ROUTE 92 SHOWDOWN SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 13                   Seattle Pacific vs. Holy Names, 9:00 a.m.
                                                Walter Gleasen Gym / Belmont, Calif.
                                                Live stats        Webcast (pay-per-view)
 
                                                Seattle Pacific vs. Cal State L.A., 3:00 p.m.
                                                Walter Gleasen Gym / Belmont, Calif.
                                                Live stats        Live Webcast (pay-per-view)
 
Saturday, Sept. 14             Seattle Pacific vs. Azusa Pacific, 11:00 a.m.
                                                Pioneer Gymnasium /  Hayward, Calif.
                                                Live stats        No live Webcast
 
                                                Seattle Pacific at Cal State East Bay, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Pioneer Gymnasium / Hayward, Calif.
                                                Live stats        No live Webcast
 
               
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
        Route 92 Showdown tournament central
 
SEATTLE – For the Seattle Pacific Falcons, it'll be a first chance at three opponents – and an eagerly awaited second chance at another one – when they return to California this week for their final preseason volleyball tournament.
                                      
Coming off a 2-2 split last weekend at the Coyote Classic in San Bernardino, the Falcons will divide their time this week between Belmont and Hayward for the Route 92 Showdown.
 
SPU begins play in Notre Dame de Namur's Walter Gleasen Gym on Friday morning at 9, taking on Holy Names. The Hawks are in their second year as a Pacific West Conference and NCAA Division II member. Then at 3 p.m., it's a rematch against Cal State Los Angeles, which took a four-gamer from the Falcons in the season-opener last Friday.
 
Action shifts to Hayward on Saturday for a match against Pac West member Azusa Pacific at 11 a.m., and concludes at 7 p.m. against co-host Cal State East Bay.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats will be available for all four SPU matches in the tournament by clicking on this link. Live pay-per-view Webcasts have been added for Friday's two matches at Notre Dame de Namur by clicking on the same link above. No live Webcasts will be available from Saturday's matches at East Bay.

When GNAC play begins next week, Webcasts and live stats will be available for all home and road matches.




 
GNAC HONOR FOR LOWELL
Senior middle blocker Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) was chosen by the GNAC as its Defensive Player of the Week for her outstanding play in the Coyote Classic.
 
Lowell had 26 total blocks, with one solo, in the four matches. That included a season-best of eight (just one short of her career high) in a five-game come-from-behind victory against No. 14-ranked Cal State Bernardino last Saturday. She also had 12 kills, a career-high eight digs, and hit .296 in that match.
 
Lowell had seven blocks against both Cal State Los Angeles and Cal Poly Pomona and four against UC San Diego.
 
This is the second Player of the Week award for Lowell, having won it previously as a freshman in 2010.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Ellie Britt was on the weekly honorable mention list.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Holy Names and Azusa Pacific are the only two Pacific West opponents SPU will face during the regular season.
-- Last year, the Falcons went 2-1 against Pac West teams, beating Chaminade in four games, Fresno Pacific in five, and falling to Hawaii Pacific in three.
-- All-time, Seattle Pacific is 29-35 against Pac West competition. Most of those matches were played during the nine years (1992-2000) when the Falcons were a member of that conference prior to becoming one of the charter members of the GNAC.
-- Last season, SPU went 3-6 in preseason play.
-- The Falcons will be seeking their first Game 1 victory of the season.
-- Last week's two comeback wins (down 1-0 to Cal Poly Pomona and 2-0 to Cal State San Bernardino) are already half of last season's total. In 2012, SPU came back from 1-0 deficits to beat Chaminade and Cal State Stanislaus, 2-0 to beat Fresno Pacific, and 2-1 (after being up 1-0) to beat Northwest Nazarene.
-- After their first-ever match against Cal State East Bay on Saturday, Seattle Pacific will have played every current CCAA member at least once except for Cal State Monterey Bay.
-- While the Falcons struggled with their hitting last week, finishing above .200 just once, they forced their opponents to struggle, as well, keeping three of the four below .200.
 
SCOUTING THE HOLY NAMES HAWKS
All-time series: First meeting. Hawks on the Web.
Hawks in a nutshell: Holy Names had a rough start to the season last week, losing all four matches in three-game sweeps at the Western Oregon Invitational. Senior opposite Rachel Vartanian, who stands 6-foot-1, led the Hawks with 30 kills and three blocks in the four matches. She also was one of their top servers, putting 96 percent of her serves into play. Senior middle blocker Jessica Pena was the leading hitter for the Hawks at ..263, putting down 15 kills. Freshman outside hitter Melissa Munley got things done offensively with 24 kills and a .246 percentage, and defensive with a team-leading six blocks. 
 
