HONOLULU INVITATIONAL / HPU CHALLENGE (all times Pacific):
Thursday, Aug. 30              Seattle Pacific vs. Sonoma State, 8:00 p.m.
                                                McCabe Gym (Chaminade)  / Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                Live stats TBA        No live Webcast
                                          
Friday, Aug. 31                    Seattle Pacific at Chaminade, 10:30 p.m.
                                                McCabe Gym / Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                Live stats        Live audio        No live Webcast
 
Saturday, Sept. 1                Seattle Pacific vs. Fresno Pacific, 4:30 p.m.
                                                St. Andrew's Priory School / Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                Live stats TBA      Live Webcast TBA
                                                                   
                                                Seattle Pacific at Hawaii Pacific, 10:00 p.m.
                                                St. Andrew/s Priory School / Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                Live stats       Live Webcast (pay-per-view)
                                                                       
 
        Complete weekly release (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – They're back – not only on the volleyball court, but in Hawaii, too.
 
For the third straight year, the Seattle Pacific Falcons will serve up their first points of the season in the Islands. This time, the tournaments have two names – the Honolulu Invitational and the the HPU Challenge – but the venues will be the same, with two matches at Chaminade University, and two more on Hawaii Pacific's home court at St. Andrew's Priory School, both in Honolulu.
 
The Falcons open against 24^th-ranked 2011 NCAA regional finalist Sonoma State on Thursday, then play host Chaminade on Friday. It's a double-dip on Saturday when Seattle Pacific goes up against Fresno Pacific in the afternoon, followed by an evening match against host Hawaii Pacific.
 
SPU has found considerable success in Hawaii the past two seasons, sweeping four matches during its record-breaking 2010 season, then winning three out of four last year.
 
This will be the first of two preseason tournaments for the Falcons.
 
ONE HECK OF A ROAD TRIP
It isn't unusual for the Falcons to be out of town for much of the season's first month before Great Northwest Athletic Conference play gets going. But when they leave Seattle on Aug. 28, it'll be 12 days before they're back in their own beds.
                           
After winding up in Hawaii on Saturday night, they'll fly out Sunday to California for next Tuesday's non-conference match at San Francisco State. Then, they'll make a 50-mile drive north to Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park for the Seawolf Spike next Friday and Saturday. Their final match in that tourney is late Saturday afternoon, followed by a day of rest and relaxation on Sunday before a flight home that evening.
                                                                           
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats will be available from the matches against Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific. A pay-per-view live Webcast also will be available from the HPU match. If live stats ultimately become available for Thursday's match against Sonoma State, that information will be on the Chaminade Web site. If live stats become available for Saturday's match against Fresno Pacific, that information will be on Hawaii Pacific's Web site.
 
POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific has been picked for a fourth-place finish in the GNAC preseason coaches poll that was released on Aug. 21. The Falcons received 61 points in the voting.

Ahead of them, the coaches predicted a tight three-way battle for the championship. Western Washington received three first-place votes and 72 points; Western Oregon got four first-place votes and 71 points; and Alaska Anchorage got two first-place votes and 70 points.

In the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) preseason national poll, the Falcons are at No. 31. Defending champion Concordia-St. Paul is a unanimous No. 1. Thursday opponent Sonoma State is No. 24, and Saturday opponent Fresno Pacific is No. 27.

SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
--Thursday's match against Sonoma State will the first of two that the Falcons and Seawolves play against each other in a span of 10 days. They'll meet in the finale of the Seawolf Spike on Sept. 8 in Sonoma's gym.
--SPU vs. Sonoma has developed into one of the most anticipated matches of the season for the Falcons. This is the fifth straight year the teams have met in preseason play. The Seawolves won a four-gamer at home in 2008 and posted a three-game rout in 2009. SPU turned the tables in 2010 with three-game sweep at Sonoma on a night when the Falcons weren't ranked and the Seawolves were No. 21. Then last year in Honolulu, Sonoma State had a 14-11 lead in the decisive fifth game before Seattle Pacific stormed back with the final five points to take the match.
--Last year, Chaminade was the season-opening opponent, and the Falcons posted a 3-0 sweep, 25-18, 25-17, 25-15. SPU also swept at Chaminade in 2010.
--Seattle Pacific and Fresno Pacific haven't met since 1989. Through the years, the teams have played just twice, with the Sunbirds winning both matches.
--This will be the third straight season the Falcons and Hawaii Pacific have played. The Sea Warriors dominated the early years of the series, winning the first six matches and yielding just one game. But SPU has won the last four matches, and has dropped just one game in those matches – that being in last year's nail-biting 21-25, 25-22, 25-23, 26-24 win at HPU.
--Seattle Pacific is 14-12 all-time in season openers and has started the season with a victory for four straight years.
 



