Box score, play-by-play

LACEY, Wash. – Take care of business, get back into first place.

Done and done for the Seattle Pacific volleyball team.

Cailin Fellows hammered 19 kills, and Lindsey Wodrich put up another double-double as the 23^rd-ranked Falcons rolled to a 3-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference sweep of Saint Martin's on Thursday night.
 
Scores in Marcus Pavilion were 25-19, 25-8, 25-18.
 
Coupled with Alaska Anchorage's sweep of Western Washington in Anchorage on Thursday (25-12, 25-23, 25-15), Seattle Pacific is now back in a first-place tie. SPU and Anchorage both have 9-2 conference records. Western Washington fell to 9-3.
 
The Falcons (15-5 overall) beat Saint Martin's (4-14, 3-9 GNAC) for the 20^th straight time dating back exactly 10 years to the Saints' last victory in the series, a five-gamer on Oct. 20, 2001.
 
“We just talked about trying really hard not to give our opponent free points, and Game 2 was a good example of that tonight,” Falcons head coach Chris Johnson said. “They only had four kills and eight points in that game, and that's what we want to do is shut down their offense.”
 
Junior outside hitter Fellows (Edmonds, Wash./Edmonds-Woodway HS), who hit .533 for the match, came within two of her career-high for kills. She is now just 19 kills away from 500 for her career, and, with total of 20 points on Thursday (two block assists in addition to her kill total) surged past 500 in that department. Fellows now has 519.5.
 
Senior outside hitter Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) had 11 kills and 10 digs for her 11^th double-double of the season and the 30^th of her career. She pushed past 900 career kills, now totaling 903, and hit a solid .250 for the night.
 
Sophomore middle blocker Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) topped .500 hitting for the second straight match. Lowell had seven kills and just one error on 11 swings for a .545 percentage. She now has five matches this season of .500 or better hitting and 13 for her career.
 
Junior setter Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) earned assists on 45 of SPU's 50 kills. Senior libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) came up with 21 digs and tied her single-match season and career high with three service aces.
 
Seattle Pacific trailed just twice during the entire match – 2-1 in the opening game and 1-0 in the Game 2.
 
The Falcons had their second-best hitting night of the season at .379 (50 kills, just 11 errors on 103 attacks). They limited Saint Martin's to just .116 hitting (24-13-95). SPU came into the match with the conference's second-leading defense, allowing opponents just a .156 hitting average.
 
“We only had 11 errors, and that made a huge difference in our play, and we're hoping to continue that,” said freshman libero Brianna Leenders (Portland, Ore.), who came up with eight digs and one of Seattle Pacific's six service aces on Thursday. “And our defense was awesome.”
 
 Added, Johnson, “We've been focusing on just improving our chemistry and the amount of fun we're having on the court this week. We're getting back to the type of chemistry we had last year. Even with so few new people on the court, it still takes time to rebuild that.”
 
SPU heads to Monmouth, Ore., to tangle with Western Oregon on Saturday at 7 p.m.
 
“They're a well-coached team, they run the same system as us, and they're good offensively,” Johnson said. “We need to make sure we're playing sound defense on Saturday. They're going to be a challenge, for sure.”
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
 
(No. 23) Seattle Pacific 3, Saint Martin's 0
 
Game scores – 25-19, 25-8, 25-18.
 
Service aces – SPU 6 (Anna Herold 3, Shelby Swanson 2), StM 0.
Kills – SPU 50 (Cailin Fellows 19, Lindsey Wodrich 11), StM 24 (Kristeen Juarez 7).
Assists – SPU 50 (Swanson 45), StM 23 (Cymbree Decosta 20).
Digs – SPU 54 (Anna Herold 21, Wodrich 10), StM 34 (Ross 10).
Blocks (total / solo) – SPU 7 / 1 (Fellows 2 / 0, Angie Pricco 2 / 0), StM 5 / 1 (Katy Ferguson 1 / 1).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 50-11-103--.379 (Nikki Lowell 7-1-11--.545, Fellows 19-3-30--.533), StM 24-13-95--.116 (Juarez 7-1-23--.261).
Attendance – 116.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 15-5, 9-2 GNAC. Saint Martin's 4-14, 3-9 GNAC.
 
Next match – Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, Saturday, 7:00 p.m.