SCOUTING THE CAL STATE L.A. GOLDEN EAGLES
All-time series: CSULA leads, 7-3. Current series streak: CSULA won 1. Last time: CSULA 3, SPU 1 (25-17, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17; Sept. 6, 2013 at San Bernardino, Calif.). Golden Eagles on the Web.
Golden Eagles in a nutshell: Cal State L.A. went 3-1 in the Coyote Classic. In addition to the victory against Seattle Pacific, the Eagles swept Fort Lewis College of Durango, Colo., and got past Harding University of Texas in five games. Sophomore outside hitter Iona Lofrano, who had 17 of her team-leading 59 kills for the weekend against the Falcons, was named to the All-Tournament team. Junior outside hitter Kymberly Silveyra had 13 of her 49 kills against SPU. Freshman middle blocker JamieAnn Bero is CSULA's leading hitter at .269, helped by her .429 average (8 kills-2 errors-14 attacks) vs. the Falcons. She also leads the team with 14 blocks.
 
SCOUTING THE AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS
All-time series: First meeting. Cougars on the Web.
Cougars in a nutshell: Azusa Pacific won three of its four matches at last week's Seaside Invitational in San Diego. One of those victories was a three-game sweep of SPU conference rival Montana State Billings, Of Seattle Pacific's four opponents this weekend, Azusa comes in with the highest team hitting average of .251. Leading the way is 6-foot-4 senior middle blocker Christy Cain at a phenomenal .477 (a team-high 45 kills, and just three errors on 88 attacks). Junior outside hitter Alicia Utke has 43 kills and tops the Cougars with nine service aces and just four errors on 67 attempts, a 94 percent success mark. Senior 6-1 middle blocker / outside hitter Lauren Edwards has 13 blocks, with two solos.
 
SCOUTING THE CAL STATE EAST BAY PIONEERS
All-time series: First meeting. Pioneers on the Web.
Pioneers in a nutshell: East Bay lost all four of its matches in the Western Oregon Invitational, getting swept by Western Washington and Minnesota State, taking a game from WOU, and extending Metro State of Denver to five games. Senior 6-foot-2 opposite Suzy Ni Xu is the biggest offensive threat for the Pioneers. She has 44 kills (the next-closest teammate has 29) and hits at .320 with only 11 errors on 103 swings. She also is a solid server with seven aces, matching junior libero Veronica Sanchez for the team lead. East Bay's four opponents combined hit for a .261 average.
                                               
COUNTDOWN LEDGER
With the two victories last week, the Falcons are now just eight shy of the 500th in program history. SPU's overall record since the program's inaugural season in 1986 is 492-349 (.585).
               
Head coach Chris Johnson is just one victory away from his 150th. Now in his eighth season as the head coach of the Falcons, Johnson is 149-75 all-time (.665).
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
The Falcons had three double-doubles last week, one each by three different players.
 
Junior outside hitter Madi Cavell (Keizer, Ore.) recorded her fourth at SPU, with 18 kills (a career high) and 11 digs against Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Ellie Britt (Orange, Calif.) and junior setter Kendall Langdon (Irvine, Calif.) both put their first double-doubles into the books. Britt's came against San Bernardino when she had 16 kills and12 digs. Langdon got hers in last Friday's four-game victory against Cal Poly Pomona with 25 assists and 12 digs – both career highs.
 
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
That double-double for Langdon wasn't the only "first" on her list of accomplishments last week. In four matches, she had 78 assists, and those were her first 78 as a Falcon. Langdon played her way into regular duty last year as a serving and defensive specialist, with now-graduated Shelby Swanson racking up the assists as SPU's setter.
 
A THOUSAND ONE, A THOUSAND TWO
If they continue at the pace they had last week, senior middle blocker Nikki Lowell and setter junior Sara Biondi both could reach millennium milestones by the end of this week.
 
Lowell heads back to California with 977.5 career points after racking up 50.5 (32 kills, 5 service aces,1 solo block, 25 block assists) in San Bernardino. The last Falcon to reach 1,000 points was Lindsey Wodrich, finishing her career in 2011 with 1,212.
 
