THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Oct. 15              Central Washington at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Oct. 17                Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, 1:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
  
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons have gotten into a winning groove at home – and their timing couldn't be better.
 
With three straight Brougham Pavilion victories, SPU has an opportunity to keep that going this week when Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene come to town.
 
Those two matches will conclude the first half of the 20-match Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule.

The Falcons and Wildcats, who have gone back and forth in their series through the years, serve it up at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. NNU, the defending conference champion, comes calling on Saturday, with a 1:00 p.m. start time.
 
Seattle Pacific comes into the week having won four of its last six matches. That includes homecourt sweeps of Concordia and Western Oregon, and last Saturday's come-from-behind 3-1 victory in Brougham against Montana State Billings.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Free Webcasts and free live stats will be available for all GNAC matches, home and away. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
               
THREE TO GO FOR A GRAND
Senior libero Breanne Wiekamp is now just three digs away from the 1,000th of her career.
 
The most recent Falcon to get there was Brianna Leenders, who reached it late during her junior season in 2013, and finished her career last fall with 1,570.

 

Wiekamp (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) has three matches of more than 30 digs this season, with a career-high 35 at Simon Fraser on Sept. 17. She started last week at No. 46 in NCAA Division II at 5.23 per game. With 21 at Saint Martin's last Tuesday and 31 against Montana State Billings on Saturday, she boosted that average to 5.52 and now ranks No. 31 in the country.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- SPU has a 4-3 record at home.
-- The series against Central Washington is all square at 34-34. The Wildcats have won the last four to pull even.
-- Two of those four matches have gone the maximum five games, including last Nov. 6 in Seattle when the Falcons were up 1-0 and 2-1, only to see Central bounce back.
--The total games won by each team are almost as close as the series. SPU has won 128, Central has taken 122.
-- SPU's Chris Johnson and Central Washington's Mario Andaya are two of the three longest-tenured coaches in the GNAC. Andaya leads the way, now in his 21st year of leading the Wildcats. Johnson, in his 11th year at Seattle Pacific is third. In between them is Diane Flick, currently in her 16th season at Western Washington.
-- The Falcons have kept three straight opponents below .200 hitting, winning two of those. For the season, they are 6-2 when keeping opponents below .200.
-- Twice this season, SPU has bounced back from losing Game 1 to win the match: last Saturday against Billings, and earlier against Academy of Art.
-- Just like the overall series against Central, coaches Johnson and Andaya are all even against each other at 10-10, including 5-5 in both Seattle and Ellensburg.
-- Johnson is 12-8 vs. Northwest Nazarene, including 6-4 in Seattle.





SCOUTING THE CEN. WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 10-5, 6-2 GNAC (tie 3^rd)
All-time series: Tied 34-34. Current series streak: CWU won 4. Last time: CWU 3, SPU 2 (22-25, 25-13, 16-25, 26-24, 15-12; Nov. 6, 2014 at Seattle). Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: After a rugged 0-3 start, with two of those losses to nationally ranked teams in a preseason tournament, Central has won 10 of its last 12 matches. The only two losses were in five games to then-No. 15 Western Washington, and in four last Saturday to No. 7 Alaska Anchorage. The Wildcats have plenty of offensive firepower, with the leading hitter in the conference and two others in the top 15. Sophomore middle blocker Sabrina Wheelhouse, who stands 6-foot-3, hits at a .401 clip, with 107 kills on 202 attacks. Kaitlin Quirk, a 6-1 senior middle, hits .293 with 122 kills, and 5-11 senior outside hitter Linden Firethorne is at .236 with 213 kills (the second-highest kill total in the GNAC). No surprise that Quirk and Wheelhouse also are among the conference's best blockers. In fact, Quirk is on top of that list at 1.44 per game (79 total), and Wheelhouse is No. 3 at 1.33. Among Wheelhouse's 73 total blocks are 13 solos. All of that has put Central atop the list of 303 NCAA Division II programs at 2.92 blocks per game, with Quirk ranked No. 2 nationally, and Wheelhouse at No. 12.
 
