Box Score

        Box score, play-by-play
 
SEATTLE – On a night when they couldn't get the volleyball outcome they wanted, the Seattle Pacific Falcons felt they at least got some of the higher quality of play that they wanted.
 
Jessica Miller slammed a career-high 21 kills on Thursday, but in a 2¼-hour battle that stretched to five games, SPU fell just short of Central Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match.
 
Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 22-25, 25-13, 16-25, 26-24, 15-12.
 
"I was really proud of the way we played – especially defensively," Falcons coach Chris Johnson said. "We held the top hitting team in the conference about 40 points below their average, and that's tough to do. (The Wildcats came in at .224; they hit .182 on Thursday.) We served really well, and we passed well."
 
Added Miller, "The team tonight I think felt as good or better than we have in a really long time. I think everyone made a point of coming together and playing as one team, inspiring each other with our actions, and feeing off each other's energy."
 
SPU closes out its home schedule on Saturday against 11^th-ranked Northwest Nazarene at a special start time of 1:00 p.m. That will be Senior Day in honor of Miller, Madi Cavell, Kendall Carver, Brianna Leenders, and Sara Biondi.





The kills total for senior outside hitter Miller (Fife, Wash. / Fife HS) was one better than her previous career high of 20, set against Chico State on Sept. 7, 2012. Her previous best this season was 18 just two weeks ago in a five-gamer at Simon Fraser. She hit a team-leading .250 on Thursday night.
 
Senior outside hitter  Cavell (Keizer, Ore.) had a double-double of 13 kills and 13 digs for Seattle Pacific (11-12, 5-10 GNAC). It was her ninth double-double of the year and 23rd of her career. She also got her hands on five blocks, two of them solo. 
 
Junior outside hitter Ellie Britt (Orange, Calif.) added 12 kills. Senior setter Biondi (Sacramento, Calif.) finished with 50 assists, tying her season high
 
Senior libero Leenders (Portland, Ore.) came up with 24 digs, pushing her career total to 1,532. She needs 21 more in the final three matches to pass Torii Mount for the No. 2 spot on SPU's all-time career list in that category.
 
Central Washington (18-6, 11-5 GNAC) was led by the 15 kills of Linden Firethorne.
 
Seattle Pacific twice had the Wildcats down by a game, winning the opener, and then taking Game 3. The Falcons also bounced back from a 24-20 deficit in the fourth game, tying it at 24-24 before Central got the last two points.
 
The Wildcats jumped to a 6-2 advantage in the deciding Game 5. But the Falcons rallied, going on a 6-1 run to take an 8-7 lead at the changeover.
 
Tied at 10-10, Central scored the next two points on the way to a triple-match point opportunity at 14-11. SPU fought off one of those match points on Miller's 21^st kill. But a final kill by Erin Little sealed it for the Wildcats.
 
"I thought there were a few balls in the fifth game that we had for kills," Johnson said, "but they got some scrappy digs. So credit their defense, too."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Central Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 2
 
Game scores – 22-25, 25-13, 16-25, 26-24, 15-12.
 
Service aces – CWU 2 (2 players with 1), SPU 6 (Brianna Leenders 2).
Kills – CWU 55 (Linden Firethorne 15), SPU 62 (Jessica Miller 21, Madi Cavell 13, Ellie Britt 12).
Assists – CWU 50 (Catie Fry 42), SPU 59 (Sara Biondi 50).
Digs – CWU 68 (Kaely Kight 20), SPU 68 (Leenders 24, Cavell 13, Hannah Lautenbach 12).
Block assists / solo – CWU 20 / 2 solo (Jordan Deming 6 / 0 solo), SPU 12 / 3 solo (Cavell 3 / 2 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – CWU 55-26-159--.182 (Erin Little 7-1-14--.429), SPU 62-38-180--.133 (Miller 21-9-48--.250).
Attendance – 148.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 11-12, 5-10 GNAC. Central Washington 18-6, 11-5 GNAC.
 
Next match – Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, Saturday, Brougham Pavilion, 1:00 p.m.