Box score, play-by-play
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SEATTLE – They started the season by playing 10 matches in four states spread across three different time zones.

Small wonder that the Seattle Pacific Falcons were ready to play some volleyball on their home court.

Lindsey Wodrich put down 14 kills on Thursday night, and Shelby Swanson racked up another 34 assists as 15th-ranked SPU swept past Western Oregon in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match, 3-0.

Score in Brougham Pavilion were 25-19, 25-21, 25-22.





“We were so fired up to finally be able to defend our home court,” Swanson said. “We had scouted them a lot, and we knew their No. 18 (Danielle Reese) was a strong weapon of theirs. Between the second and third games, our assistant coach Kin (Yun) really fired us up. We came out in the third game with just a different attitude on the court.”

SPU plays host to Saint Martin's on Saturday afternoon at 3 in Brougham.

Senior outside hitter Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) hit .333 for the night, as did sophomore middle blocker Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.). Lowell had seven kills for the Falcons (8-3, 3-0 GNAC).

Junior setter Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS), with her 34 assists, is now just 61 away from the 2,000 mark for her career. Swanson, who earned a share of the GNAC Player of the Week award after racking up 58 and 52 assists in last week's two matches, ranks No. 10 in all of NCAA Division II at 11.33 assists per game.

Senior libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) had 20 digs for SPU as she continued to move toward 2,000 in that department. Herold has 1,914.

“I thought our outsides did a great job, particularly in the first two games. They really had a hard time stopping both Lindsey and Cailin (Fellows),” Falcons coach Chris Johnson said. “Anna did a great job of passing, Shelby did a great job of distributing the ball, and Nikki hit over .300 again.

“As we've been doing, we have a lot of weapons, and they were all playing well tonight.”

As expected, Western Oregon (4-5, 3-2 GNAC) gave the Falcons all they could handle. The Wolves already had won a five-gamer at Alaska Anchorage, and last Saturday had a two games to none lead against Western Washington on WOU's home court before the Vikings stormed back for a five-game victory.





SPU was down 14-12 in Game 1 before running off four straight points to go ahead for good. It trailed by four at 13-9 in the second game, but climbed back into a 14-14 tie. Western Oregon went back in front one more time at 15-14, then Seattle Pacific scored the next three to take a permanent lead.

The third game was tied a 9-all when the Falcons started a surge that saw them take eight of the next 10 points for a 17-11 lead. The Wolves eventually got back within 22-20, then cut a 24-20 lead to 24-22 before a net serve gave SPU the final point.

“Their defense got better and better throughout the match, and they did a good job of taking some things away from us,” Johnson said. “But I though our defense did an equally good job, if not better, of taking away their weapons, too. That started with our serve. We served very well tonight.”

Seattle Pacific hit .212 for the game (38 kills-16 errors on 104 attacks) and limited Western Oregon to .153 (38-20-118). That's the third straight match and the seventh time in 11 matches this season the Falcons have kept an opponent below .200 hitting – all of which they have won.


NCAA VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.

(No. 15) Seattle Pacific 3, Western Oregon 0

Game scores – 25-19, 25-21, 25-22.

Service aces – WOU 2 (2 players with 1), SPU 3 (Brianna Leenders 2).
Kills – WOU 38 (Danielle Reese 10), SPU 38 (Lindsey Wodrich 14).
Assists – WOU 33 (LesLyne Satele 31), SPU 36 (Shelby Swanson 34).
Digs – WOU 43 (Megan Triggs 14), SPU 53 (Anna Herold 20).
Blocks – WOU 11 / 1 solo (Becky Blees 4 / 1 solo), SPU 11 / 1 solo (Angie Pricco 4 / 0 solo, Swanson 3 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – WOU 38-20-118--.153 (Blees 4-1-8 --- .375, Corynn Korra 10-4-28--.214); SPU 38-16-104--.212 (Wodrich 14-5-27--.333, Nikki Lowell 7-2-15--.333).
Attendance – 120.

Records – Seattle Pacific 8-3, 3-0 GNAC. Western Oregon 4-5, 3-1 GNAC.

Next match – Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific, Saturday, Brougham Pavilion, 3 p.m.