SCOUTING THE 2012 FALCONS
After sporting a veteran-laden team for the past two seasons, Seattle Pacific will have a bit of a different look heading into 2012, with a blend of experienced players and others who will see some of the first significant playing time of their college careers.
                   
That experience starts with on-the-court leader Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS), the senior setter who very likely could be among the GNAC's all-time assist leaders by the time she's done this season. Swanson had five matches of 50 or more assists last season, including a career high 58 in the GNAC opener at Central Washington.
 
Among Swanson's choices when she sets up the ball for an attack will be senior outside hitter Cailin Fellows (Edmonds, Wash./Edmonds-Woodway HS) and junior middle blocker Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.). Fellows joined the Falcons last season after transferring from Boise State. She posted SPU's two best single-match hitting performances of the year (.700 and .533), and had four of the top 10 best single-match performances for total kills, including a career-high 21 at Central Washington.
 
Lowell was SPU's leading hitter (.295) and leading blocker (93, with eight solos) for the second straight year.
 
Sophomore Brianna Leenders (Portland, Ore.) will step full-time into the libero's role vacated by now-graduated two-time All-American Anna Herold. But Leenders is hardly a newcomer. She was one of five Falcons to play in all102 games last year, coming up with 238 digs (third on the team) and 25 service aces (No. 2 for SPU).
 
Other returners vying for a bigger piece of the on-court action are sophomore middle blocker Madi Cavell (Keizer, Ore.), sophomore setter Kendall Langdon (Irvine, Calif.), junior opposite Emily Oslie (Salem, Ore.), sophomore outside hitter Jessica Miller (Fife, Wash./Fife HS), junior outside hitter Nicole Schwend (Oregon City, Ore.), and junior middle blocker Nikki Cheek (Puyallup, Wash./Emerald Ridge HS). Of that group, Miller saw the most action last season, slamming 44 kills in 21 games, hitting ,219, and recording 10 blocks (four solos).
 
Coach Chris Johnson also has five newcomers vying for playing time, including four freshmen: outside hitter Ellie Britt (Orange, Calif.), middle blocker Jackie Arnold (Anaheim, Calif.), outside hitter Brielle Van Zonneveld (Lynden, Wash./Lynden Christian HS), and libero Breanne Wiekamp (Laguna Niguel, Calif.). Also coming aboard is sophomore setter Sara Biondi, a transfer from Washington State.
                                                                                                                            
SCOUTING THE HONOLULU INVITATIONAL
SONOMA STATE SEAWOLVES
All-time series: Sonoma leads, 6-4. Current series streak: SPU won 2. Last time: SPU 3, Sonoma State 2 (25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 14-25, 16-14; Sept. 3, 2011 at Honolulu). Seawolves on the Web.
Seawolves in a nutshell: Sonoma State went all the way to the NCAA West Regional final last year before falling in three games to eventual national runner-up Cal State San Bernardino. Keala Peterson, their top producer on offense (380 kills, .256 hitting, 4.24 points per game), graduated, but the Seawolves still have plenty of power up front. Senior 6-foot-0 outside hitter Allyson Sather is back after hammering 357 kills and hitting .265. (She had 17 kills on 34 swings, and hit .324 against the Falcons in Hawaii.) Also returning is 5-10 sophomore outside hitter Kelsey Hull (305 kills, .319 hitting), and 6-0 senior middle blocker Brooke Moore (the team's leading hitter at .342, with 142 kills, and top blocker with 71 (14 solo). Sonoma hit a solid .268 as a team in 2011, averaging 14.04 kills per game.
                                                                                                                                                                                             
CHAMINADE SILVERSWORDS
All-time series: SPU leads, 9-5. Current series streak: SPU won 2. Last time: SPU 3, Chaminade 0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-15; Sept. 1, 2011 at Honolulu). Silverswords on the Web.
Sea Warriors in a nutshell: Hawaii Pacific went 15-10 last season, but returns its most potent weapon offensively in 5-9 senior outside hitter Sanoe Recca, who had 263 kills. She posted a double-double of 12 kills and 14 digs against SPU last year in Hawaii. Sophomore middle blocker Haley Doerfler returns after hammering 171 kills last season and leading the team in blocks with 80 (18 solos). Senior Pihana Kea returns to run the show from her setter position after racking up a team-high 772 assists. Hawaii Pacific graduated top hitter Courtney Curran (.229 with 169 kills and 77 blocks).
 



