THE SCHEDULE:
Saturday, Nov. 12: SPU at Montana State Billings, 6:00 p.m. PST
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.
Live Webcast Live stats
Weekly release, with complete stats (PDF)
SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons still have the volleyball postseason in front of them. But the regular season comes to an end this week – already.
The Falcons will conclude their Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule on Saturday night when they visit Montana State Billings. First serve against the Yellowjackets is at 6 p.m. PST.
That is Seattle Pacific's only match of the week, as it has the bye – its only one of the season – on Thursday.
While Saturday will be the final contest for most teams, the Falcons will head back home and await Sunday's announcement of the NCAA Division II tournament field. Regardless of outcome on Saturday, the Falcons are all but officially assured of a spot in the West Regionals for the third straight year, once again at Cal State San Bernardino.
After a 2¼-hour five-game marathon last Thursday at Western Washington in which it ultimately fell two points short, SPU got back on track last Saturday night with a three-game sweep at Simon Fraser.
FOLLOW IT LIVE
A live Webcast and and live stats will be available from the match at Billings. Links can be found at the top of this story.
TOURNEY TIME
The Falcons already know where they'll be playing for regionals. On Sunday night, they'll find out the who and the when as the NCAA reveals the 64-team tournament bracket beginning at 7 p.m. Fans can follow along live by clicking on this link.
TITLE, TITLE, WHO HAS THE GNAC TITLE?
It is entirely possible that the GNAC standings could wind up in a three-way tie for first place between SPU, Alaska Anchorage and Western Washington. If that's the case, they will be declared co-champions. But the No. 1 spot and automatic qualifying berth to the NCAA Tournament will go to Anchorage based on its 3-1 record against Seattle Pacific and Western. The Falcons went 2-2 against those two teams, and Western was 1-3.
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
--The Falcons, at 20-6, will be looking to add to their second consecutive 20-win season. It is the fourth time during head coach
Chris Johnson's seven tenure and the 14
th time in program history that SPU has won at least 20 matches in a season.
-- Seattle Pacific went into last year's NCAA Tournament on a winning note by sweeping the Yellowjackets in Billings on the final night of the regular season.
--SPU heads to Billings with the best road record in the GNAC at 8-2.
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Having essentially played straight through without a break right from their very first match in Hawaii on Sept. 1, coach
Chris Johnson and his team are welcoming this Thursday's bye in their schedule.
“It's important for us right now just to be rested and ready to go,” Johnson said. “We have to make sure were as energetic and as healthy as we can be by the time we get to a regional match next Thursday.”
But first and foremost on the competition floor is Saturday's match at Montana State Billings, a team that gave the Falcons a tough, scrappy match in Brougham Pavilion on Oct. 24. The Yellowjackets lost the first two games, 25-23, 25-15, but built an 18-11 lead in Game 3 before SPU stormed back to win it, 25-22, and clinch the match.
“They've got some height, they've got a freshman outside hitter (Monica Grimsrud) who's playing well, and a very athletic setter (Brooke Tolman) who gets to just about every ball they put up,” Johnson said. “You saw what Simon Fraser was able to do to us last Saturday – they're the lowest-hitting team in the conference, and the only ones to hit above .200 against us. We have to make sure we're ready to go for everybody and really play our best volleyball.”
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS YELLOWJACKETS: 11-15, 5-12 GNAC (7th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 20-7.
Current series streak: SPU won 3.
Last time: SPU 3, MSUB 0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-22, Oct. 24, 2011 at Seattle).
Yellowjackets on the Web.
Yellowjackets in a nutshell: Montana State Billings has won two of its last three matches after losing six straight and nine of its previous 10. Freshman middle hitter
Monica Grimsrud already has established herself as one of the Yellowjackets offensive leaders with a team high 361 kills for an average of 3.68 per game that ranks No. 7 in the GNAC. She hammered 15 against Seattle Pacific on Oct. 24 in Brougham Pavilion and made it a double-double with 12 digs. Grimsrud also is No. 7 in average points per game at 3.99. Senior middle hitter
Melissa Porter ranks 12
th in GNAC hitting at .236, and is a defensive menace at the net with 70.0 blocks (0.75 per game), including 13 solos.
HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(With GNAC rankings)
SPU MSUB
Hitting percent .219 (2) .153 (7)
Opponent's hitting percent .151 (1) .176 (3)
Kills per game 13.05 (3) 11.4 (7)
Assists per game 12.28 (3) 10.9 (7)
Aces per game 1.4 (4) 1.2 (7)
Digs per game 16.94 (3) 16.89 (4)
Blocks per game 2.2 (1) 1.8 (6)
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Western Washington awoke from a slow start in the deciding fifth game, coming from 8-1 down to win it and beat SPU last Thursday in Bellingham,
25-20, 30-32, 25-22, 20-25, 18-16.
--
Lindsey Wodrich slammed 15 kills – pushing her past 1,000 for her career – and
Shelby Swanson racked up her second straight assist-dig double-double last Saturday as the Falcons swept Simon Fraser on the road,
25-20, 25-23, 25-21.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Junior setter
Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) posted back-to-back double-doubles last week, giving her seven for the season and 17 for her career. Senior outside hitter
Lindsey Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) posted her 14
th of the season and 33
rd of her career with 24 kills and 17 digs at Western Washington. Senior outside hitter
Paige Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.) added her second of the year and sixth as a Falcon. Junior outside hitter
Cailin Fellows (Edmonds, Wash./Edmonds-Woodway HS) has two career double-doubles, both this season.
