THE SCHEDULE:
Thursday, Oct. 4                 Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, 7:00 p.m.
                                                New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.
                                                Live stats        Live Webcast
 
Saturday, Oct. 6                  Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
                                                Live stats        Live Webcast
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
        Photo gallery from SPU-Northwest Nazarene match 

SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons put a big one into the win column that could have gone either way. Now, they'll take that momentum into the second half of the volleyball season.
 
Fresh off of their five-game homecourt victory against Northwest Nazarene last Saturday, the Falcons head back onto the road this week for Great Northwest Athletic Conference matches at Western Oregon on Thursday night and at Saint Martin's on Saturday. The first serve for both is at 7 p.m.
 
The road has become a familiar place for SPU (5-9), which has played 12 of its 14 matches away from Brougham Pavilion so far this season. That's where the Falcons have picked up four of their five victories – two in true road matches (at Chaminade and at Simon Fraser) and two in neutral-court situations.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Fans not making the drive to Monmouth or Lacey can watch a free live Webcast from both of this week's matches on Stretch Internet, the new Webcast home for the GNAC. Live stats also will be available from both matches. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 
TOP OF THE HEAP
When trying to survive a five-gamer, nobody is thinking about their stats. Nevertheless, it's easy to pile up some big numbers in a long match, and that's exactly what the Falcons did last week.
 
Their 205 attacks against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday was the most in the GNAC this season; their 203 swings against Central Washington last Thursday ranks No. 3. SPU now also has the most single-match digs among conference schools in 2012 after coming up with 106 against NNU.
 
Seattle Pacific's 72 kills in both matches is tied for the highest total this fall (Western Washington had 72 in a preseason match against UC San Diego). Finally, the 69 assists against Northwest Nazarene matches the 69 Western had in its UCSD match on Sept. 7.
 



SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
--The Falcons are seeking back-to-back victories for the third time this season. They did it previously in Hawaii (Chaminade on Aug. 31 and Fresno Pacific on Sept. 1), then closed out preseason play by beating Cal State Stanislaus on Sept. 8, followed by a GNAC-opening victory at Simon Fraser on Sept. 13.
--SPU coach Chris Johnson is 11-3 all-time against Western Oregon, and is 6-2 against fifth-year Wolves head coach Brad Saindon. More than half of the Falcons' 21 all-time victories against WOU have come with Johnson at the helm.
--Western Oregon won both regular-season matches from Seattle Pacific in 2008 on the way to claiming the conference crown and qualifying for the NCAA West Regionals.
--The Falcons have won both matches against WOU the past three seasons.
--Johnson's previous seven SPU teams have won all 14 of their matches against Saint Martin's, 12 of those in three-game sweeps.
 
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
As they prepare to head back onto the road, SPU coach Chris Johnson liked a lot of what he saw from his players as they split a pair of five-gamers last week in their first two home matches of the season.
 
“It was our best complete effort in both matches,” Johnson said. “We fought hard the entire time in both of them, and didn't have any big lapses or (allow) any big runs. We're still just focused on ourselves and trying to get better, and I think last week was proof of that. We have a lineup now that I'm gaining confidence in.”
 
Added senior setter Shelby Swanson, “We're finally learning how to play together as a team and really jell. We're having great chemistry and great execution at all positions right now, so I think this is a really good thing to see, and we're just going to be going up from here.”
 
This week will be just as challenging, especially at Western Oregon, one of the three teams (along with Western Washington and Alaska Anchorage) picked as a GNAC title contender.
 