SCOUTING THE NW NAZARENE CRUSADERS: 9-7, 6-2 GNAC (tie 3^rd)
All-time series: SPU leads, 20-10. Current series streak: NNU won 4. Last time: NNU 3, SPU 0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-19, Nov. 8, 2014 at Seattle). Crusaders on the Web.
Crusaders in a nutshell: For the first time this season, Northwest Nazarene is above .500. And what was the match that put the Crusaders over that hump? It was last Thursday's 3-1 victory in Nampa against then-undefeated and No. 7-ranked Alaska Anchorage. Along with Saturday's sweep of Alaska Fairbanks, NNU has won four in a row and six of its last seven. The Crusaders have five players who can rack up the kills, four of whom are already well beyond 100: sophomore 5-foot-9 outside hitter Kendra Bodine (179), senior 6-3 outside Elayna Rice (169), sophomore 6-2 middle blocker Madi Farrell (140, with a match-high 17 against Anchorage), and senior 6-2 right sider Taylor VanValey (127). Farrell also hits for accuracy, her .365 percentage ranking No. 2 in the GNAC. Northwest Nazarene is big on the block, ranking No. 5 in D2 at 2.72 per game. Farrell has much to do with that, with 79 total blocks, 11 of which are solos. Rice has nine solos among her 39 total blocks.
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Hannah Lautenbach put down 12 kills and hit a solid .290, and Lexi Biondi added 10 kills with .240 hitting as SPU swept Saint Martin's on Tuesday night in Lacey, 25-23, 25-21, 25-16.
-- Biondi had a career-high 27 kills, Symone Tran set a career-high with 53 assists, and the Falcons bounced back from a Game 1 loss to beat Montana State Billings last Saturday, 23-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-20.
 
COACH CHRIS JOHNSON SAYS …
(On the career nights for Lexi Biondi and Symone Tran vs. Billings)
"Lexi just had it going. For a while there, it was a golden touch. Every single ball she touched was a kill, it seemed like. She was really making some smart swings, putting pressure on them, and just destroyed their block. Symone had a good night and was making good decisions. She was just putting up some hittable balls that we were able to kill."

 

(On bouncing back from the first game to win the next three)
"No one was panicked after the first game – we just had to do a few things better. There was a rally or two early in the second set where we all of a sudden turned it on and were really firing. We were more passionate and just had a higher level of intensity."
 
(On playing Central and NNU this week)
"Those are big matches. We have two wins under our belt this week, and this is going the right direction again. People are really understanding better what it is we need to change and work on, and believing we can do those things and beat good teams. We'll find out on Thursday."
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
The Falcons did not register a double-double in either of their two matches last week. They have eight for the season.
 
2015 double-doubles:
Hannah Lautenbach (2 season / 3 career):
11K-15D vs. Academy of Art, Sept. 11;
19K-20D at Simon Fraser, Sept. 17.

Symone Tran (6 season / 6 career):
20AST-11D vs. Azusa Pacific, Sept. 10;
25AST-11D vs. Hawaii Pacific, Sept. 12;
51AST-15D at Simon Fraser, Sept. 17;
32AST-10D vs. Concordia, Sept. 24;
37 AST-13D vs. Western Oregon, Sept 26;
34 AST-10D at Alaska Fairbanks, Oct. 3.
 
EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE, AND ENERGIZING ON OFFENSE
The Falcons certainly have had their moments on the offensive attack this season. But last Saturday against Montana State Billings, they strung together a match's worth of those moments.
 
In their four-set triumph, SPU put 64 kills on the floor. That was the highest total of the season, two more than were recorded in a five-set loss at Simon Fraser on Sept. 17. For the night, the Falcons hit .250, their second-highest percentage of the year. That final mark included .263 in the first set, .200 in the second, .333 in the third, and .179 in the fourth.

 

Seattle Pacific had three players in double-digit kills, led by the career-high 27 of Lexi Biondi. She was joined by Hannah Lautenbach (13) and Ellie Britt (12). That was the second time this year three Falcons have hit for double-digits.
 
Along the way, three players hit for better than .200: Biondi (.458), freshman middle blocker Shawn Crespi (.350), and sophomore opposite / middle Lautenbach (.263).
 
