THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Oct. 16        Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                         Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                         Live Webcast        Live stats

Saturday, Oct. 18        Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.           
                                         Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                         Live Webcast        Live stats        

               
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – They started the first half of their Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball schedule with three straight victories.
 
Exactly one month later, the Seattle Pacific Falcons would love to do the same thing to begin the second half – but aren't looking any further ahead than their next match.
 
That next match to begin the back side of the conference calendar is this week in Brougham Pavilion as SPU welcomes Alaska Anchorage on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. The Seawolves will be followed into town by Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday at 7.
 
These will be the only two home matches during October.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats and a free live Webcast will be available from this week's two matches. Both Webcasts will be through Stretch Internet, the official Internet provider of the GNAC. Appropriate links to the Webcast and live stats can be found at the top of this story.
 
TICKET TALK      
Tickets for home matches can be purchased at the door on match days. Prices are $6 for adults and $3 for youths, students, and seniors (65 and older). Complimentary programs are available at the entrance to the gym.
 
YOU WANT OFFENSE? COME TO BROUGHAM
Several of the GNAC's biggest weapons on offense will be sharing the Brougham Pavilion court this week.
 
SPU senior outside hitter Madi Cavell currently is leading the conference in total kills (255) and kills per game (3.98).
 
Alaska Anchorage's Katelyn Zanders is No. 5 in kills per game at 3.44, and her total of 217 is the fifth-highest. Zanders hammered 11 kills against the Falcons last month. Seawolves teammates Erin Braun and Kayla McGlathery rank Nos. 2 and 3 in hitting percentage at .337 and .315, respectively. Braun had a perfect night (8 kills with no errors) in UAA's homecourt sweep of the Falcons on Sept. 22.
 
Sam Harthun of Alaska Fairbanks is second behind Cavell in average kills per game at 3.85. She has 208 kills for the season, having hammered 10 of those against SPU last month in Alaska.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Senior outside hitter Madi Cavell is 1.5 points away from 1,000 for her career. She will be the ninth SPU player to reach the millennium mark since points (kills-aces-blocks) became an official stat in 2004.
-- Seattle Pacific is 5-3 in Brougham Pavilion this season. Its last homecourt victory was a five-gamer against Western Oregon on Sept. 18
-- The most recent match at home also went five, but the result went the other way as Simon Fraser won on Sept. 27.
-- Anchorage has won the last three against the Falcons.
-- But SPU has had the upper hand on Fairbanks, taking 11 in a row from the Nanooks. UAF won both matches in 2008, but the Falcons have taken everything since then.
-- Seattle Pacific went 5-4 in the first half of GNAC play last year, and 6-3 in the second half.
-- The Falcons hit a season-best .366 in the match at Fairbanks.
-- SPU coach Chris Johnson is 9-10 all-time against Anchorage and 17-2 against Fairbanks.





SCOUTING THE ALASKA ANCHORAGE SEAWOLVES: 14-3, 8-1 GNAC (tie 1^st)
All-time series: SPU leads, 28-18. Current series streak: UAA won 3. Last time: UAA 3, SPU 0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-20; Sept. 22 at Anchorage). Seawolves on the Web.
Seawolves in a nutshell: Anchorage hits town having won four straight, the last three in sweeps against Saint Martin's, Western Oregon, and Alaska Fairbanks. Their only loss in conference play was a four-gamer at then-No. 23 Northwest Nazarene, and those two teams finished the first half of the GNAC season dead even at 8-1. Think UAA, and one typically thinks Katelyn Zanders and Julia Mackey. There's a reason for that: Zanders had a team-high 217 kills, hits .212, and also is the team leaders with 26 service aces. Mackey had 189 kills, hits .243, and has 32 total blocks. But outside hitter Brooke Pottle (107 kills), along with middle blockers Erin Braun (93, with .337 hitting) and Kayla McGlathery (93 with .315 hitting) can be just as dangerous. Pottle also proved herself very tough on the serve in last month's match against SPU, with runs of three, seven, and four points, the seven-pointer clinching Game 1, and the four-pointer wrapping up Game 2.
 
SCOUTING THE ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS: 2-15, 2-7 GNAC (8^th)                  
All-time series: SPU leads, 35-9. Current series streak: SPU won 11. Last time: SPU 3, UAF 0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-23; Sept. 20 at Fairbanks). Nanooks on the Web.
Nanooks in a nutshell: After a tough start of 0-14 overall and 0-6 in the GNAC, Alaska Fairbanks put together a two-match winning streak two weeks ago, sweeping past Western Oregon, then downing Saint Martin's in four games. Junior outside hitter Sam Harthun is the primary go-person for the Nanooks with her 208 kills. Outside hitter Brooke Mattice also can find the floor with 167 kills, while middle blocker Riley Podowicz (a .259 average with 77 kills) and outside hitter Maddie Davis (.233 with 95 kills) are usually reliable hitters. Fairbanks gave the Falcons all they could handle in the September contest, building a 15-11 lead in Game 1 before SPU rallied, then coming from 19-13 and 20-15 down to tie it at 23-23 in Game 3, then seeing Seattle Pacific take the final two points.
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Northwest Nazarene hit .350 and dug up 58 of the Falcons' 112 attacks on the way to a 25-15, 25-19, 25-12 victory on Thursday in Nampa, Idaho.
-- Madi Cavell had 10 kills for Seattle Pacific, but Central Washington still scored a three-game sweep of the Falcons in Ellensburg last Saturday, 25-20, 25-13, 25-19.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
SPU did not post a double-double in either of last week's matches. The Falcons have 14 double-doubles for the season, along with Biondi's triple-double on Sept. 11 against Academy of Art.

