THE SCHEDULE:
Thursday, Nov. 3:        Seattle Pacific at Western Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                        Carver Gym / Bellingham, Wash.
                                        Live Webcast       Live stats
 
Saturday, Oct. 29:       Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser, 7:00 p.m.
                                         West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
                                         Live Webcast       Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – The Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball title is still up for grabs. But heading into the penultimate week of the season, the Seattle Pacific Falcons are closer to it than anyone else.
 
The Falcons start the week with a 1 ½-match lead on both Western Washington and Alaska Anchorage as they head up Interstate 5 on Thursday for that nght's match against Western in Bellingham. They'll come home after that, then go back up the freeway on Saturday, this time crossing the border into Canada for a match in Burnaby, B.C., that night against Simon Fraser. Both begin at 7 p.m.
 
The Falcons start this week at 13-2, while Anchorage and Western Washington are both 11-3 in GNAC play.
 
A victory on Thursday still wouldn't clinch the crown, but certainly would leave Seattle Pacific in an even better position. A Western Washington victory, however, will tighten the race further. The Falcons could get some help on Thursday if Northwest Nazarene (10-4) wins at Alaska Anchorage. The Crusaders already have defeated the Seawolves once this season.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live Webcasts and live stats will be available from both matches this week. Links can be found at the top of this story.
 
GNAC AWARD FOR WODRICH
Lindsey Wodrich, who racked up 22 kills, 12 digs, four block assists and two service aces in Seattle Pacific's four-game victory against Alaska Anchorage last Saturday, has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball Player of the Week.

Along with the effort against Anchorage, Wodrich hit a season-high .440 (12 kills, just one error on 25 attacks) in a three-game sweep of Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday in Brougham. Last Monday in a homecourt sweep of Montana State Billings, Wodrich hammered 12 kills and tied her career high with five service aces.
 
This is the third Player of the Week honor for Wodrich, who earned it twice last year. She is the third Falcon this year to win it, following Shelby Swanson on Sept. 19 and Anna Herold on Oct. 10.
 





SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
--The current group of Falcon seniors – outside hitters Lindsey Wodrich and Paige Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.), libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) and middle blocker Angie Pricco (Brier, Wash./Blanchet HS) are going for their second season sweep of Western Washington. They also pulled off that feat in 2009.
--Western Washington is the only current GNAC team that leads an all-time series against Seattle Pacific. The Vikings have a 37-23 advantage.
--The Western-SPU match will feature four of the GNAC's top 10 blockers: Western's Emily Jepsen (tied for No. 3 at 1.06 per game) and Bailey Jones (No. 8 at 0.89), and SPU's Angie Pricco (No. 5 at 0.98) and Nikki Lowell (No. 6 at 0.93).
--Nicola Parker, in her third season as the lead assistant on head coach Chris Johnson's staff, was an All-American libero at Western Washington as a junior and senior in 2002 and 2003. She led NCAA Division II in digs as a senior with an average of 6.16 per game.
--SPU has won all three matches from Simon Fraser since the Clan joined the GNAC last season.
                                                      
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Tough team to play, tough place to play. But as Seattle Pacific prepares for Thursday's match at Western Washington, coach Chris Johnson says his team is playing even better now than it was four weeks ago when the Falcons downed the Vikings in five games in Brougham Pavilion.
 
“I think we're better defensively – just fundamental defense, better ball control with our digs,” Johnson said. “We've had more consistent blocking. And we're better offensively. We're making fewer errors and taking better care of the ball. Our attacking has improved in the last month, and that's something we've talked about.”
 
Johnson knows beating Western Washington in Bellingham is a big challenge. But it doesn't have to be complicated.
 
“It takes execution – we need everybody playing well,” he said. “You're playing against a good, well-coached team, and you have to play your best and be ready for that.”
 
WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 13-5, 11-3 GNAC (tie 2^nd)
All-time series: WWU leads, 37-23. Current series streak: SPU won 3. Last time: SPU 3, WWU 2 (21-25, 25-17, 25-14, 21-25, 15-10, Oct. 8, 2011 at Seattle). Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Western Washington is very tough to beat on its SportCourt in Carver Gym, having put together a 103-12 record with four undefeated seasons from 2000 (when that surface was first used) to this point of the 2011 campaign. Senior middle blocker Emily Jepsen is the No. 3 hitter in the GNAC at .300, and outside hitter Marlayna Geary is second in kills per game (and 17^th in D-2) at 4.22. Geary hammered 17 kills at SPU in last month's match. Western's most effective weapon that night was a freshman, middle blocker/opposite Kayla Erickson who had 14 kills and hit a solid .393.
                                                                                                                                              
SIMON FRASER CLAN: 1-17, 1-13 GNAC (10^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 21-9. Current series streak: SPU won 8. Last time: SPU 3, Simon Fraser 0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-11, Oct, 6, 2011 at Seattle). Clan on the Web.
Clan in a nutshell: Since its match at SPU early last month, Simon Fraser has gotten into the win column, pulling out a five-gamer at Alaska Fairbanks on Oct. 20 after being down one game to none and two games to one. Senior middle blocker Kristjana Fridfinnson is the leader on offense for the Clan, hitting .227 that ranks No. 15 in the GNAC. She has 134 kills for the season (the only SFU player with more than 100), and her average of 2.23 kills per game to rank No. 19 in the conference. Freshman middle blocker Amanda Renkema has 60 kills and hits at a .179 clip for the Clan.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                        
HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(With GNAC rankings)
                                                        SPU                WWU                SFU
Hitting percent                             .223 (2)          .215 (3)             .086 (10)
 Opponent's hitting percent      .149 (1)          .168 (2)             .271 (10)
Kills per game                          13.01 (2)        13.00 (3)               8.9 (10)
Assists per game                    12.22 (2)         12.16 (3)            12.2 (10)               
Aces per game                             1.4 (4)              1.3 (5)              0.9 (10)
Digs per game                           16.7 (3)         16.67 (4)            12.3 (10)
Blocks per game                          2.2 (1)             2.0 (4)               1.1 (10)                 
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Shelby Swanson had 32 assists to climb three places on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference career list in that department, and Lindsey Wodrich put down 12 kills as Seattle Pacific powered past Alaska Fairbanks in Brougham Pavilion, 25-10, 25-13, 25-15 for its fourth consecutive sweep.
-- Wodrich had a season-high 22 kills, Nikki Lowell came up with nine block assists, and Angie Pricco had seven block assists as the Falcons beat Alaska Anchorage last Saturday on SPU Senior Day, 18-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-23.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Lindsey Wodrich made it a double-double baker's dozen last Saturday at home against Alaska Anchorage with a season-high 22 kills to go along with 12 digs. Of her 13 double-doubles this season, 10 have come in GNAC competition. Wodrich now has 32 for her career, all of them kill-dig.
 
Junior setter Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) has five this season and 15 for her career, all assist-dig. Senior outside hitter Paige Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.) has one double-double this fall and five as a Falcon. Junior outside hitter Cailin Fellows (Edmonds, Wash./Edmonds-Woodway HS) also has two for her career – both this year with SPU. All of them for Hoffman and Fellows are kill-dig.
 
A GAME DOWN? NO PROBLEM
Several summers ago, the Seattle Mariners made a habit of staging two-out rallies that brought them from behind to win the game – to a point where the team printed up T-shirts that read, “Two outs? So what?”
 
Different sport, but the Falcons have kinda done the same thing on the volleyball court this fall. In nine of their 23 matches, they have dropped Game 1, but have come back in five of those to win the match. The most recent example was last Saturday at home against Alaska Anchorage when they bounced back from a 25-18 loss in the opener to take the next three games and the match. SPU also did it at Hawaii Pacific, both times against Central Washington – and last time against Western Washington.
 
SWANSON MAKES HER MOVE
SPU junior setter Shelby Swanson says she never looks at her assist totals. She said she just doesn't want to know, and certainly doesn't keep count. So until someone told her, she didn't know that she did indeed climb four places on the GNAC career assist list in a span of 45 hours last week against Fairbanks and Anchorage. She comes into this week with 2,468, putting her in 14th place all-time after starting last week in 18th. The next spot up is 2,517.
 