 
Other career millennium marks well within reach this season are 1,000 kills for Lowell (she has 800) and 1,000 digs for junior libero Brianna Leenders (she has 717).
 
COMING UP ACES
During her first three years as a Falcon, Nikki Lowell killed a lot of balls and blocked a lot of others. But she usually wasn't among those serving one.
 
Looks as if that is changing. Lowell not only was a regular server in last weekend's four matches, she currently leads SPU in aces with five. Just seven players in the GNAC have more (Sam Harthun of Alaska Fairbanks leads with 15), and Lowell's average of 0.31 aces per game is tied for No. 12 in the conference.
 
EVERYONE IS DIGGING IT
As expected, junior Brianna Leenders (Portland, Ore.) is digging up plenty of balls for the Falcons. Beginning her second year as the starting libero, she had 34 last weekend.
 
But so far, it has been very much a team effort in that department.  Starting setter Kendall Langdon also has 34, and starting outside hitters Madi Cavell and Ellie Britt are close behind with 32 and 30, respectively. Nikki Lowell has 13, but came up with a career-high eight of those in five games against Cal State San Bernardino.
 
SWEET 16
As is sometimes the case through the first few matches of the season, career highs came in bunches for the Falcons in last week's opening tournament.
 
Altogether among the 10 returning players, 16 career highs were set, and seven more were tied.
 
Ellie Britt had five of those: 18 kills (previous 14), 44 total attacks (previous 37), one solo block (her first), four block assists (previous two) and four total blocks (previous two).
 
Also of note were the five block assists that Sara Biondi had against Cal State San Bernardino. That eclipsed her previous best of three, which she recorded twice while playing at Washington State in 2010. Her five total blocks in that match also beat her previous best of three, which she had four times with the Cougars.
 
FALCONS REPLAY
SPU split two matches last Friday at the Coyote Classic, falling in four games to Cal State Los Angeles, then winning in four against Cal Poly Pomona.
 
In their two matches on Saturday, the Falcons roared back to beat No. 14 Cal State San Bernardino in five games, then lost in three to No. 23 UC San Diego.
 
POLLING PLACE
Defending champion Western Washington is the favorite, and Seattle Pacific is picked for a fifth-place finish in the GNAC according to the preseason poll of conference coaches.
 
The Falcons, who tied with Alaska Anchorage for fourth place last year at 11-7, received 49 points in the voting.
 
Western Washington collected seven of the 10 first-place votes for 77 points. Central Washington had two first-place votes and 72 points. Anchorage is picked for third with 63 points, and Western Oregon got the other first-place vote and is fourth with 61.
 
In this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, the first of the regular season, Western Washington climbed two places to No. 12, and Central Washington moved up two spots to No. 22. Tampa jumped into the top spot after preseason No. 1 and defending national champion Concordia-St. Paul suffered an early-season loss.

MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th assist            Kendall Langdon (has 78)
100^th dig                 Jessica Miller (has 88)
150^th win                Coach Chris Johnson (has 149)
300^th kill                 Jessica Miller (has 291)
500^th team win     Seattle Pacific (has 492)
1,000^th assist        Sara Biondi (has 957)
1,000^th kill              Nikki Lowell (has 800)
1,000^th point          Nikki Lowell (has 977.5)
 
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
100^th kill                 Ellie Britt (has 119)
200^th dig                 Madi Cavell (has 205)
300^th block            Nikki Lowell (has 311)
700^th dig                 Brianna Leenders (has 717)
900^th assist           Sara Biondi (has 957)
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for news, notes, results and statistics from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons fly north next week to begin GNAC play at Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, Sept. 19, followed by a visit to Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday, Sept. 21. Both matches begin at 8 p.m. PDT. The home opener is set for Thursday, Sept. 26, when Simon Fraser comes to Brougham Pavilion for at 7:30 p.m. contest (30 minutes later than the normal start time).
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                            GNAC    Overall
Western Washington          0-0          4-0
Alaska Anchorage               0-0          5-3
Central Washington            0-0          2-2
Seattle Pacific                      0-0          2-2
Western Oregon                  0-0          2-2
Northwest Nazarene          0-0          1-1
Simon Fraser                       0-0          0-0
Montana State Billings       0-0          1-3
Saint Martin's                       0-0          1-3
Alaska Fairbanks                0-0          0-7