THE SCHEDULE:
Thursday, Nov. 15                 W. Washington at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live stats        Live Webcast              
 
Saturday, Nov. 17                  Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live stats        Live Webcast
 
               
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – And then there were two.
 
For the Seattle Pacific Falcons, that means two matches left in their 2012 volleyball season.
                                
The Falcons are back home in Brougham Pavilion for the final time this season when they welcome 15^th-ranked Western Washington on Thursday night, then celebrate Senior Night against Simon Fraser on Saturday. Both matches begin at 7 p.m.
 
Saturday's contest against Simon Fraser will mark the final competition in a Seattle Pacific uniform for senior setter Shelby Swanson and senior outside hitter Cailin Fellows. Their accomplishments and contributions to the program will be recognized during a brief pre-match ceremony.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both of this week's matches will have a free live Webcasts on Stretch Internet, the new Webcast home for the GNAC. Scott Breitbach will be on play-by-play, and former SPU star Jessica Bettencourt provides color commentary. Live stats also will be available from both venues. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
               
GNAC AWARD TO FELLOWS
Cailin Fellows, who was SPU's leader for kills in both Alaska matches last week, has been the GNAC's Offensive Player of the Week.
 
Fellows had had 26 kills, 12 digs, four block assists and two service aces as SPU won the two road matches. On Thursday at Fairbanks, she hit a season-high .406 with 14 kills and just one error on 32 swings to help SPU sweep, 25-18, 25-20, 25-18. Then on Saturday at Anchorage, Fellows had 12 kills, nine digs, two block assists and an ace in a 25-16, 21-25, 25-21, 25-23 victory.
                              
Fellows' 3.99 kills per game average is second in the conference, but her total of 363 is the most among GNAC players.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Senior setter Shelby Swanson needs 80 assists in the two matches combined to reach 3,743 and climb into the GNAC's all-time top five for that stat category.
-- Senior outside hitter Cailin Fellows needs 45 points between kills, service aces and blocks in the two matches combined to finish her career with 1,000 points.
-- SPU won its most recent match against a nationally ranked team, beating then-No. 22 Central Washington in five games at Ellensburg on Oct. 27.
-- Three of the last four matches between longtime rivals Seattle Pacific and Western Washington have gone the five-game limit. SPU won two of those three.
-- Falcons coach Chris Johnson is 7-8 all-time against the Vikings and coach Diane Flick.
-- Johnson is 5-0 all-time against Simon Fraser, and his teams have beaten the Clan in 15 of the 16 games. Simon Fraser got Game 2 of September's match in Burnaby, B.C.
 
SALUTING THE SENIORS
Setter Shelby Swanson and outside hitter Cailin Fellows will wind up their Seattle Pacific careers on Saturday night against Simon Fraser.
 
From the start of her sophomore year, Swanson has been the No. 1 setter for the Falcons, and has put up impressive numbers: 1,122 in 2010 as a sophomore; 1,147 in 2011 as a junior, and 1,019 so far this fall as a senior. Swanson began this season at No. 12 on the GNAC's all-time assist list and currently is up to No. 6, with a chance to climb into the top five by the end of the week.
 
Fellows played her first two season at Boise State before joining the Falcons as a junior in 2011. She slammed 283 kills and hit a career-best .183. In 2012, Fellows is having by far the best season of her career. She has more kills (363) than anyone in the GNAC, including a career-high 28 in a five-game victory at Central Washington on Oct. 27. She has an excellent chance topping 900 kills, already has more than 300 digs, and has piled up 955 points.
 

SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 21-3, 14-2 GNAC (1st)
All-time series: WWU leads, 36-25. Current series streak: WWU won 2. Last time: WWU 3, SPU 0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-12; Sept. 15 at Bellingham). Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: The Vikings rank in the Division II top 10 for hitting percentage (No. 6 at .275), and among the top 20 in kills per game (No. 17 at 13.9) and assists per game (No. 13 at 13.26). They lead the GNAC in all three categories. Western has three of the top 10 hitters in the conference: sophomore middle blocker/opposite Kayla Erickson at No. 3 (.355), senior outside hitter Marlayna Geary at No. 6 (.306), and junior middle blocker/opposite Emily Boreger at No. 7 (.299). Geary, the leading contender for GNAC Player of the Year, is No. 1 in kills per game at 4.26 (that's No. 12 nationally. Making sure the ball goes to Geary at the right time is senior setter Laurie Yearout, the conference leader in assists at 12.00 per game, a mark that ranks No. 5 in D-2. Sophomore libero Samantha Hutchinson is No. 6 nationally in digs per game at 6.25.
               