DON'T UNDER-RATE THE GOLDEN STATE
For the second straight year, the Falcons will take on a team that is transitioning from the NAIA's Golden State Athletic Conference to NCAA Division II. Suffice to say they're hoping for a better outcome. This time, it's Fresno Pacific, which has six NAIA titles, most recently in 2010, and went 17-13 last season.
                     
Last year, SPU was swept by Cal Baptist in the Colorado Premier Challenge. The Lancers eventually went 26-10 overall, including 11-5 in the Pacific West Conference.
 
WELCOME ABOARD ...
While the Falcons said so long to four departing seniors last spring (Anna Herold, Paige Hoffman, Angie Pricco and Lindsey Wodrich), coach Chris Johnson brought five new players into the fold – four freshmen and one key transfer.
 
Sophomore setter Sara Biondi (Sacramento, Calif.) brings considerable Pacific-12 Conference experience to the Falcons. She walked on at Washington State in 2010 and wound up starting 92 of 99 games for the Cougars that season, ranking No. 8 in assists in the Pac-12 at 9.47 per game. That average included a career high of 58 in a four-game non-conference victory against Gonzaga.
 
The freshman group includes 6-foot outside hitter Ellie Britt of Orange, Calif.; 5-11 middle blocker Jackie Arnold of Anaheim, Calif.; 6-3 outside hitter Brielle Van Zonneveld of Lynden, Wash.; and 5-4 libero Breanne Wiekamp of Laguna Niguel, Calif. Arnold and Britt played on the same T-Street Volleyball Club in California. Van Zonneveld was part of the last two Lynden Christian teams that earned Class 1A Washington state high school tournament trophies (fourth in 2011; sixth in 2010).
 
… AND WELCOME BACK
Whitney Dibble, who played for the Falcons from 2003-06, is back at Seattle Pacific as the lead assistant coach. She is the first Falcon alum on head coach Chris Johnson's staff since he took the reins in 2005.
 
Dibble played as a middle blocker for SPU. She helped the Falcons win back-to-back Great Northwest Athletic Conference titles in 2005 and 2006, and the team also made the NCAA West Regional tournament both years. She has been a head coach for the 17-18 age group at Cascade Volleyball Club in Seattle, and also served as an assistant coach at Forest Ridge School in Bellevue, east of Seattle.
 
After graduating with a major in biology and a minor in psychology, Dibble was back on campus to complete her master's degree in marriage and family therapy, receiving that one in June 2011.

UP AND UP SWANSON GOES
When it comes to assists, senior setter Shelby Swanson is upwardly mobile within the GNAC.
 
A year ago at this time, Swanson was about 500 assists away from even being in the conference's all-time top 20. But after setting up 1,147 points in playing all 102 games in 2011, Swanson is all the way up to No. 12 on the list with 2,644. Swanson has a realistic chance of climbing as high as No. 5, a spot currently occupied by Mindy Swanson, who had 3,742 assists for Northwest Nazarene from 2000-03.
 
The all-time leader is Kate Reome of Central Washington, who finished her four years (2001-04) with 4,780. Former SPU star Jenna Von Moos (2003-06) wound up with 4,009.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
The Falcons racked up 27 double-doubles in 28 matches last season. Leading the way was now-graduated senior Lindsey Wodrich with 16. She finished with 35 kill-dig double-doubles for her career.
 
Among the returning Falcons, senior setter Shelby Swanson had 17 double-doubles, all of hers assist-dig. Senior outside hitter Cailin Fellows has two kill-dig double-doubles, both of them last year at SPU, to which she transferred after playing two seasons at Boise State.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
The Falcons have been a force in Brougham Pavilion the past two seasons with a combined record of 18-1.
 
But they've been just as tough playing in hostile environments. During those same two seasons, SPU is 20-5 in true road matches (those not played on a neutral court). Last year, that included victories at Chaminade and at Hawaii Pacific, two places where they'll be facing those respective teams again this week.