Box Score
        Box score, play-by-play
 
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Ellie Britt had 17 kills on Saturday and logged her first double-double of the season, but the Seattle Pacific Falcons fell short of Fresno Pacific in their final match at the Pacific West-Great Northwest Athletic Conference Crossover volleyball tournament.
                                                                                         
Scores in Dominican University's Conlan Center were 25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 27-25.
 
The Falcons finished preseason play with a 6-2 record, and will start their GNAC schedule at home on Tuesday against Saint Martin's. First serve in Brougham Pavilion is at 7:00 p.m.
 
Fresno Pacific (6-3) and SPU were the only two teams in the eight-team tournament to have won their first three matches prior to meeting on Saturday.
 
"It just wasn't quite enough today. But 6-2 is a good start for us," SPU head coach Chris Johnson said.
 
The 17 kills by junior outside hitter Britt (Orange, Calif.) was a season high and was just one shy of her career best of 18, set last year against Cal Poly Pomona. She also came up with 10 digs on Saturday for the sixth double-double of her career.
 

Senior outside hitter Madi Cavell (Keizer, Ore.) had 13 kills for SPU. Senior setter Sara Biondi earned another 39 assists, giving her 143 for the weekend. Senior libero Brianna Leenders (Gresham, Ore.) had 22 digs, and wound up the four-match tournament with 83. With 1,259 for her career, she is now just 81 digs away from taking over the No. 5 spot on SPU's all-time list for that stat category.
 
The Sunbirds used a 6-0 run to snap a 12-12 tie and take charge of the opening game. Seattle Pacific had the upper hand for much of Game 2, building a 17-12 lead before Fresno Pacific ran off five straight points to tie it. The Falcons ran off three in a row of their own, then closed it out with another three-point run.
 
An early five-point Fresno Pacific lead in the third game eventually ballooned to as many as nine points at 18-9. SPU gradually got as close as four, the last time at 24-20.
 
The fourth game was tied nine times, the last one at 25-25 after the Falcons twice fought off match point. But back-to-back kills by Kathleen Anderson – her 15^th and 16^th of the match, as she hit .556 for the day – finished it off for Fresno Pacific.
 
"We stayed aggressive, which was great. And the game we won, we were in pretty good control," Johnson said. "That third game, we got down nine, but then we had them on the ropes for a while and just couldn't quite finish. Then Game 4, we were in the lead until 15-all, and let it slip away.
 
"Fresno is a good team – it's not like they didn't earn it," he added. "They got some blocks (11), but we just hit too many balls out of bounds. We had 11 service errors and 27 attack errors – that's 38 free points, and that's a lot."
 
Seattle Pacific hit .162 for the match, including .250 by senior opposite Jessica Miller (7 kills-1 error-24 attacks), and by Biondi (6-3-12). Britt finished at .225 (17-8-40).
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Pacific West-GNAC Crossover
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Conlan Center / San Rafael, Calif.
 
Fresno Pacific 3, Seattle Pacific 1
 
Game scores – 25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 27-25.
 
Service aces – FP 5 (Rupia Inck 3), SPU 4 (Brianna Leenders 2).
Kills – FP 50 (Kathleen Anderson 16), SPU 51 (Ellie Britt 17, Madi Cavell 13).
Assists – FP 47 (Sarah McCann 44), SPU 48 (Sara Biondi 39).
Digs – FP 55 (Hannah Butler 14), SPU SPU 58 (Leenders 22, Britt 10).
Block assists / solo – FP 21 / 1 solo (Morghan Williams 7 / 1 solo), SPU 14 / 2 solo (Maddi Hommes 3 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – FP 50-20-139—216 (Anderson 16-1-27--.556), SPU 51-27-148--.162 (Jessica Miller 7-1-24--.250, Biondi 6-3-12--.250).
Attendance – 75.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 6-2, 0-0 GNAC. Fresno Pacific 6-3, 0-0 Pacific West.
 
Next match – Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific, Tuesday, Brougham Pavilion, 7:00 p.m.