THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Oct. 10               Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast and live stats
 
Saturday, Oct. 12               Seattle Pacific at NW Nazarene, 6:00 p.m. PDT
                                               Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
                                               Live Webcast and live stats
 
               
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – They finished the first half on the winning side. The Seattle Pacific Falcons will try to keep that going this week as they begin the second half of the volleyball season by returning to the road.
 
SPU will head east, visiting Central Washington in Ellensburg on Thursday at 7 p.m., then flying off to Idaho on Friday for a contest with Northwest Nazarene. First serve in that one is at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday in Nampa.
 
The Falcons closed out a three-match homestand last Saturday with a sweep of Montana State Billings. That marked the second time this season Seattle Pacific needed just three games to put the decision into the books.
 
SPU's record is all level in matches away from Brougham Pavilion this fall at 5-5. That includes a 2-2 mark in true road contests, winning at Cal State Bernardino and Alaska Fairbanks, and coming up short at Cal State East Bay and Alaska Anchorage.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live Webcasts and live stats will be available for every GNAC match, home and away. All live Webcasts are through Stretch Internet, the conference's official provider of streaming video. Live stats for Seattle Pacific home are provided by Sidearm Sports. Appropriate links for both can be found at the top of this story.
 
1 VS. 2 – TIMES TWO
When it comes to blocking, the best will be playing against the best on Saturday when SPU and Northwest Nazarene take the court in Nampa.
 
The Falcons lead the GNAC with an average of 2.69 blocks per game. That mark ranks No. 2 in all of NCAA Division II. The only team better is West Texas A&M, which has pushed its average above three per game last week, now at 3.02. The Crusaders average 2.38 blocks per game, second in the GNAC and 15th nationally.
 
SPU senior middle blocker Nikki Lowell and NNU junior Andrea Terpstra, have a lot to do with that. Lowell is No. 2 in the GNAC and No. 8 in D2 at 1.31 blocks per game. Terpstra leads the conference and is No. 7 nationally at 1.33.
 
Click on this link to see how the Falcons and other GNAC teams and players stack up nationally.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons split against both of these schools last year.
-- The home team won both of the NNU matches; the visitor was victorious in the two Central Washington contests.
-- All four matches went to the five-game limit.
-- Last year's opening game of the match at Central Washington was the longest of the season for the Falcons, as they finally prevailed, 32-30.
-- The series against Central remains SPU's closest against any conference opponent. The Falcons lead it, 34-30, and the margin in games won is 124-110.
-- That both of last year's matches against Northwest Nazarene went the full five games shouldn't come as a surprise. Of the 26 times those teams have met, nine of them have gone the limit. SPU has a 6-3 record in those matches.
-- Falcons head coach Chris Johnson's teams are 10-6 against Central Washington and 12-4 against Northwest Nazarene.
 
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 6-8, 2-4 GNAC (tie 6^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 34-30. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 3, CWU 2 (32-30, 25-15, 22-25, 18-25, 15-9; Oct. 27, 2012 at Ellensburg). Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central started the season ranked No. 24, and climbed as high as No. 22 after a four-game victory against then-No. 14 Cal State San Bernardino in the season-opening Coyote Classic. Last week as a tough one on the road, as Central fell in five games at Simon Fraser, and was swept by then-No. 9 Western Washington. The 'Cats have plenty of offensive firepower. Senior outside hitter Emmy Dolan leads with 146 kills, an average of 2.75 per game, and hits .220; sophomore Linden Firethorne averages 3.07 kills per game and hits .224; and sophomore middle blocker Kaitlin Quirk leads the team in hitting at .262. Also back is senior middle blocker Erin Smith, who had double-digit kills in both matches against SPU last fall. Gone via graduation is Marcy Hjellum, who had 22 kills in each of those two matches.  
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE CRUSADERS: 8-4, 4-2 GNAC (3^rd)
All-time series: SPU leads, 20-6. Current series streak: NNU won 1. Last time: NNU 3, SPU 2 (25-21, 19-25, 18-25, 25-12, 15-10; Oct. 25, 2012 at Nampa). Crusaders on the Web.
Crusaders in a nutshell: Northwest Nazarene was picked for just a seventh-place finish in the GNAC preseason poll. But new head coach Doug English has the Crusaders playing far above those expectations. After a 3-0 start in conference play, the Crusaders dropped two straight, but got back on track last Saturday with a four-game win at Simon Fraser. Giving NNU a huge boost is junior middle blocker Andrea Terpstra, the sister of junior setter Michelle Terpstra. Andrea played previously at D1 San Diego State before making the move to Nampa, and ranks No. 3 in GNAC hitting a .348, second in kills average at 3.71 per game, and No. 1 in blocks at 1.33 per game. Freshman middle blocker Jenna Caywood is No. 8 in the conference with her .268 hitting, and sophomore middle blocker Elayna Rice is No. 7 at 3.29 kills per game.
                                                                                                                             
FALCONS REPLAY
Madi Cavell hammered 12 kills, and Nikki Lowell added nine while hitting a season-high .615 to help SPU sweep past Montana State Billings last Saturday in Brougham Pavilion, 25-18, 25-22, 25-14.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Seattle Pacific did not record any double-doubles in their lone match this week. So for the season, the Falcons still have 12 double-doubles:
 
Ellie Britt (4 season / 4 career) – 16K-12D at Cal State San Bernardino, Sept. 7; 14K-12D vs. Holy Names, Sept. 13; 12K-12D vs. Cal State Los Angeles, Sept. 13; 12K-12D vs. Western Washington, Sept. 28.
Madi Cavell (5 season / 8 career) – 18K-11D at Cal State San Bernardino, Sept. 7; 11K-11D vs. Cal State Los Angeles, Sept. 13; 10K-13D vs. Cal State East Bay, Sept. 14; 15K-10D at Alaska Anchorage, Sept. 19; 10K-13D vs. Western Washington, Sept. 28
Kendall Langdon (3 season / 3 career) – 25A-12D vs. Cal State L.A., Sept. 6; 23A-15D at Alaska Anchorage, Sept. 19; 13A-11D vs. Western Washington, Sept. 28.
 
MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SCORE A POINT
Senior middle blocker Nikki Lowell hits the ball so hard sometimes, one would think it was going to go through the floor. But lately, Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) has been doing some damage with a soft touch, too.
 
In last Saturday's sweep of Montana State Billings, Lowell had nine kills and hit a season-high .615, with just one error on 13 attacks. Of those nine kills, one was on a well-placed tip. She also had three such points against Simon Fraser and one against Western Washington.
 
"If it's not there, I'm going to play it a little safer and keep it in play," Lowell said, "maybe not get the kill, but get them out of system so that we can take it away on defense the next time."
 
"We're trying to be a little more mindful of our hitting and being a little smarter," she added.
 
ACE IN THE HOLE
Whether they're killing the ball or tipping it, everything starts with serving it, and the Falcons did that better last Saturday than in any other match this season. SPU delivered nine aces, four of them by junior outside hitter Madi Cavell (Keizer, Ore.) with her jump serve. That was a season high for her, and came within one of her career high.
 
It also was a season-high total for Seattle Pacific, topping the seven serves that went for aces in the season-opening match against Cal State Los Angeles on Sept. 6 in the Coyote Classic at Cal State San Bernardino. But that was just part of the story. The Falcons had just five service errors, tying their second –lowest total of the fall. The only match with fewer was on Sept. 14 against Azusa Pacific, when they had just three errors.
 
DO THE MATH – PLUS SIGN
SPU has won three of its last four matches, and there are multiple reasons for that. But one of the biggest has come on offense. In those three victories – two of them sweeps – the Falcons have played 10 games, and hit .200 or better in seven of them.
 
That stretch included a season-high, error-free game of .700 (14 kills on 20 attacks) to finish off a three-gamer at Alaska Fairbanks on Sept. 21.
 
All of that has helped SPU add 23 points to its season hitting total, going from .120 after a four-game loss at Alaska Anchorage on Sept. 19 to .143 through last Saturday's victory against Montana State Billings.
 
DO THE MATH – MINUS SIGN
In 13 matches totaling 49 games so far this season, SPU has kept its opponents to negative hitting in nine games, and finished one game – the first one against Montana State Billings last Saturday – with the Yellowjackets hitting .000. In another 12 games, the other side has hit below .100. That included an .053 performance by usually hard- and accurate-hitting Western Washington in the middle game of the Vikings' match in Brougham Pavilion on Sept. 28.
 
The Falcons haven't kept an opponent to negative hitting for an entire match this year, but came close last Saturday when Billings wound up the day at .010.

TRACKING THOSE TOP 10s
Among Seattle Pacific's regulars, five are in the top 10 of at least one GNAC statistical category heading into this week:
 
Nikki Lowell 2nd in blocks (1.31 per game).
Brianna Leenders 6th in digs (4.14)
Jackie Arnold 7th in blocks (1.16)
Madi Cavell 10th in kills (3.10) and service aces (0.31)
Kendall Langdon 10th in assists (4.96)
 
POLLING PLACE
Western Washington remained the only GNAC team in the top 25 of the American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll. But the Vikings keep climbing, up two places this week to No. 7. Alaska Anchorage received nine votes and is tied for 33rd.
 
A total of six West Region teams are in the top 25, led by No. 5 Brigham Young-Hawaii, up one place from last week. Others are No. 11 UC San Diego (up one), No. 12 Sonoma State (up one), No. 16 Cal State San Bernardino (no change) and No. 22 Fresno Pacific (down one).
 
Defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul remained on top.
 
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th block            Jackie Arnold (has 95)
100^th dig                Jessica Miller (has 96)
300^th dig                Madi Cavell (has 284)
400^th dig                Breanne Wiekamp (has 376)
400^th kill                Madi Cavell (has 391)
500^th team win    Seattle Pacific (has 497)
900^th dig                Brianna Leenders (has 886)
1,000^th kill              Nikki Lowell (has 898)          
                                                                        
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
100^th block            Madi Cavell (has 100)
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for news, notes, results and statistics from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons play their final October home matches next week. Western Oregon visits Brougham Pavilion on Thursday at 7 p.m., followed by Saint Martin's on Saturday, Oct. 19, also at 7 p.m. SPU and Western Oregon split last year's two matches, but not in the way that one might expect: Each scored a three-game sweep in the other's gym. The Falcons won both matches against Saint Martin's.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                             GNAC    Overall
Alaska Anchorage               6-0          12-6
Western Washington          4-0          11-1
Northwest Nazarene           4-2             8-4
Seattle Pacific                       3-2            7-6
Western Oregon                  2-3             5-10
Central Washington            2-4             6-8
Alaska Fairbanks                 2-4            3-14
Simon Fraser                       1-3             6-4
Saint Martin's                       1-4             5-12
Montana State Billings       1-4             3-10