Box score, play-by-play
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SEATTLE – The opportunities were there for the Seattle Pacific Falcons on Thursday night. But not enough of them went in against the nation's 15th-ranked volleyball team.
 
Kayla Erickson of Western Washington had 19 kills, offsetting the double-double performances of SPU's Cailin Fellows and Shelby Swanson, as the Vikings secured a four-game victory and clinched the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship.
 
Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 25-23, 25-22, 19-25, 25-18.
                   
SPU (13-13, 10-7 GNAC) will wind up the season Saturday night in Brougham against Simon Fraser at 7 p.m. It will be Senior Night in honor of outside hitter Fellows and setter Swanson.
 
The Vikings (22-3, 15-2 GNAC) secured the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II West Regionals.
 
“We had our chances and almost made a comeback in Game 2,” Falcons coach Chris Johnson said. “We put some on some big runs in both (of the first two) games, but we got too far behind early on to dig our way out.”
 
Fellows (Edmonds, Wash. / Edmonds-Woodway HS) had 11 kills and 14 digs for her fifth double-double of the season and the seventh of her career.
 
Swanson (Kennewick, Wash. / Kamiakin HS) had 48 assists and 19 digs for her 14^th double-double of the season and the 31^st of her career. She'll need 33 assists on Saturday against Simon Fraser to move into the No. 5 spot on the all-time GNAC list for that statistical category.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Jessica Miller (Fife, Wash. / Fife HS) led the Falcons with 13 kills, and sophomore opposite Madi Cavell (Keizer,Ore) added 10. Freshman middle blocker Jackie Arnold (Anaheim, Calif.) had nine kills and just one error on 16 swings for a team-high .500 hitting percentage. Sophomore libero Brianna Leenders (Portland, Ore.) had 19 digs.
 
Seattle Pacific was down 13-8 in the first game, but went on a 10-3 run to take an 18-16 lead. The Falcons also were up 19-18, 20-19, 21-20 and 22-21. The Vikings scored the last two points to break a 23-23 tie.
 
Western built a 21-11 lead in the second game, but SPU rallied to close it to 24-22 before a kill by Kelsey Moore sealed it for Western.
 
The Falcons took command of Game 3, going up 18-8. A 9-2 run by Western cut it to 20-17, but it never got closer than that.
 
The Vikings raced to a 5-1 lead in the fourth game and never let SPU closer than two points, the last time at 14-12.
 
Western, the GNAC's top-hitting team at .275, was kept to just .170 on Thursday (52 kills-24 errors-165 attacks). Seattle Pacific hit .130 (52-29-177).
 
“I thought we played really well defensively. We kept them 105 points below their average,” Johnson said. “Erickson (who finished at .486) is the only one that really hurt us. But we made a lot of errors ourselves, too many to overcome.”
 
On Saturday, Swanson will wind up a four-year career with SPU, and Fellows will conclude a two-year stint after transferring from Boise State in 2011.

“I remember talking to her club coach when Shelby was in high school and I was recruiting her,” Johnson said, “and he said, 'I think Shelby is a cash-money setter.' She came to our camp and was awesome there. She could locate the ball and make smart sets – she was everything we need in a setter.

“Cailin has been a big shot in the arm ever since she got here,” Johnson said. “She's a huge threat in every single match she plays. The other thing about Cailin is she brought an awesome spirit. She's always fighting, always wanting to win, always excited to be on the court.” 
 
 


NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
(No. 15) Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 1
 
Game scores – 25-23, 25-22, 19-25, 25-18.
 
Service aces – WWU 2 (2 players with 1), SPU 4 (Madi Cavell 2).
Kills – WWU 52 (Kayla Erickson 19), SPU 52 (Jessica Miller 13, Cailin Fellows 11, Cavell 10).
Assists – WWU 51 (Laurie Yearout 47), SPU 51 (Shelby Swanson 48).
Digs – WWU 86 (Samantha Hutchinson 33), SPU 78 (Brianna Leenders 19, Sweanson 19, Fellows 14, Breanne Wiekamp 12).
Block assists / solo blocks – WWU 18 / 1 solo (Emily Boerger 5 / 1 solo), SPU 12 / 1 solo (Jackie Arnold 4 /0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – WWU 52-24-165--.170 (Erickson 19-2-35--.486), SPU 52-29-177--.130 (Arnold 9-1-16--.500).
Attendance – 144.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 13-13, 10-7 GNAC. Western Washington 22-3, 15-2 GNAC.
 
Next match – Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific, Saturday, Brougham Pavilion, 7:00 p.m.