THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov. 14        Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, 7:00 p.m.
                                          Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
                                          Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Nov. 16         Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, 7:00 p.m.
                                          New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.
                                          Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – Having found some success away from home this fall, the Seattle Pacific Falcons will try to find some more this week as they head out for their final trip of the season.
                                      
The Falcons, who are 8-7 outside of Brougham Pavilion, pile into the vans and head south for a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference matches. SPU visits Saint Martin's on Thursday night at 7, then heads to Monmouth for Saturday's match at Western Oregon in Monmouth. First serve for that one also is at 7 p.m.
 
Seattle Pacific is seeking to get back in stride after a pair of homecourt setbacks last week. The Falcons came up short against Northwest Nazarene in four games and Central Washington in three.
 
The regular season concludes next week at home when the Alaska schools – Fairbanks on Thursday, Nov. 21, and current conference co-leader Anchorage on Nov. 23 – come to Brougham.
 
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 matches are provided by Sidearm Sports. Appropriate links for both can be found at the top of this story.
 
SENIOR NIGHT IS SET
The Falcons will honor seniors Nikki Lowell and Nicole Schwend at next Saturday's home match against Alaska Anchorage.
 
Both have been part of SPU's program for four years. Lowell transferred here after spending her freshman year at Gonzaga, though she never played for the Bulldogs. She has become of the team's premier middle blockers of all time, both offensively, as she approaches 1,000 kills, and defensively, as she nears the No. 4 spot on the school's all-time blocking list.
 
Schwend's senior season has been her most productive in a maroon uniform, as she has started several matches at opposite and contributed off the bench in several others.
 
The brief ceremony will take place prior to the 7 p.m. first serve against the Seawolves.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Junior outside hitter Madi Cavell has pushed her scoring average above 4.0 points per game, coming into this week at 4.02.
-- A victory in either match this week will guarantee the Falcons a winning road record. Last year, they were 9-9 overall away from home: 7-6 in true road matches and 2-3 on neutral courts.
-- Seattle Pacific beat both teams last month in Seattle, the first two matches of what became a five-match winning streak.
-- The Western Oregon match was a come-from-behind effort, as the Falcons trailed 1-0 and 2-1 before winning in five games. That turned out to be the first of comebacks during the win streak, as SPU rallied from two games down to beat Montana State Billings.
-- Seattle Pacific's 23 wins in a row against Saint Martin's is its longest current streak against any opponent. The lat win for the Saints was a five-gamer at Lacey in 2001.
-- This will be just the second match for head coach Chris Johnson against new Saint Martin's coach Kara Peterson.
-- Johnson is 8-3 all-time against Western Oregon coach Brad Saindon and 12-5 against the Wolves overall.
-- Last year in Monmouth, SPU won the first game, but was down 13-4 and 24-20 in Game 2 before coming back to win that game and the match, 25-18, 26-24, 25-22.
 