LEAVING IT ALL ON THE FLOOR
Although the Falcons weren't able to pull out the match at Western Washington last Thursday, it certainly wasn't for lack of effort. Altogether, SPU players established three season highs, five career highs, and one school record.
--
Lindsey Wodrich had 88 attacks, smashing her previous career high of 61 set as a freshman in 2008 against Western Oregon. That total also erased the single-match school record of 86 attacks, set by
Alyssa Given in 2006.
--Wodrich's 24 kills and 17 digs both were individual season highs, and her kills total was the most by any Falcon this year.
--
Paige Hoffman's 25 digs were six more than her previous career high of 19, set last November in the NCAA regional semifinals against WWU. Hoffman's 53 attacks at Western were just one short of her career high.
--
Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) established a career high of 43 digs, breaking her old high of 41, which she had set twice.
--Speaking of digs, freshman
Brianna Leenders (Portland, Ore.) had 20, breaking her previous best of 15, which she achieved twice.
--Setter
Shelby Swanson had a career-high 11 attacks against Western Washington.
MILLER MAKES THE MOST OF IT
Freshman outside hitter
Jessica Miller (Fife, Wash./Fife HS) got the first start of her career last Saturday when she took the court against Simon Fraser in Burnaby, B.C. She delivered the kind of performance that likely will earn her even more opportunities, slamming a career-high 12 kills in SPU's three-game sweep. Miller's previous best for kills was nine. She also hit a solid .409 – which on most nights would lead way, except two of her teammates (
Nikki Lowell at .625, and
Angie Pricco at .429) just happened to hit even better in that match.
ANOTHER STEP UP FOR SWANSON
Shelby Swanson, who previously jumped four places (from 18
th to 14
th) on the GNAC career assist list in a span of two days at the end of October, was on the rise some more last week. Her 54-assist performance at Western Washington last Thursday pushed her into 13
th. Swanson comes into this week with 2,556 assists. With her average of 11.15 per game, she should have no trouble ascending into the No. 12 spot by the end of Saturday's match at Billings, as she needs just 22 in order to pass Western Washington's Katie Robinson (2,575 from 2004-07). The next total up the ladder (11
th all-time) is 2,625.
MISS MILLENNIUM STRIKES AGAIN
Lindsey Wodrich came into the season needing 353 kills and 238.5 points to reach 1,000 in each category. The points figured to be a shoo-in – and that turned out to be the case, as Wodrich broke through 1,000 on Oct. 10 . But the kills loomed as a tougher challenge because Wodrich's best single-season total had been 307 in 29 matches last year as a junior.
Last Saturday at Simon Fraser, she got there with one match to spare, plus postseason. The 1,000
th came midway through Game 3, giving SPU a 17-14 lead. Then, No. 1,001 came for points later, making it 19-16 for the Falcons.
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
--Senior libero
Anna Herold is 11
th in NCAA Division II for digs per game at 5.85. That's higher than her 5.81 average of last week, which at the time was good for No. 10. Maggie Murphy of Mars Hill (N.C.) remains on top at 7.10.
--
Shelby Swanson is 19th in assists per game at 11.15. Amanda Konechty of Concordia-St. Paul is still No. 1 at 12.64.
--
Lindsey Wodrich has climbed into the top 50 in points per game (46
th at 4.31) and kills per game (49
th at 3.75).
Click on
this link to see how SPU and GNAC players and teams stack up nationally. Click on
this link for a look at GNAC statistical leaders.
NUMERICAL MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
200th block Nikki Lowell (has 194)
300th assist Anna Herold (has 294)
500th dig Paige Hoffman (has 472)
800th kill Paige Hoffman (has 784)
1,000th point Paige Hoffman (has 947.5)
POLLING PLACE
Even with last week's tough loss at Western Washington, Seattle Pacific remained in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)
national poll. The Falcons are part of a three-way tie for 25
th with Regis (Colo.) and Wheeling Jesuit (W.V.), all with 38 points.
Cal State San Bernardino, now the last undefeated Division II team, climbed into the top spot with 28 of the 32 first-place votes and 794 of a possible 800 points. UC San Diego moved up three spots to 15
th, and Sonoma State stayed at No. 23.
In the West Region rankings, Seattle Pacific stayed in the No. 4 spot. The region rankings ultimately determine who advances to the NCAA tournament. In the West, the three conference champions – GNAC, CCAA and Pacific West – are automatic qualifiers. After that, the five highest teams in the rankings from among the non-champions get the other spots in the tourney.
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on
this link for a look at news, notes, results and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
UP NEXT
The NCAA West Regional tournament – that's what's up next. The eight-team single-elimination tournament begins next Thursday on the campus of current national No. 1 Cal State San Bernardino. SPU will play in one of four first-round matches. Pairings and times will be announced on Sunday night, and fans can follow along by clicking on this link.
GNAC STANDINGS
GNAC Season
Seattle Pacific 14-3 20-6
Western Washington 13-3 15-5
Alaska Anchorage 13-3 17-7
Northwest Nazarene 11-5 16-7
Western Oregon 11-5 12-8
Central Washington 7-9 13-11
Montana State Billings 5-12 11-15
Saint Martin's 4-12 6-17
Alaska Fairbanks 2-14 2-22
Simon Fraser 1-15 1-19
