to be packed on Saturday. Not only will it be Alumni Night, it also will be Freshman Orientation Night, as Seattle Pacific's newest students, who will begin classes next Monday, gather for their first Falcons sports event together.




EYEING NO. 100 – TIMES TWO
Seattle Pacific will seek to put its 100th GNAC victory into the books this week. The Falcons recorded Nos. 98 and 99 last week against Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene, respectively. Their first one came on Sept. 8, 2001, a 3-1 decision at Humboldt State.

That would make Seattle Pacific (now 99-59 in conference play) the third GNAC school to hit the century mark, joining Western Washington (currently 139-21) and Central Washington (now 108-52). Next closest to those three is Northwest Nazarene (currently 80-81)

Also nearing the magical 100 victories is SPU coach Chris Johnson. Now in his sixth year on the Falcons' bench and just the third head coach in the 25-year history of the program, Johnson has built a 96-50 overall record heading into this week, and is the architect behind the team's history-making start. The best previous fast start by an SPU team was the 2003 squad of coach Kellie Ryan, which went 7-0.

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. A reception and dinner is set for 4 p.m., and the GNAC contest against the Saints starts at 7. More information and a sign-up form for Alumni Night (the event is free) is available on this link.

“I'm excited to see some of my own alumni whom I've coached, and meet some from years past whom I've never met before, but I've heard their names,” coach Chris Johnson said. “And the girls are excited to meet some alumni, as well.”

SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Every year in the GNAC, someone who wasn't expected to be in the upper echelon steps up – and so far this year, that team has been Western Oregon, off to a 3-1 start.

“The thing about them that's different from some of the teams we've seen is they've played a very high level of competition already in terms of their opponents,” coach Chris Johnson said. “They've played San Bernardino, UC San Diego, Metro State, Anchorage. They've seen teams play at that level. So we're not going to be able to surprise them with anything, in that sense. They're a well coached team, and they're going to be ready for us, for sure.”

But, Johnson said his team will be ready, as well.

“We had a great start in conference last week – two big wins, one on the road,” he said. “They're just hungry for more right now. They know we have to keep working hard and keep improving.”

SCOUTING WESTERN OREGON (Sept. 23) 
All-time series: SPU leads, 17-14. Current series streak: SPU won 2.
Last time: SPU 3, Western Oregon 1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-10, 25-14, Oct. 22, 2009 at Monmouth, Ore.). Western Oregon on the Web.
Wolves in a nutshell: Western Oregon has been one of the surprise teams through the early portion of conference play. The Wolves, who were picked for seventh in the preseason coaches poll, have won three of their first four, including a 3-1 decision at home against defending GNAC champ Alaska Anchorage. Freshman middle blocker Krissi Kemper is the conference's second-leading hitter at .306, and outside hitter Danielle Reese is tied for second in kills per game at 3.89. WOU leads the way in service aces at 1.85 per game.

SCOUTING SAINT MARTIN'S (Sept. 25) 
All-time series: SPU leads, 39-5. Current series streak: SPU won 16.
Last time: SPU 3, Saint Martin's 0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-18, Nov. 7, 2009 at Seattle). Saint Martin's on the Web.
Saints in a nutshell: Saint Martin's halted a 29-match GNAC losing streak last Saturday with a three-game sweep at Simon Fraser. It was the Saints' first conference victory since 2008. Sophomore middle hitter Katy Ferguson and senior outside hitter Malia Ibarra are the go-to players on offense for Saint Martin's, averaging 2.23 and 2.20 kills per game, respectively. Ferguson also is a solid presence on defense, ranking No. 5 in the GNAC at 0.97 blocks per game. Junior libero Brianna Bautista is No. 4 in the conference in digs at 4.93 per game.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (Sept. 27) 
All-time series: SPU leads, 17-7. Current series streak: Montana State Billings won 2.
Last time: Montana State Billings 3, SPU 1 (25-17, 25-22, 18-25, 25-16, Oct. 29, 2009 at Billings). Montana State Billings on the Web.
Yellowjackets in a nutshell: The season has been a tough one for Billings, having dropped its first 10 matches – although three of those went to five games. Senior outside hitter Jennifer Boe sets the offensive pace for the Yellowjackets at 3.13 kills per game and averages a team-leading 3.46 points per game. SPU will be seeking to gain a measure of redemption against Billings, which won both of last year's matches. That included a come-from-behind five-game victory in Seattle when the Jackets scored seven of the last eight points to pull out a 15-12 win in Game 5.