SCOUTING THE SAINT MARTIN'S SAINTS: 7-19, 3-11 GNAC (tie 8^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 45-5. Current series streak: SPU won 23. Last time: SPU 3, Saint Martin's 0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-16; Oct. 19, 2013 at Seattle). Saints on the Web.
Saints in a nutshell: After sweeping a pair of mid-October matches, Saint Martin's has dropped six in a row. Junior outside hitter Kristyn Ross averages 3.28 kills per game to rank No. 9 in the GNAC. She led the team with nine in the match against the Falcons last month. At 3.62 points per game, she also is No. 9 in that stat department. Setting up the offense is senior Cymbree Decosta, No. 6 in assists with an average of 8.07. Freshman outside hitter Jessica Riddle is ninth in the conference in digs per game at 3.44. Sophomore Kyra Davidson is one of the GNAC's better blockers, with an average of 1.00 per game that has her at No. 9. Her 73 total blocks include 13 solos.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN OREGON WOLVES: 6-8, 9-15 GNAC (6^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 23-15. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 3, WOU 2 (24-26, 25-21, 16-25, 25-20, 15-10; Oct. 17, 2013 at Seattle). Wolves on the Web.
Wolves in a nutshell: Western Oregon has won four of six since dropping the five-gamer to Seattle Pacific in October. The latest of those victories was last Saturday in Monmouth when the Wolves came from 2-1 down and 23-22 behind in the fourth game to pull out a five-game decision against Simon Fraser. Senior middle blocker Becky Blees is WOU's steady presence on both sides of the ball. She is No. 6 in GNAC hitting at .280, and No. 5 in blocks at 1.13 per game (112 total, including three solos). Junior opposite Hannah Deede leads the Wolves in kills with 195 (2.17 per game). She also is a strong blocker, No. 10 in the GNAC at 0.98 per game (88 total). Senior defensive specialist Megan Triggs helps keep the ball off the floor on Western Oregon's side of the net with an average of 4.90 digs per game that is third-best in the conference.
                                                                 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Madi Cavell slammed 20 kills, and Sara Biondi had 30 assists – her most in an SPU uniform – but Northwest Nazarene rallied from a 24-20 deficit to win Game 3, and went on to beat the Falcons last Thursday, 18-25, 25-21, 31-29, 25-23.
-- Cavell had  a double-double of 14 kills and 12 digs, but Central Washington came from behind in the third game to polish off a 25-23, 25-17, 28-26 sweep of SPU on Saturday in Brougham Pavilion.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Madi Cavell posted her fourth double-double in the last five matches, recording 14 kills and 12 digs last Saturday at home against Central Washington.
                                                                                    
For the season, the Falcons have 22 double-doubles:
                                                 
Lexi Biondi (1 season / 1 career) – 13K-11D at Western Washington, Oct. 24.
Ellie Britt (5 season / 5 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; 14K-11D at Central Washington, Oct. 10.
Madi Cavell (10 season / 13 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; 15K-16D vs. Western Oregon, Oct. 17; 22K-15D at Western Washington, Oct. 24; 24K-14D at Simon Fraser, Oct. 26; 12K-16D at Montana State Billings, Nov. 2; 14K-12D vs. Central Washington, Nov. 9.
Kendall Langdon (6 season / 6 career) – 25A-12D vs. Cal State L.A., Sept. 6; 23A-15D at Alaska Anchorage, Sept. 19; 13A-11D vs. Western Washington, Sept. 28; 23A-13D at Central Washington, Oct. 10; 52A-13D at Western Washington, Oct. 24; 49A-17D at Simon Fraser, Oct. 26.
 
COACH CHRIS JOHNSON SAYS …
(On last Saturday's loss to Central Washington)
"The first two games, they were just hammering us offensively, which was not typical of the way we play defense. After the second game, their hitting percentage is good, but we have a lot of digs and a decent amount of blocks. In the end, they were winning those points and winning the long rallies. We weren't doing a good job of killing the ball when we had opportunities."
 
(On looking ahead to this week's matches)
"Against everyone, the story is the same: We have to be in control of the ball on our side of the net and play the game the way we know how. If we can do that, we're in really good shape. If not, we're going to be in trouble. We've got to figure out how to be (playing well) on a consistent basis for an entire match."
 
T-MINUS ONE AND COUNTING
Or, maybe it should be K-minus one and counting. Becasue one more K is all that senior middle blocker Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) needs to reach 1,000 kills for her career. Lowell started last week needing 23, and got 22 of those in the home matches against Northwest Nazarene (16) and Central Washington (6).
 
When that kill comes, Lowell will become the sixth Falcon in history to log 1,000 kills and 1,000 points. She pushed past the points barrier in the first game of a five-game victory against Cal State Los Angeles on Sept. 13 in Belmont, Calif. She starts this week with 1231.5 points.
 
The most recent Falcon to pull off the grand double-double was Lindsey Wodrich, who had 1,041 kills and 1,212 points from 2008-11. Others on the list are Alyssa Given (1,454 kills and 1,718 points from 2004-07), Leilani Kamahoahoa (1,259 kills and 1456.5 points from 1998-2001), Tosca Lindberg (1,141 kills and 1,973 points from 1989-92) and Stephanie Huffman (1,135 kills and 1,367 points) from 1997-2000.
 
