THE SCHEDULE
Saturday, Oct. 4 Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings, 6:00 p.m. PDT Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.
Live Webcast Live stats Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF) PHOTO GALLERY: SPU vs. Simon Fraser (HTML) SEATTLE – The double-digit months have arrived on the calendar. So has the heart of the volleyball season for Seattle Pacific.
After a rugged September, the Falcons get a chance to catch their breath and regroup a bit this week before heading back onto the road to face Montana State Billings. The Falcons and Yellowjackets will serve it up on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time.
SPU will be seeking to return to the win column in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. After a 3-0 start, the Falcons fell short in all three matches last week
In Billings, they'll face a team that dropped a five-gamer to Simon Fraser last Thursday – the same Clan who then came to Seattle and beat the Falcons in five – but bounced back to stun No. 11-ranked Western Washington in five games on Saturday.
Seattle Pacific will be on the road again next week, visiting Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Central Washington on Saturday.
FOLLOW IT LIVELive stats and a free live Webcast will be available from this week's match in Montana. Both will be through Stretch Internet, the official Internet provider of the GNAC. Audio commentary for this match now has been added to the video coverage. This match will be video only, with no audio commentary. Appropriate links to the Webcast and live stats can be found at the top of this story.
Madi Cavell TOP RUNG BELONGS TO CAVELLSenior outside hitter
Madi Cavell (Keizer, Ore.) comes into this week ranked No.1 in the GNAC in kills per game. The 6-footer has 215 kills for an average of 4.06 per game.
Cavell is the only GNAC player so far with more than 200. The next closest to that is 183 for Alaska Anchorage's Katelyn Zanders. Cavell also is the only conference player averaging more than four kills per game at 4.06. Closest to that is Sam Harthun of Alaska Fairbanks at 3.91.
Cavell also is among the top 20 in all of Division II in total kills (9
th), total attacks (12
th with 603), attacks per game (14
th at 11.38), and kills per game (19
th). She is 28
th in points per game (4.59).
LEENDERS JOINS ELITE SPU GROUPSenior libero
Brianna Leenders is now among the top five all-time in digs for Seattle Pacific.
Brianna Leenders Leenders (Gresham, Ore.) came into last week's home set against Western Washington and Simon Fraser needing 27 assists to past then-No. 5 Stephanie Huffman, who totaled 1,339 during her four-year career (1997-2000). She got 28 in Thursday's four-game contest against the Vikings, then came up with 20 more on Saturday in five games against Simon Fraser.
Now with 1,361 digs, Leenders is well within range of passing the next two ahead of her. Tiffany Butac is currently No. 4 with 1,379 from 2003-06, and Leilani Kamahoahoa had 1,397 from 1998-2001.
Leenders' total also puts her No. 17 on the all-time GNAC list for digs.
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?-- This will mark the fourth week in a row that the Falcons will be getting on a plane. That stretch started during the second week of September when they traveled to California for the Pacific West-GNAC Crossover tournament. On Friday, Sept. 18, they jetted to Fairbanks, flew to Anchorage on Sunday the 21st, and back home to Seattle on Tuesday the 23rd.
-- The Falcons are
4-2 away from Brougham Pavilion this season – 2-1 in true road matches, and 2-1 on neutral courts.
-- SPU won both matches against the Yellowjackets last season, but the contest in Alterowitz was a dramatic one. The Falcons were two games down and 18-12 behind in Game 3 before storming back to win in five.
--Coach
Chris Johnson is 9-6 all-time against the Yellowjackets, including 3-1 against MSUB head coach Lisa Axel. Johnson's squads are 3-4 in Billings.
-- In their 14 matches this fall, the Falcons have either
hit better than .250 – winning all six of those – or
below .200, winning just three of those eight.
-- Seattle Pacific has kept its
opponent below .200 six times, putting all six of those into the win column.
SCOUTING THE MSU BILLINGS YELLOWJACKETS: 9-5, 4-2 GNAC
All-time series: SPU leads, 24-8.
Current series streak: SPU won 3.
Last time: SPU 3, MSUB 2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-12; Nov. 2, 2013 at Billings).
Yellowjackets on the Web.