CRESPI GROWING INTO COLLEGE GAME
At 6-foot-2, Shaun Crespi is the tallest player among the 14 on SPU's roster. The freshman played her way into a starting middle blocker spot right from the get-go, and was delivering some of what the Falcons need both on the kill and on the block when a ball smacked her hard in the face during a match during the GNAC-Pacific West preseason tournament in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Crespi (Camarillo, Calif.) wound up missing the first two GNAC matches at Simon Fraser and Western Washington. But since returning on Sept. 24 against Concordia, Crespi has had two matches with nine kills, two with seven, and two with six. Those 44 kills in those six matches are as many as she had in the first eight. She also has 16 total blocks in those six matches after recording 14 in the first eight.
 
"Her connection with (setter) Symone (Tran) has been amazing," coach Chris Johnson said. "When she gets a good set and has done her approach correctly and has a good jump, she just hits over people. She's exciting to watch."
 
SO GLAD TO BE BACK
Usually, it's not a senior who has to go chasing after loose balls. But Luisa McInnis has been more than happy to do it.

 

The middle blocker from Santa Rosa, Calif. – who doubled as a track and field high jumper last spring – missed the first 11 matches of the season with an injury. She finally got back into action for one set against Western Oregon on Sept. 26, and has been on the floor in every set since.
 
"It's probably the most amazing feeling. It's so hard sitting and watching and cheering and feeling like you can't really contribute," McInnis said.
 
She's contributing now. McInnis has recorded at least three kills and three total blocks in each of the four full matches she has played. And she's not holding back during practice, either.
 
"It's funny – I'll catch myself running to shag balls just because I can run now," she said with a grin. "Those whole two months of having to crutch and boot and walk – it's just a weight lifted off my shoulders, and it's so great to be back."
 
ELITE COMPANY
Seattle Pacific now has two of the top 10 for kills per game in the GNAC. Lexi Biondi ranks No. 6 at 3.16, and Hannah Lautenbach is No. 10 at 2.91.
 
The only other team with more than one in that stat's top 10 is Alaska Anchorage, with Katelyn Zanders in No. 1 at 3.95, and Julia Mackey in No. 7 at 3.14.
 
Also for stats fans: Setter Symone Tran has pushed above 9.0 assists per game, coming into the week at 9.30 after racking up 86 in seven games last week (12.2 per game). Tran is No. 5 in the GNAC.

Click on this link for  complete look at GNAC statistical leaders.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Western Washington, riding a 14-match winning streak, is now alone atop the GNAC at 8-0. That might or might not change on Thursday when the Vikings (14-2 overall) visit Alaska Anchorage (7-1, 15-1 overall), which had been undefeated until last Thursday's four-game loss at Northwest Nazarene.
 
Sonoma State is still atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association at 8-1, 12-3 overall. Cal State San Bernardino is right behind at 8-2, 15-3. They've already played their lone match against each other, with Sonoma coming from a game down to win in five on Oct. 2. Other CCAA teams in the hunt for a spot in the NCAA West Region rankings later this month are Cal State L.A. (13-5) and Cal State Stanislaus (12-5).
 
Cal Baptist and Brigham Young-Hawaii are now deadlocked for the Pacific West lead at 6-2. The Seasiders beat CBU last Tuesday in California, 3-2, but are just 8-8 overall. Cal Baptist is 13-3. Hawaii Pacific is half a game back at 6-3 (11-6 overall), and Chaminade is 5-3 (12-4).
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific starts the second half of the GNAC schedule on the road. The Falcons visit Western Oregon next Thursday, Oct. 22, in Monmouth, and take a trip to Portland on Saturday to face Concordia. Both matches begin at 7:00 p.m. SPU beat both teams in three-game sweeps last month in Seattle. 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                           GNAC    Overall
Western Washington         8-0       14-2
Alaska Anchorage           7-1       15-1
Central Washington         6-2       10-5
Northwest Nazarene         6-2        9-7
Simon Fraser               4-4        8-8
Seattle Pacific            4-4        6-10
Concordia                  3-5       11-5
Montana State Billings     2-6        3-13
Alaska Fairbanks           2-6        2-13
Western Oregon             1-7        4-13
Saint Martin's             1-7        2-13