SCOUTING THE SIMON FRASER CLAN: 4-19, 1-15 GNAC (10th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 23-9. Current series streak: SPU won 10. Last time: SPU 3, Simon Fraser 2 (25-14, 23-25, 25-22, 25-19; Sept. 13 at Burnaby). Clan on the Web.
Clan in a nutshell: Simon Fraser opened the season with a pair of non-conference victories, but has struggled ever since. The Clan begin the final week of the season on a six-match losing streak, four of those in sweeps and the other two in five games. The first of those five-gamers was against Central Washington, in which Simon Fraser had a match point at 14-13, but ultimately dropped the deciding game, 17-15. Sophomore middle blocker Amanda Renkema is the Clan's leading hitter at .200. Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Young ranks 12^th in the GNAC at 2.80 kills per game. She totals 235 kills, getting 12 of those last time against Seattle Pacific. Sophomore Madeline Hait is third in the conference at 0.99 blocks per game. Renkema's 20 solos are most in the GNAC, and Hait's 16 solos are the second-highest total.
               
HOW DO THEY COMPARE?
(2012 GNAC ranking)
                                                SPU                        WWU                      SFU
Hitting pct.                           .212 (3)                  .275 (1)                  .125 (10)
Opponent's hitting pct.      .192 (7)                  .162 (3)                  .191 (6)
Kills per game                     12.9 (3)                  13.9 (1)                  10.2 (10)
Assists per game                12.0 (3)                  13.3 (1)                    9.5 (10)
Aces per game                      1.2 (8)                    1.6 (3)                    1.3 (7)
Digs per game                     16.2 (3)                  17.0 (1)                  15.1 (8)
Blocks per game                  1.7 (T8)                  2.2 (2)                     2.0 (4)
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Cailin Fellows had 14 kills, Madi Cavell added 11, and SPU had four players hit for .400 or better in a 25-18, 25-20, 25-18 victory at Alaska Fairbanks last Thursday.
-- Fellows hammered 12 kills, junior middle blocker Nikki Lowell added 11, and junior middle blocker Nikki Cheek put down a career-high eight last Saturday as SPU pulled out a four-game victory at Alaska Anchorage, 25-16, 21-25, 25-21, 25-23.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash. / Kamiakin HS)  had 39 assists and 12 digs last Saturday at Alaska Anchorage for her 13th double-double of the season and the 30th of her career.

Cailin Fellows (Edmonds, Wash. / Edmonds-Woodway HS) has four double-doubles this fall and six for her career. Sophomore opposite / middle blocker Madi Cavell (Keizer, Ore.) has two career double-doubles, both this season.
 
As a team, Seattle Pacific now has 19 double-doubles this season.
 
CHECK OUT CHEEK'S WEEK
Junior middle blocker Nikki Cheek (Puyallup, Wash. / Emerald Ridge HS) started both matches in Alaska last week, and had plenty to show for it.
 
On Thursday in Fairbanks, Cheek played error-free, putting down four kills on eight swings to tie her career-high hitting percentage of .500. She also had four block assists, tying her career high in that department.
 
Cheek was even better on Saturday in Anchorage. She had a career-high eight kills on 16 attacks (also a career high) and had just one error for a team-leading .438 hitting night. She also came up with a career-high three digs.
 
ROAD WINNERS
After a slow start on the road, the Falcons found their groove and won five of their last six away from Brougham Pavilion to finish with a mark of 7-6 in road matches. SPU was 2-5 on the road at one point, but started to turn that around with a 3-0 sweep at Western Oregon on Oct. 4. Then came victories at Saint Martin's, Central Washington, and last week's triumphs at Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage. The only home team to beat the Falcons during that stretch was Northwest Nazarene on Oct. 25 in a five-gamer.
 