“They have everyone back from last year. They have good outside hitters, and Krissi Kemper is one of the best middles in the league,” Johnson said. “They play the same system as we do, so it should be pretty familiar-looking in terms of what we're going against.”
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN OREGON WOLVES: 10-3, 3-1 GNAC (4^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 21-14. Current series streak: SPU won 6. Last time: SPU 3, WOU 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-20; Oct, 22, 2011 at Monmouth). Wolves on the Web.
Wolves in a nutshell: Western Oregon was the last unbeaten team in the GNAC, but came up short in three close games at Western Washington last Saturday, 25-21, 25-23, 25-23. When it comes to hitting, the Wolves are among the conference's best, whether it's putting down their own kills (WOU's .234 percentage is No. 2 in the GNAC), or stopping the other team, with a conference-leading .140 opponents' hitting percentage. Two big reasons for WOU's offensive success are top GNAC hitter Krissi Kemper (a .422 percentage for the junior middle blocker), and junior middle blocker Becky Blees (ranked No. 4 at .349). Senior outside hitter Danielle Reese ranks fourth in kills per game at 3.62, and hits a solid .207. Reese also is one of the top servers with 22 aces, ranking No. 2 in GNAC. The Wolves have three of the top 10 conference blockers, led by No. 1 Reese at 1.30 blocks per game.
 
SCOUTING THE SAINT MARTIN'S SAINTS: 4-5, 2-2 GNAC (6^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 42-5. Current series streak: SPU won 20. Last time: SPU 3, Saint Martin's 0 (25-19, 25-8, 25-18; Oct. 20, 2011 at Lacey). Saints on the Web.
Saints in a nutshell: Saint Martin's staged a phenomenal rally last Saturday night in Canada, fighting off three match points in the third game to come back for a five-game victory at Simon Fraser. Sophomore outside hitter Kristyn Ross (17 kills, 24 digs) and freshman outside hitter Carrie Starbuck (12 kills, 20 digs) both logged double-doubles. The Saints have two players topping the .200 hitting mark, as senior middle blocker Teilissa Tua is at .219 to rank 16th in the conference, and senior middle blocker Katy Ferguson is at .207 to tie for 20th. Ross hammers an average of 2.53 kills per game, and also has 12 service aces, her average of 0.38 per game fourth in the GNAC. She's also among the top 10 in digs at 3.94 per game. Ferguson has 28 blocks, including four solos, and her average of 0.88 is ninth in the conference.
 
HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(2012 GNAC ranking)
 
                                                SPU                        WOU                      StM
Hitting pct.                           .185 (6)                  .234 (2)                  .138 (9)
Opponent's hitting pct.     .212 (9)                  .140 (1)                  .184 (6)
Kills per game                    12.3 (5)                  12.2 (7)                  10.4 (9)
Assists per game              11.6 (4)                  11.2 (6)                    9.3 (9)
Aces per game                     0.9 (10)                  1.8 (1)                    1.6 (2)
Digs per game                    16.3 (2)                  15.6 (4)                  13.2 (10)
Blocks per game                  1.7 (9)                    2.4 (2)                    1.9 (4)
 
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Seattle Pacific came up with more kills, more attacks, more digs, and a better hitting percentage, couldn't come with more points in the deciding fifth game and fell to Central Washington last Thursday in their home opener, 25-23, 20-25, 20-25, 25-21, 15-13.
-- Cailin Fellows and Shelby Swanson produced double-doubles for the second match in a row as SPU bounced back from being down two games to one and beat Northwest Nazarene last Saturday, 25-22, 20-25, 25-27, 25-20, 15-11.
 
DOUBLING UP ON DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Good things came in doubles for seniors Cailin Fellows and Shelby Swanson last week. The two Seattle Pacific seniors had back-to-back double-doubles as the Falcons split a pair of five-game matches in Brougham Pavilion.
 
On Thursday against Central Washington, outside hitter Fellows (Edmonds, Wash. / Edmonds-Woodway HS) tied her career high with 21 kills and set a new career high with 17 digs, while setter Swanson (Kennewick, Wash. / Kamiakin HS) had 59 assists – one shy of her career high – and 14 digs.
 
Just two days later in a victorious performance against Northwest Nazarene, Fellows had 20 kills and another career-high for digs (18). Swanson came up with 58 assists and 27 digs.
 
SPU has nine double-doubles for the season. Six of those are Swanson's (23 for her career), two belong to Fellows (four in her career), and one is Madi Cavell's (her first).
 
A CAREER KIND OF WEEK
Every player has a big career night on occasion. But the Falcons collectively closed September with what amounted to a career week.
 