LOOK WHO PICKED UP A KILL
Nobody in the GNAC – and very few in the entire country – dig up balls better than SPU senior Anna Herold. She has an ever-growing team record 2,190 digs to prove it. But very rarely does Herold get an opportunity to hit a ball that goes down on the
other side of the net. She got one last Saturday, pushing one over with the idea of merely keeping it in play. Instead, it found the floor, giving Herold her third kill of the season and the 15th of her career.
 
ALL HANDS ABOVE THE NET
That's how it went for the Falcons last Saturday when they picked up 33 block assists against Alaska Anchorage. Of SPU's eight players in that match, six of them got in on the block party – and two of those set career highs. Sophomore middle blocker Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) had nine, breaking her old mark of seven, which she set at Central Washington on Sept. 15. That also tied her career high for total blocks.
 
Junior setter Shelby Swanson had five block assists, giving her a new career high\ in that department, as well as in total blocks. Her previous best in both categories was four, achieved four times each. Senior outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich had four, tying her career highs in block assists and total blocks.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
--Senior libero Anna Herold isnow in the top 10 of NCAA Division II for digs per game. Herold pushed her per-game average to a season-best 5.81, which ranks 10th. She was 14th last week. Maggie Murphy of Mars Hill (N.C.) remains on top at 6.95.
--Shelby Swanson is 14^th in assists per game at 11.16 – the same average she had last week, but now one spot lower on the list. Amanda Konechty of Concordia-St. Paul is still No. 1 at 12.71.
--The Falcons rank No. 26 in blocks per game at 2.23.

Click on this link to see how SPU and GNAC players and teams fare nationally. Click on this link to see complete GNAC stats.
 
NUMERICAL MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
200^th block            Nikki Lowell (has 187)
500^th kill                 Nikki Lowell (has 494)
800^th kill                 Paige Hoffman (has 768)
1,000^th kill              Lindsey Wodrich (has 964)
2,500^th assist       Shelby Swanson (has 2,468)
 
NUMERICAL MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
100^th ace               Lindsey Wodrich (has 104)
100^th dig                Angie Pricco (has 101)
200^th block           Angie Pricco (has 203)
200^th dig                Brianna Leenders (has 201)
500^th kill                Cailin Fellows (has 506)
 
POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific stayed steady at No. 24 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll. The Falcons received 76 points in the voting, but are still the only GNAC team in the top 25.
 
Minnesota Duluth, at 25-0, climbed into No. 1 after previous poll leader Tampa (25-1) was hit with its first loss last week. Duluth received 28 first-place votes, with the other four going to Cal State San Bernardino, which moved up one place to No. 2.
 
Joining San Bernardino and SPU from the West Region in the national rankings are No. 17 UC San Diego (up one place) and No. 23 Sonoma State (down one place).
 
In the West Region rankings that were released on Wednesday, SPU fell one place to No. 4 in spite of winning both matches last week. UC San Diego moved up into the No. 3 spot, with San Bernardino still No. 1 and Brigham Young-Hawaii still No. 2.
 
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.
 
Unless West leader Cal State San Bernardino takes an unexpected late-season tumble, it will be the host site of the regional tournament once again.
                                                                                                                                       
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 Falcons wrap up the regular season next Saturday, Nov. 12, at Montana State Billings. It is their only match of the week, as they will have a bye on Thursday – their first break in the schedule this season. The NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m.
 
                                                            
GNAC STANDINGS
                                             GNAC   Season
Seattle Pacific                      13-2        19-5
Western Washington          11-3        13-5
Alaska Anchorage               11-3        15-6
Northwest Nazarene           10-4        15-6
Western Oregon                  10-5        11-8
Central Washington              6-8        12-10
Saint Martin's                         4-11        5-16
Montana State Billings         4-11      10-14
Alaska Fairbanks                  2-12        2-20
Simon Fraser                         1-13        1-17