THE SCHEDULE:
Thursday, Sept. 15: Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, 7:00 p.m.
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
Live stats        Live Webcast

Saturday, Sept. 17 Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene, 6:00 p.m.
Harmon & Elizabeth Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
Live stats        Live Webcast


        Weekly release, with complete stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – After some challenging preseason business, the Seattle Pacific Falcons are ready to get down to some real volleyball business starting this week:

The business of defending their Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship.

The Falcons open their conference schedule on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Ellensburg against Central Washington, thereby renewing their all-time closest rivalry within the GNAC. In 61 matches between the schools, Central has won 31, SPU has won 30.

Then on Saturday, Seattle Pacific heads to Nampa, Idaho, to take on Northwest Nazarene. It is one of the toughest gyms in the entire conference in which to play, with crowds that typically are both large and loud.

That will conclude a season-opening string of 10 straight road matches. The Falcons finally get to play at home in Royal Brougham Pavilion next Thursday night at 7:30 against Western Oregon.

FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats and live Webcasts will be available from both matches this week. Links to live stats can be found at the top of this story or on this page.





FALCONS ARE FAVORED
Seattle Pacific begins its conference schedule as the favorite to win the title. In the preseason coaches poll, the Falcons received seven of the 10 first-place votes and 79 points altogether. That left them slightly ahead of Western Washington, which got the other three first-place votes and totaled 75 points. The Falcons and Vikings shared last year's conference crown with identical 16-2 records.

Central Washington was tabbed for fifth place, and Northwest Nazarene was picked sixth in the poll.

SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
--SPU swept last year's two matches against Central, but five of the seven total games went to at least 25-20. Over the years, the total games won between the teams is almost as close as the split of total matches. SPU has won 109 games, Central has won 103.
--The Falcons are going for their third straight conference-opening victory – all on the road.
--While both matches against Northwest Nazarene last year ended in Seattle Pacific sweeps, recent history was not nearly so lopsided. Four of the six matches prior to 2010 went the full five games.
--SPU has won two straight in Ellensburg and three straight in Nampa.

OPENING GAMBIT
With the GNAC starting its second decade of existence this school year, Seattle Pacific has fared much better in its conference openers of late than it did in the early going. After losing their first four GNAC openers, the Falcons have won five of their past six, including the last two: a five-gamer at Northwest Nazarene in 2009, and a four-gamer at Central Washington last season.

This is the second straight year SPU will open at Central Washington, and is the fourth straight year (and seventh time in 11 seasons overall) that it begins GNAC play on the road.

SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
On the way to splitting four matches at the Colorado Premier Challenge in Denver last week, coach Chris Johnson saw some things liked, and a few other things at which the Falcons will need to improve.

“Overall, I'm very happy with the way we played at times. When we're playing well and playing aggressive, we're really hard to beat,” Johnson said. “And we've shown we can be very efficient on offense. But the converse of that also has been true. At times, we need to learn how to pull together and turn it around if it's not going well out of the gate.”

Johnson expects both Central and Northwest Nazarene to come at the Falcons full-throttle this week.

“Mario (Andaya) is a good coach, and he'll have Central ready,” he said. “They have a freshman middle blocker (Erin Smith) who is playing pretty well. But more than anything, we just need to focus on our side of the net.”

At Northwest Nazarene, the Falcons will face a team that is considerably improved from last year, and will play in a venue that is a challenge to every visiting team.

“It's always loud and a great atmosphere. You would rather played in a fired-up gym like that than in an empty gym,” Johnson said. “They're a team on the rise. We have to be ready for everything they're going to throw at us. If you're not ready to run down balls against them, you can get frustrated pretty easily.”

SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS
All-time series: CWU leads, 31-30. Current series streak: SPU won 2. Last time: SPU 3, CWU 0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-21; Oct. 16, 2010 at Seattle). Wildcats on the Web.

Wildcats in a nutshell: Central Washington is off to a strong start, winning five out of seven matches in two preseason trips to California, then opening GNAC play last weekend with a split on the road (winning at Simon Fraser, losing at Western Washington). Always a threat is senior outside hitter Meg Ryan, whose 3.97 kills per game ranks No. 3 in GNAC, and whose .239 hitting is No. 12. Junior outside hitter Jordan Offutt hits .263 (No. 10) and averages 3.64 kills per game (No. 6). Sophoore middle blocker Erin Smith has more block assists (30) and total blocks (32.0) than anyone in the conference.

SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE CRUSADERS
All-time series: SPU leads, 18-4. Current series streak: SPU won 5. Last time: SPU 3, NNU 0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-22; Oct. 14, 2010). Crusaders on the Web.

Crusaders in a nutshell: Northwest Nazarene split four matches in Hawaii two weeks ago, then split its first two GNAC contests last week, getting swept at Western Washington, and sweeping Simon Fraser. NNU is the second-best blocking team in the conference, thanks in large part to 6-0 senior middle blocker Haley Abbott, who averages 1.05 per game. She also hits .269 to rank No. 9. Freshman setter Michelle Terpstra, in her first collegiate match, posted a triple-double of 25 assists, 11 kills and 10 digs as the Crusaders beat Sonoma State on Sept. 1 – the first triple-double by a GNAC player since August 2007.

HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(With GNAC rankings)
                                                        SPU            CWU           NNU
Hitting percent                            .211 (3)     .214 (1)     .195 (5)
Opponent's hitting percent     .183 (2)     .196 (5)     .199 (6)
Kills per game                            12.5 (4)     13.2 (1)     11.1 (8)    
Assists per game                      11.3 (4)     11.6 (3)       9.8 (8)
Aces per game                             1.2 (8)       1.3 (7)       1.5 (4)
Digs per game                            14.6 (5)    14.1 (8)     13.2 (9)
Blocks per game                          2.4 (7)      1.9 (4)       2.3 (2)

FALCONS REPLAY
--Cailin Fellows slammed 14 kills and hit a career-high .700, and the Falcons hit .400 as a team to sweep past Nebraska-Omaha in the opening match of the Colorado Premier Challenge, 25-17, 25-10, 25-17.
--Fellows, Paige Hoffman and Lindsey Wodrich had 12 kills apiece, but errors on the attack and on the serve hampered SPU in a 25-19, 25-20, 25-22 loss to Cal Baptist in the next match in Denver.
--Fellows had a career-high 18 kills, and Wodrich contributed a double-double of 12 kills and 14 digs as SPU began Silver Bracket play with a 25-17, 14-25, 25-21, 25-18 victory against Florida Southern.
--The Falcons settled for second in the Silver Bracket as No. 6-ranked Southwest Minnesota State recorded a 25-21, 25-14, 25-11 decision.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Senior outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) added to her ever-growing total of double-doubles when she came up with 12 kills and 14 digs in last Saturday's four-game victory against Florida Southern at the Colorado Premier Challenge. That was her third double-double of the season and gives her 22 for her career. In the tournament opener on Friday against Nebraska-Omaha, junior outside hitter Cailin Fellows had her first-ever double-double, posting 14 kills and a career-high 11 digs.

FELLOWS IS FLYIN' HIGH
Cailin Fellows put down a total of 52 kills in four matches at the Colorado Premier Challenge last weekend. That included a career-high of 18 in a four-game victory against Florida Southern (eclipsing her previous best of 16 which she had set just a week earlier against Sonoma State). And, she opened the Denver tournament by playing error-free volleyball and hitting an error-free, career-high .700 (14 kills on 20 attacks) in a sweep of Nebraska-Omaha.

In her first two weeks as a Falcon totaling eight matches, Fellows now has an even100 kills. That puts her almost halfway to the 240 kills that she had in her previous two years combined at Boise State. In the match against Omaha, she also had a career-high 11 digs, way more than her previous mark of four in a single match. Her 48 digs altogether are 11 more than she amassed in two seasons with the Broncos.

NEW CHAPTER, SAME PAIGE
Sure, it's a new season, but one thing hasn't changed: Senior Paige Hoffman is her usual consistent self on the right side.

Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.) hit .300 or better in the first three matches of the Colorado Premier Challenge. She started off with a .308 performance ( 6 kills, 2 errors on 13 attacks) against Nebraska-Omaha, bumped that up to .391 (12-3-23) against Cal Baptist, then climbed to .429 (10-1-21) against Florida Southern. In so doing, her season averaged jumped 27 points from the first week up to .282. She has improved her hitting each her, going from .193 as a freshman to .252 as a sophomore to .293 as a junior.

WODRICH IN THE CLUTCH
Every outside hitter at all levels of the game has her ups and downs. But the best ones know how to bring it at crunch time – which is exactly what Lindsey Wodrich did last week in Denver.

Of Wodrich's 12 kills in a four-game victory against Florida Southern on Saturday morning, half of them game in the fourth game. One of them came when Wodrich was serving and set up an opportunity at match point, which Cailin Fellows converted on Wodrich's next serve. Her only service ace of the match also came early in that fourth game.

ON THE HONOR ROLL
--Sophomore middle blocker Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) was named to the Waikiki Beach Invitational all-tournament team. In four matches from Sept. 1-3 in Honolulu, Lowell slammed 43 kills, hit .363, and came up with 13 blocks, including three solos.
--Junior outside hitter Cailin Fellows earned a spot on the Colorado Premier Challenge all-tournament team. Fellows had 52 kills, hit .270 and had 29 digs in four matches played Sept. 9-10. Her numbers included a career-high .700 hitting mark along with a career-high 11 digs against Nebraska-Omaha, and a career-high 18 kills against Florida Southern.

NUMERICAL MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100th block          Lindsey Wodrich (has 87)
100th dig              Cailin Fellows (has 85)
200th kill               Angie Pricco (has 157)
400th kill               Nikki Lowell (has 362)
700th kill               Paige Hoffman (has 631)
2,000th assist     Shelby Swanson (has 1,795)
2,000th dig           Anna Herold (has 1,839) (school record)        

POLLING PLACE
Even though they had to settle for a split of their four matches in Denver last week, the Falcons did not drop in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll. Seattle Pacific stayed in the No. 16 spot, totaling 288 points (24 more than a week ago). Concordia-St. Paul, which swept all four of its Colorado matches, remained a unanimous No. 1.

Conference rival Western Washington dropped out despite winning two matches to start GNAC play. Cal State San Bernardino fell one place to No. 3, and UC San Diego climbed three spots to No. 12.

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
Home at last. With 10 straight road matches behind them, the Falcons serve it up in Brougham Pavilion next Thursday, Sept. 22, at 7:30 p.m. against Western Oregon. That match starts 30 minutes later than normal because of freshman orientation activities taking place in the gym earlier that day. SPU then entertains Saint Martin's on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 3 p.m.


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