Along with a 2-3 mark in neutral-court matches, SPU was 9-9 overall outside of Seattle in 2012.
 
FIRST COMES A CENTURY …
Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Miller (Fife, Wash. / Fife HS) and sophomore opposite/middle blocker Madi Cavell (Keizer, Ore.) hit the same career milestone last week when each played in her 100th game as a Falcon. For Miller, Game 2 at Alaska Fairbanks last Thursday was her 100th. For Cavel, the third game at Anchorage on Saurday gave her 100 in a Seattle Pacific uniform.

 … THEN COMES A MILLENNIUM
It'll take a couple of big performances this week in the final two matches of her career, but Cailin Fellows is still within striking distance of 1,000 points. Fellows picked up 30 in the two Alaska matches, and comes into this week with 955 points.
 
Middle blocker Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) pushed past 900 career points last week, and now has 915. She won't get to 1,000 this season, but is just a junior, so will have all of 2013 to make  it – and that figures to be easily achievable, as Lowell's per-season average through her first three is currently 305 points.
 
SWEEP CITY
SPU has a chance for its third season series sweep when it faces Simon Fraser on Saturday. So far, SPU has taken both matches from Saint Martin's and Alaska Fairbanks, and has split against Alaska Anchorage, Central Washington, Montana State Billings, Northwest Nazarene, and Western Oregon.
 
Last Thursday's three-game victory at Fairbanks was the fifth three-game sweep of the season for the Falcons.
 
OFF TO A BETTER START
So how important is it to win Game 1? The numbers don't lie. In the first 13 matches of the season, the Falcons prevailed in the opening game just twice, and went 4-9 during that stretch.
 
Since then, SPU has gone 9-3 in first games – and their overall record mirrors that mark exactly: It won all nine matches when taking Game 1, and lost three when Game 1 went the other direction.
 
SO HOW ABOUT THOSE PREDICTIONS?
In their preseason poll, GNAC coaches made Western Washington a narrow favorite to win the conference title. The Vikings have proved them correct, coming into this week having clinched at least a tie for the title. Seattle Pacific was picked for fourth and still has a chance to finish there, beginning this week in fifth at 10-6, just one match behind Alaska Anchorage (11-5). Simon Fraser was tabbed for 10^th, and that's where the Clan are.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
-- Cailin Fellows is No. 20 in kills per game at 3.99.
-- She also is No. 34 in points per game at 4.29.
-- Shelby Swanson is tied for No. 23 in assists per game at 10.79.
 
POLLING PLACE
In this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) national poll released on Monday, defending champion Concordia St. Paul took over the No. 1 spot from Southwest Minnesota State. Concordia received 28 of 32 first-place votes and 796 points. Brigham Young-Hawaii moved up three places into a tie for No. 5 and is the highest-ranked West Region team. Western Washington rose two places to No. 15, and Central Washington heads the 'others receiving votes' list, No. 26 overall.
 
NUMERICAL MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th kill               Jackie Arnold (has 87)
300^th point           Jessica Miller (has 292.5)
                              Madi Cavell (has 272.5)
300^th dig               Breanne Wiekamp (has 282)
900^th assist          Sara Biondi (has 898)
900^th kill               Cailin Fellows (has 886)
1,000^th point        Cailin Fellows (has 955.0)
                              Nikki Lowell (has 915.0)
3,743^rd assist*     Shelby Swanson (has 3,663)           
* 3,743 will put Swanson at No. 5 on the all-time GNAC list.
 
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
200^th kill              Madi Cavell (has 216)

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for a look a news, notes, results and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
                
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                GNAC    Overall
Western Washington                14-2        21-3
Western Oregon                      12-4        19-6
Central Washington                 12-4        19-7
Alaska Anchorage                   11-5        16-8
Seattle Pacific                         10-6        13-12
Montana State Billings              7-9        10-14
Northwest Nazarene                6-10       13-14
Alaska Fairbanks                     4-12         6-16
Saint Martin's                           3-13         6-16
Simon Fraser                           1-15         4-19