2014 double-doubles:
Madi Cavell (6 season / 20 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; 19K-15D at Montana State Billings, Oct. 4.
Sara Biondi (6 season / 7 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 Washington, Sept. 25; 44A-12D at Montana State Billings, Oct. 4.
Ellie Britt (2 season / 7 career):17K-10D vs. Fresno Pacific, Sept. 13; 15K-10D at Montana State Billings, Oct. 4.
 
2014 triple-doubles:          
Sara Biondi (1 season / 1 career): 12K-41A-18D vs. Academy of Art, Sept. 11.
 
CARVER SETTING 'EM UP
Senior Kendall Carver has been a serving specialist for the Falcon this season, delivering 15 aces in 61 games to rank fourth on the team.
 
But in last week's third game against Central Washington, Carver (Irvine, Calif.) saw her first action of the season at setter. She racked up nine assists.
 
"I thought Kendall did a great job," SPU coach Chris Johnson said. "She has been playing really well in practice, and I felt like she earned that opportunity."
 
ANOTHER WEEK, ANOTHER RUNG
Two weeks ago, senior libero Briana Leenders wasn't even in the top 5 on SPU's all-time list for career digs.

 

Now, she's all the way up to No. 3. Leenders (Gresham, Ore.) came up with 11 digs in last Saturday's match at Central Washington. That pushed her total to 1,405, moving her past Leilani Kamahoahoa, who had 1,397 from 1998-2001.
 
With nine regular-season matches left, Leenders has at least a reasonable shot at catching Torii Mount for No. 2. Mount had 1,552 digs from 2005-08. The only player not within reach is all-time leader Anna Herold. She had 2,316 from 2008-11.
 
AROUND THE WEST
The regular season is heading into its final five weeks, and the first NCAA West Regional rankings, which ultimately determines which eight schools make the postseason, is due out Oct. 29.
 
GNAC members Northwest Nazarene (15-2) and Alaska Anchorage (14-3) currently have the best overall records in the West, and are deadlocked at 8-1 in conference play.
 
Sonoma State leads the California Collegiate Athletic Association at 9-2 (11-4 overall), and then it's a four-way tie for second at 8-3 between Cal State San Bernardino (11-4 overall), Humboldt State (11-4), Cal State Los Angeles (10-4) and UC San Diego (10-5).
 
Brigham Young-Hawaii and Dixie State share the Pacific West Conference lead at 8-0, and they square off Thursday in Hawaii. The Seasiders are 11-3 overall; the Red Storm are 11-5. Sitting on six losses apiece are Point Loma Nazarene (12-6, 9-1 Pac West), Cal Baptist (10-6, 6-2) and Fresno Pacific (11-6, 5-3).
 
The three conference winners and the next five highest-ranked teams among the non-titlists make the final cut.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
 

Madi Cavell ranks in the top 25 among NCAA Division II players in three categories heading into this week's matches:
--11^th in attacks per game (11.75)
--20^th in total attacks (752)
--22^nd in kills per game (3.98)
 
She also is 27^th in average points per game (4.50) and 32^nd in total kills (255).
 
SPU's highest ranking among the 287 teams playing D2 volleyball is 79^th in average blocks per game (1.98).

Click on this link to see how SPU and its players stack up nationally. Click on this link to see where other GNAC teams and players rank.
 
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
100^th block            Jessica Boyle (has 93)
200^th assist           Brianna Leenders (has 185)
200^th kill                 Sara Biondi (has 187)
300^th point             Jessica Boyle (has 298.0)
400^th kill                 Ellie Britt (has 392)
1,000^th point          Madi Cavell (has 998.5)
 
MILESTONES MADE LAST WEEK
300^th point             Sara Biondi (has 306.5)        
 
AROUND THE GNAC           
Click on this link for results, news, and notes from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific returns to the road next week, winding up the month with a visit to Simon Fraser on Thursday, Oct. 23, and a stop at Western Washington on Saturday the 25^th, both at 7:00 p.m. The Falcons will be looking to turn the tables on both teams. Western prevailed in four games last month in Brougham, then the Clan pulled out a five-game victory. SPU will begin a three-match home stretch on Saturday, Nov. 1, against Montana State Billings at 7:00 p.m.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                GNAC     Overall
Northwest Nazarene             8-1        15-2
Alaska Anchorage                 8-1        14-3
Western Washington            7-2        14-4
Simon Fraser                         6-3        12-5
Central Washington              5-4        12-5
Seattle Pacific                        4-5        10-7
Montana State Billings         4-5          9-8
Alaska Fairbanks                  2-7          2-15
Saint Martin's                         1-8          4-16
Western Oregon                    0-9          2-15