BEST ON THE BLOCK
With her 11 total blocks last week, Nikki Lowell surpassed her previous season-best for SPU. Lowell had 106 blocks (18 solo, 88 block assists) as a freshman in 2010. With four regular-season matches left, she now has 112 (9 solo, 103 block assists).
 
Lowell has 397 total blocks (38 solo, 359 block assists) for her career. With six more, she will pass current GNAC No. 2 all-time blocker Louise Free of Northwest Nazarene (402 from 1999-2002). She is 16 blocks away from moving past Gaylene Macdonald (412 from 1987-88) into No. 4 on the all-time SPU list.  Her 359 block assists leave her just eight shy of the 367 recorded by GNAC record-holder Cammy Dranginis of Northwest Nazarene. Western Oregon's Becky Blees passed Dranginis in that stat last week, now totaling 370.
                                     
Sophomore middle blocker Jackie Arnold (Anaheim, Calif.) continues to improve on her all-time season-best blocking, as well. Arnold had eight more blocks last week, giving her 75 for the season.  She had 58 last year as a freshman.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
-- Seattle Pacific ranks No. 6 in Division II blocking this week at 2.59 per game. That's a jump of three places from last week.
-- Nikki Lowell is No. 12 in blocking at 1.30. That's up three places from a week ago.
-- Jackie Arnold is tied for No. 34 in blocking at 1.09, moving up eight spots.

Click on this link to see how the Falcons and other GNAC teams and players stack up nationally.
 
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 1st in blocks (1.30 per game)
Madi Cavell tie 6th in points (4.02 per game), 8th in kills (3.41)
Brianna Leenders 5th in digs (4.42 per game)
Jackie Arnold 6th in blocks (1.09 per game), 8th in hitting (275)
Kendall Langdon 9th in assists (5.60 per game) 
 
POLLING PLACE
The top four spots remained the same, but some shuffling took place below that in this week's NCAA West Region rankings. UC San Diego, Brigham Young-Hawaii, Cal State San Bernardino, and Sonoma State are still the top four teams. Western Washington climbed to No. 5, and Central Washington moved up one to No. 6. Alaska Anchorage (No. 9, down three) and Northwest Nazarene (No. 10, down two) fell out of the top eight.
                                          
The last set of rankings will be out next week prior to the final matches of the regular season. The three conference champions (GNAC, CCAA and Pacific West) and the next five highest-ranked teams from among the non-champions earns spots in the eight-team NCAA West Regional tournament.
                                                                     
In the American Volleyball Coaches Association national poll, the top 10 remained unchanged for the second straight week, with Concordia-St. Paul a unanimous No. 1 again, and Western Washington at No. 10.
  
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th block            Sara Biondi (has 91)
100^th dig                 Jessica Miller (has 96)
300^th point             Ellie Britt (has 291.5)
400^th block            Nikki Lowell (has 397)
400^th dig                 Madi Cavell (has 399)
500^th assist           Kendall Langdon (has 476)
500^th dig                 Breanne Wiekamp (has 465)
1,000^th kill              Nikki Lowell (has 999)
                               
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
200^th dig                 Kendall Langdon (has 201)
200^th kill                 Jackie Arnold (has 202)       
 
AROUND THE GNAC          
Click on this link for news, notes, results and statistics from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
The final two regular-season matches will be next week in Brougham Pavilion. Alaska Fairbanks visits on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 7:00 p.m., followed by Alaska Anchorage on Saturday night at 7. The Falcons swept Fairbanks in September, but fell to Anchorage in four games.
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                        
GNAC STANDINGS
                                               GNAC    Overall
Western Washington          12-2        19-3
Alaska Anchorage               12-2        18-8
Northwest Nazarene           11-4        15-6
Central Washington              9-6        13-10
Seattle Pacific                         8-6        12-10
Western Oregon                    6-8           9-15
Simon Fraser                         5-9        10-10
Saint Martin's                         3-11        7-19
Alaska Fairbanks                  3-11        4-21
Montana State Billings         2-12        5-18