HOW TO THEY COMPARE?
(With conference ranking)             SPU           WOU         StM             MSUB
Hitting percent                                   .210(2)      .172 (5)     .108 (9)    .098 (10)
Opponent's hitting percent             .125 (1)     .158 (4)     .192(8)     .207 (9)
Kills per game                                  13.75 (1)    11.36(5)    9.93 (8)     9.44 (10)
Assists per game                            12.86 (1)    10.67 (5)   8.87 (8)     8.51(10)
Aces per game                                   1.58 (5)     1.85 (1)    1.07 (9)     1.31 (7)
Blocks per game                                1.93 (3)     1.88 (4)    1.87 (5)     1.82 (7)
Digs per game                                  17.50 (1)   14.88 (7)   17.23(2)  14.38 (8)

POLLING PLACE
The Falcons are flying higher this week. Seattle Pacific jumped three spots to No. 17 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II poll, which was released on Monday. SPU received 286 points in the voting, tying with Indianapolis.

The Falcons are one of just three remaining undefeated Division II teams in the country. The others are No. 3 Wayne State of Nebraska (10-0) and No. 19 Northern Michigan (9-0). They also are the only remaining unbeaten team in the West Region.

GNAC preseason favorite Western Washington (7-1, 4-0 GNAC) is ranked No. 15 this week.

FALCON REPLAY
-- Sarah Risser had 18 kills and hit a career-high .484, leading 20th-ranked Seattle Pacific to a sweep of Northwest Nazarene in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match in Brougham Pavilion.  Scores were 25-19, 25-12, 25-11.  Senior outside hitter Risser (Santa Barbara, Calif.) made it a double-double by coming up with 16 digs. It was her sixth double-double-double of the season.

-- Junior outside hitter Paige Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.) hammered 16 kills, coming within one of her career high, and a Nikki Lowell kill sealed the deal as SPU opened Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball play last Thursday night with a 3-1 victory against Central Washington. Scores in Nicholson Pavilion were 25-19, 25-23, 18-25, 25-23.

Hoffman hit .359 for the match with her 16 kills and just two errors on 39 attacks for the Falcons. Junior outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) added 12 kills, and made it her fourth double-double of the season by coming up with 13 digs. Lowell added 12 kills and seven blocks. She collected half of those kills and hit at a .455 clip during the decisive fourth game. Herold came up with a season-high 34digs.

MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
-- Anna Herold now needs just 137 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.
--Paige Hoffman is closing in on 500 career points. She starts this week with 494.
-- With 404 assists in the first 10 matches, Shelby Swanson already has passed her 2009 freshman year total of 375, and is well on the way to the 1,000 career mark. She currently has 779.
-- Junior outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich is approaching the 500 mark in kills (currently 442) and digs (434).

MILESTONES MADE
-- Paige Hoffman moved past 400 career kills last week. She now has 413.
--Freshman Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) already has hit her 100th kill as a Falcon. She has 108.

DOUBLE-DOUBLES AND OTHER DELIGHTFUL DIGITS
--Through eight matches, the Falcons have put 13 double-doubles into the book: six by Sarah Risser, four 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. Last year, Risser now has 24 for her career, Wodrich has 14 and Swanson has five. Hoffman's was her first.
--Seattle Pacific continues its trend limits its opponents' hitting success. The Falcons have kept their first 10 opponents below.200 hitting, including .000 by Northwest Nazarene last Saturday night. SPU allows just a .125 opponents' hitting percentage, 13 points better than No. 2 Alaska Anchorage's .138.
--The Falcons lead the GNAC in four major statistical categories: opponents' hitting percentage (.125), kills per game (13.75), assists per game (12.86) and digs per game (17.50). They are No. 2 in hitting percentage (.210), and No. 3 in blocks (1.93).
--Individually, Seattle Pacific has three GNAC leaders: Nikki Lowell in hitting (.354), Swanson in assists (11.22) and Anna Herold in digs (6.19).
-- Risser is No. 2 in kills at 3.89 per game.
-- Swanson is now No. 5 in all of Division II for assists per game, Herold is No. 6 for digs and Risser is No. 24 for kills.
--As a team, Seattle Pacific ranks eighth in D-2 for assists per game, 12th in kills and 16th in digs.

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 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
Following the Montana State Billings match next Monday, the Falcons are home in Brougham for two more. Defending conference champion Alaska Anchorage visits on Thursday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m., and Alaska Fairbanks comes in at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2.

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                4-0                          7-1
Seattle Pacific                             2-0                        10-0
Western Oregon                        3-1                           5-4
Alaska Fairbanks                       2-1                          4-5
Northwest Nazarene                 3-2                          3-6
Central Washington                  2-2                          4-5
Alaska Anchorage                     1-2                          6-5
Saint Martin's                              1-3                          1-8
Montana State Billings              0-2                         0-10
Simon Fraser                              0-5                          0-9