Yellowjackets in a nutshell: Picked for and eighth-place finish in the conference preseason coaches poll, Montana State Billings is defying expectations so far, sitting alone in third place. A big reason for that was last Saturday's five-game victory at home against No. 11 Western Washington. The Yellowjackets had lost 17 straight times to Western, not even wininng a game against the Vikings since 2009; Leading the way offensively is 6-foot-2 senior
Chelsey Walter, who can play either in the middle or on the outside. Walter not only puts the ball down often (175 kills, an average of 3.18 per game, she does it accurately, with a .353 hitting percentage that ranks No. 2 in the GNAC. Also to be reckoned with are 6-1 senior outside hitter
Monica Grimsrud (162 kills, .173 hitting) and 6-1 sophomore outside
Ashlynn Ward (119 kills, .235 hitting). Walter also delivers on defense, leading the Yellowjackets with 41 total blocks, 10 of those solo. Junior setter
Kyndal Williams has the most total assists in the conference with 571, although her average of 10.38 per game ranks No. 2.
FALCONS REPLAY--
Madi Cavell slammed 21 kills for the Falcons, and
Sara Biondi recorded a double-double of 40 assists and 10 digs, but SPU, after forcing Western Washington into a fourth game, saw the No. 11-ranked Vikings lead that one from start to finish in closing out a
29-27, 25-12, 25-27, 25-15 victory last Thursday in Brougham Pavilion.
-- Cavell's double-double of 15 kills and 13 digs wasn't enough as Simon Fraser came from behind to win Game 3, and eventually beat SPU in five games last Saturday,
25-13, 22-25, 28-26, 19-25, 15-8. The Clan scored the last seven points of the match.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Madi Cavell and
Sara Biondi each had a double-double last week in the two matches at home. The Falcons now have 11 double-doubles for the season, along with Biondi's triple-double on Sept. 11 against Academy of Art.
2014 double-doubles:
Madi Cavell (5 season / 19 career): 11K-13D vs. Chico State, Sept. 4; 19K-14D vs. Cal State L.A., Sept. 5, 29K-19D vs. Western Oregon, Sept. 18, 14K-10D at Alaska Fairbanks, Sept. 20; 15K-13D vs. Simon Fraser, Sept. 27.
Sara Biondi (5 season / 6 career): 34A-11D vs. Cal Poly Pomona, Sept. 5; 41A-11D vs. Dixie State, Sept. 6, 28A-10D vs. Saint Martin's, Sept. 16, 42A-13D vs. Western Oregon, Sept. 18; 40A-10D vs. Western Wsahington, Sept. 25.
Ellie Britt (1 season / 6 career):17K-10D vs. Fresno Pacific, Sept. 13
Kendall Carver (0 season / 6 career).
Lexi Biondi (0 season / 1 career).
2014 triple-doubles:
Sara Biondi (1 season / 1 career): 12K-41A-18D vs. Academy of Art, Sept. 11.
MARVELOUS MILLER
Jessica Miller is making up for lost time.
Jessica MillerAfter having to miss 15 matches in 2013 because of a broken finger, Miller (Fife, Wash. / Fife HS) has been a steady, effective force at the net for the Falcons so far in 2014. During a recent stretch of six GNAC matches in 12 days, the senior opposite hammered 53 kills, hitting a solid .236. That total included a season-high 14 kills in last Saturday's five-game setback against Simon Fraser.
She started that six-game stretch with a .417 hitting performance in a three-game sweep of Saint Martin's on Sept. 16. It was Miller's third .400-plus night of the season. She has hit for .230 or better in 10 of the 14 matches, with three in the .300s, along with her three in the .400 neighborhood.
Miller is hitting a career-best .242 for the season. Her previous best was .219 as a freshman.
Additionally, Miller recorded a career-high nine digs in the Simon Fraser match, and also stepped up to serve for the first time this season. She served four times, putting three balls into play, with just one service error.
LEXI ON THE MENDSophomore outside hitter
Lexi Biondi underwent surgery on her left knee last week to repair a season-ending injury that she suffered on Sept. 6 in a match against Dixie State.
