Box Score

        Box score, play-by-play
 
SEATTLE – By her own admission, Madi Cavell needed a while to get in sync on Thursday night.
 
But once she did …
 
Cavell had a career-high 29 kills – the third-highest single-match total in school history – with five of those kills coming in the deciding fifth game as Seattle Pacific rallied to beat Western Oregon in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match.
 
Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 22-25, 25-19, 15-25, 25-18, 15-12.
 
Senior outside hitter Cavell (Keizer, Ore.) easily beat her previous high of 24 kills, set last October 26 at Simon Fraser. She also tied her career high with 19 digs on Thursday for the Falcons (8-2, 2-0 GNAC), giving her three double-doubles this season and 17 for her career.
 
With SPU down 2-1 in games, Cavell simply took over. Hitting just .077 through three games (15 kills-12 errors-39 attacks), she hit at a .619 clip through the final two (14-1-21). Cavell played an error-free Game 5, with five kills on eight swings.
 
"The first couple games, I felt like I was really struggling," Cavell said. "I just needed to sort of get my head in the game and start playing a little smart. I'm really glad I was able to do that in the last couple games. But I would say it was definitely a little bit of a rough start."
 
Added head coach Chris Johnson, "Thankfully, Madi decided to take the team on her back in the last two games. That was fantastic".
 
The only better nights than Cavells for Seattle Pacific belong to Alyssa Given (32 and 30, both in 2006), Chelsey Myers (30 in 2003) and Monica Herrera (30 in 2002).
                                             
Senior setter Sara Biondi (Sacramento, Calif.) logged another double-double, racking up 42 assists and 13 digs. She now has three for the season and Senior libero Brianna Leenders (Gresham, Ore.) had 18 digs.





Now one-third of the way through a stretch of six matches in 12 days, takes to the road for the next two contests, visiting Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday and Alaska Anchorage next Monday. Both start at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time.
 
The Falcons raced to a 12-6 lead in Game 5 before Western Oregon (2-8, 0-2 GNAC) began to come back. The Wolves ran off five straight points to get within one. Cavell responded with a kill to the baseline for a 13-11 SPU advantage.
 
Western Oregon got one back for13-12, then Cavell stuffed one over the net to set up match point. With senior setter Kendall Carver serving, Cavell, who attacked 60 times and hit a season-high .267, tipped a ball over that the Wolves dug up, but sent just long to clinch it for the Falcons.
 
Cavell, who attacked 60 times, hit a season-high .267. That included a stratospheric .619 in Games 4 and 5 combined (14 kills-1 error-21 attacks). Biondi had five kills to go along with her assists and digs, and hit.235.
 
"It was kind of a roller coaster of emotions tonight," Johnson said. "In the end, the team held together well. We were able to come together and play as one and play as a team and just decided that they were going to win that match."
 
Needing to win the fourth game to keep the match alive, the Falcons were up just 16-14 when they put together a 5-1 run. Included were one service ace from Leenders and one from junior libero Breanne Wiekamp (Laguna Niguel, Calif.), two of the season-high dozen aces SPU served up on Thursday. (Leenders wound up with four; Cavell and Biondi had three apiece.)
 
The clinching point in that game came on an emphatic kill by Cavell.

 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Western Oregon 2
 
Game scores – 22-25, 25-19, 15-25, 25-18, 15-12.
 
Service aces – WOU 4 (Alisha Bettinson 2), SPU 12 (Brianna Leenders 4).
Kills – WOU 48 (Alisha Bettinson 12), SPU 57 (Madi Cavell 29).
Assists – WOU 46 (Kiana Cash 23), SPU 55 (Sara Biondi 42).
Digs – WOU 75 (Jaryn Ramos 27), SPU 69 (Cavell 19, Leenders 18,Biondi 13).
Block assists / solo – WOU 18 / 1 solo (Maddi Ober 5 / 0 solo), SPU 0 / 0 solo.
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – WOU 48-17-141--.220 (Ober 6-0-9--.667), SPU 57-34-178--.129 (Cavell 29-13-60—267).
Attendance – 84.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 8-2, 2-0 GNAC. Western Oregon 2-8, 0-2 GNAC.
 
Next match – Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks, Saturday, 8:00 p.m. PDT