Altogether, SPU players set 11 career highs and tied 12 others. Among those rewriting her standards was Cailin Fellows, who did it two nights in a row in the same two categories: total attacks (57 against Central Washington, 63 against Northwest Nazarene) and digs (17 vs. the Wildcats; 18 vs. the Crusaders). Her previous bests were 56 attacks and 15 digs.
 
Others taking the eraser to their personal record books were sophomore middle blocker Madi Cavell (39 attacks vs. NNU; her previous best was 36), freshman middle blocker Jackie Arnold (11 kills and 20 attacks vs. Central; old marks were 9 and 17), sophomore outside hitter Jessica Miller (four block assists, four total blocks against Central; her previous was 1), and sophomore libero Brianna Leenders (7 assists vs. NNU; previous was 5, and 31 digs vs. CWU; previous was 29).


DIGGING IT UP …
With Northwest Nazarene employing the offensive style that it does – the Crusaders are just as likely to tip the ball over the net as they are to hammer it – the Falcons had to be alert defensively last Saturday, and they responded with a season-high 106 digs. That was their first time above 100 since a five-gamer at Western Washington last Nov. 3.
 
… AND SLAMMING IT DOWN
Topping 70 kills in one match is noteworthy enough. Doing it two in a row is a rarity. The Falcons had 72 in both of last week's contest. They hadn't totaled that many since hitting 72 in a five-gamer at home against Montana State Billings on Oct. 3, 2009 – a stretch of 81 matches, including a dozen that went the full five games.
 
ON THE MARK
In last week's 10 total sets, the Falcons hit for .200 or better in five of them, with three of those at .310 or better. That raised SPU's season average to .185.

In particular, two players had key roles in elevating that number. Junior middle blocker Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) hit .368 for the week and raised her season mark 27 points to .287. Jessica Miller (Fife, Wash. / Fife HS) had a .322 week and moved her 2012 percentage up 26 points to .193.
 
BOOST FROM THE BENCH
Sophomore middle blocker Madi Cavell (Keizer, Ore.) didn't play in the first two games against Northwest Nazarene, but started the last three and was unstoppable. In just those three games, Cavell took a career-best 39 swings, and tied her all-time best with 13 kills. The last of those 13 came on match point. She also served an ace and had two block assists, thereby giving her a hand in 15 of SPU's final 65 points.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
-- Cailin Fellows moved up five places to No. 26 for kills in NCAA Division II at 3.78 per game.
-- Shelby Swanson jumped 11 spots to No. 31 for assists per game at 10.24.
-- Sophomore libero Brianna Leenders rose another 10 spots to No. 33 in digs per game at 4.98.
 
Click on this link for a complete look at SPU's national stat rankings.
 
POLLING PLACE
The latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll was released on Monday. Nebraksa-Kearney remained No. 1, this time receiving all but one first-place vote. Western Washington moved up one spot to No. 16, and Central Washington climbed into the top 25 at No. 25.
 
NUMERICAL MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th block            Shelby Swanson (has 95)
200^th point             Jessica Miller (has 189.0)
300^th dig                 Cailin Fellows (has 251)
700^th kill                 Nikki Lowell (has 645)
800^th point             Nikki Lowell (has 786.0)
                                 Cailin Fellows (has 767.0)
 
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
100^th kill                 Madi Cavell (has 106)
500^th dig                Brianna Leenders (has 512)
700^th dig                Shelby Swanson (has 726)
700^th kill                 Cailin Fellows (has 712)
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look a news, notes, results and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
                                                                                     
UP NEXT
The Falcons will be back in Brougham Pavilion next week, playing host to Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m., and Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday the 13th at 3 p.m. Anchorage was one of the three schools picked to be part of a three-team battle for the conference championshi


GNAC STANDINGS
                                                GNAC                    Overall
Western Washington          5-1                          12-2
Central Washington            5-1                          10-4
Alaska Anchorage               4-1                            9-4
Western Oregon                  3-1                          10-3
Montana State Billings       3-2                            6-7
Saint Martin's                       2-2                            4-5
Seattle Pacific                      2-3                            5-9
Northwest Nazarene          2-4                            8-7
Alaska Fairbanks                0-5                            2-9
Simon Fraser                       0-6                           2-10