Because she played in just three games over the course of two matches, Biondi (Albuquerque, N.M.) is eligible under NCAA rules to apply for a medical redshirt. She would have three years of eligibility remaining.
ANOTHER ONE FOR McINNISOf the nine major statistical career highs that she set while playing the past two years at Santa Rosa Junior College in California, junior middle blocker
Luisa McInnis now has exceeded one and equaled another.
In last Saturday's match against Simon Fraser, McInnis (Santa Rosa, Calif.) came up with five block assists. That matched the total she had on Oct. 3, 2012 against Cosumnes River College of California.
Earlier this season, McInnis set a career high for assists with two against Dominican.
NATIONALLY SPEAKINGOf the 287 teams playing NCAA D2 volleyball, Seattle Pacific ranks among the top 20 percent (57
th or higher) in five categories in this week's national statistics:
--50
th in
total service aces (83).
--53
rd in
total attacks (1,846).
--55
th in
total kills (649).
--55
th in
total assists (606).
SPU is just barely out of the top 20 percent in total blocks, ranking 59
th with 101.0
In addition to
Madi Cavell's individual rankings (see "Top rung belongs to Cavell" item higher in this story), senior
Sara Biondi (Sacramento, Calif.) is 45
th in assists with 485, and senior liber
o Brianna Leenders is 50th in digs (237).
Click on
this link to see how GNAC teams and players stack up nationally. Click on
this link to see how SPU players rank.
AROUND THE WESTHeading into October, no one in the West Region is undefeated overall, and only four schools are still unbeaten in conference play, one of those being current GNAC leader Northwest Nazarene (5-0, 12-1 overall).
Cal State Los Angeles sits atop the
California Collegiate Athletic Association at 6-1, 8-2 overall (one of those two losses a sweep at the hands of Seattle Pacific).
Cal State San Bernardino is right behind at 5-1, 8-2 overall, and
UC San Diego is 5-2, 7-4 overall.
The
Pacific West Conference has three teams with unbeaten conference records.
Dixie State and
Point Loma Nazarene are both 5-0, 8-5 overall. One of Dixie's five defeats was a four-gamer to SPU in September.
Cal Baptist (8-5 overall) and
Azusa Pacific (7-6) are both 4-1 in conference.
Brigham Young-Hawaii is 3-0 in conference, 6-3 overall.
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100th block Jessica Miller (has 94)
Jessica Boyle (has 93)
200th assist Brianna Leenders (has 183)
300th point Jessica Boyle (has 298.0)
Sara Biondi (has 290.5).
600th dig Breanne Wiekamp (has 593)
1,000th point Madi Cavell (has 954.0)
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
300th dig Ellie Britt (has 301)
500th point Jessica Miller (has 509.5)
800th kill Madi Cavell (has 802)
1,340th dig* Brianna Leenders (has 1,361)
*Needed 1,340 to move into No. 5 on SPU career list. AROUND THE GNACClick on
this link for results, news, and notes from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
UP NEXTSPU takes to the court against two of the leading GNAC title contenders in their respective houses next week. On Thursday, Oct. 9, the Falcons visit
Northwest Nazarene, with the first serve at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time in Nampa, Idaho. The Crusaders start this week as the last team with no conference losses and just one loss overall.
On Saturday the 11th, it's off to Ellensburg for a match against
Central Washington at 7:00 p.m. The Wildcats got everyone's attention during the first weekend of the season when they beat three straight ranked teams – No. 11 UC San Diego, No. 8 San Bernardino, and No. 16 Sonoma State – in the Central Washington Tournament.
Seattle Pacific's only two home matches this month will be Oct. 16 against Alaska Anchorage and Oct. 18 against Alaska Fairbanks, both at 7:00 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.
GNAC STANDINGS
GNAC OverallNorthwest Nazarene 5-0 12-1
Alaska Anchorage 5-1 11-3
Montana State Billings 4-2 9-5
Central Washington 3-2 10-3
Western Washington 3-2 10-4
Simon Fraser 3-2 9-4
Seattle Pacific 3-3 9-5
Saint Martin's 1-4 4-12
Western Oregon 0-5 2-11
Alaska Fairbanks 0-6 0-14
