SPU-Fresno Pacific box score, play-by-play
        SPU-Hawaii Pacific box score, play-by-play
 
HONOLULU – Two nights ago, the Seattle Pacific Falcons showed they could come from behind and make a match of it.
 
On Saturday, they showed they could come from behind and win the match.
 
Jessica Miller hammered a career-high 19 kills and Shelby Swanson posted her second straight double-double as SPU stormed back from two games down to beat six-time NAIA champion and current NCAA newcomer Fresno Pacific in the Hawaii Pacific Challenge volleyball tournament, 3-2.
 
Game scores in HPU's St. Andrew's Priory were 19-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-14, 15-10.
 
“Just to see the poise and unity on the team – we had three freshmen on the floor at times, and they were doing a great job,” said Seattle Pacific coach Chris Johnson, whose team came back late in two games to tie Sonoma State in Thursday's season opener, only to fall short at the end.

Their final match did not go so well, however, as host Hawaii Pacific scored a three-game sweep of the Falcons, 25-16, 25-15, 25-19. SPU will bring a 2-2 record to California for five match next week, starting with Tuesday's non-conference contest at San Francisco State.

Sophomore outside hitter Miller (Fife, Wash. / Fife HS) easily beat her previous career high of 12 kills, set last Nov. 5 at Simon Fraser. She got Saturday's total on 59 attacks, more than twice as many as her previous high of 25 last Oct. 10 against British Columbia.
 
“That was a clutch performance,” Johnson said of Miller's match. “She came in late in Game 1 and played great the entire time. She hit with range and did everything we told her to do. She wasn't credited with any blocks, but she did a good job up there.”
 
Senior setter Swanson (Kennewick, Wash. / Kamiakin HS) racked up 46 assists and had 12 digs. She now has 19 career double-doubles and moved into 11th place on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's all-time assist list. Swanson currenlty has 2,766 assists, and is 81 away from moving into the top 10.

Freshman middle blocker Jackie Arnold (Anaheim, Calif.) logged her second error-free match in three outings, putting down seven kills on 17 swings for a team-high .412 percentage.
 
Sophomore libero Brianna Leenders (Portland, Ore.) came up with a career-high 28 digs, beating her previous best of 20. Also posting career nights were sophomore middle blocker Madi Cavell (Keizer, Ore.) with 13 kills – her first time in double figures – and freshman outside hitter Ellie Britt (Orange, Calif.) with nine kills and 13 digs.
 
After trailing through most of the first two games, Seattle Pacific led virtually all the way through the last three. The Falcons yielded the first point of Game 3, then promptly ran off four in a row, never trailing again. The Sunbirds had a 2-1 edge in Game 4, but SPU put together another four-point run to move in front.
 
The Falcons went up 2-0 and 4-1 in the deciding fifth game, saw Fresno Pacific rally to 4-4, then tallied three straight to go ahead for good. They closed it out on their first try at match point with Miller's 19^th kill.
 
“We felt like it was ours to lose (going into Game 5),” Johnson said. “We felt we were in control as long as we kept playing the way we were playing and didn't give them any free points.”
 
SPU had nine more kills than Fresno Pacific (58-49). The Falcons hit just .163 for the match, but raised their percentage in each game – from .000 in the opener to .240 in the deciding game. They forced the Sunbirds to go the other direction. Fresno hit .188 and .209 in the game it won, then dipped to .088, -.133 and .087, finishing the match at .095.
 
“We started making better swings and smarter swings, and we just started playing better defense,” Johnson said. “We served better after the first game. And we did a good job of shutting down their hitters after the first couple games.”
 
 

NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
HPU Challenge
Saturday, September 1, 2012
St. Andrew's Priory / Honolulu, Hawaii
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Fresno Pacific 2
 
Game scores – 19-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-14, 15-10.
Service aces – SPU 4 (Brianna Leenders 2), FPU 7 (Hannah Butler 3). Kills – SPU 58 (Jessica Miller 19, Madi Cavell 13), FPU 49 (Rupia Inck 15). Assists – SPU 52 (Shelby Swanson 46), FPU 45 (Erica Adachi 24). Digs – SPU 78 (Leenders 28, Ellie Britt 13, Swanson 12), FPU 77 (Butler 22). Block assists / solo – SPU 10 / 0 solo (Nikki Lowell 3), FPU 25 / 2 solo (Kathleen Anderson 8 / 2 solo). Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 58-29-178--.163 (Jackie Arnold 7-0-17--.412, Cavell 13-6-34--.206), FPU 49-33-168--.095 (Anderson 10-2-27--.296). Attendance – 50.

 

Records – Seattle Pacific 2-1, Fresno Pacific 1-1.

 

Hawaii Pacific 3, Seattle Pacific 0
 
Game scores – 25-16, 25-15, 25-19.
Service aces – SPU 3 (Jessica Miller 2), HPU 5 (Haley Doerfler 3). Kills – SPU 31 (Nikki Lowell 8, Cailin Fellows 8), HPU 41 (Samantha Rummans 10). Assists – SPU 30 (Shelby Swanson 22), HPU 39 (Pihanakealoha Kea 28). Digs – SPU 59 (Brianna Leenders 21, Swanson 11), HPU 62 (Chelsey Buyuan 16). Block assists / solo – SPU 11 / 0 solo (Jackie Arnond 4 / 0 solo), HPU 15 / 1 solo (Doerfler 4 / 0 solo, Kasey Thompson 4 / 0 solo). Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 31-26-128--.039 (Lowell 8-3-17--.294), HPU 41-10-112--.277 (Thompson 7-1-21--.286, Rummans 10-3-27--.259). Attendance – 307.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 2-2, Hawaii Pacific 3-0.
 
Next match – Seattle Pacific at San Francisco State, Tuesday, 7:00 p.m.