THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Oct. 22              Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, 7:00 p.m.
                                                New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Oct. 24               Seattle Pacific at Concordia, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Cavalier Court / Portland, Ore.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – Here they go again.
 
Having completed the first half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball schedule, the Seattle Pacific Falcons will get ready for their second look at those opponents when they take a road trip to Oregon this week.
 
SPU plays Western Oregon on Thursday in Monmouth, then makes its first conference trip to Concordia on Saturday. The first serve for both matches is at 7:00 p.m.
 
The Falcons are looking to turn things around after falling on their home court last week to Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene, the latter in a back-and-forth five-setter on Saturday.
 
They already have one victory against each of the two Oregon schools, sweeping the Cavaliers on Sept. 24 and the Wolves on Sept. 26 in Brougham Pavilion.
 
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.
               
PUT HER IN THE BOOKS
With her third dig in last Thursday's match against Central Washington – coming midway through the first set – senior libero Breanne Wiekamp recorded the 1,000th of her career.

 

Wiekamp (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) became the eighth player in the 30-year history of the Seattle Pacific program to reach 1,000 digs. The last one to do so was Brianna Leenders, who got there late in her junior season in 2013. She continued to add on to that throughout her 2014 senior season before graduating with 1,570 – the second-highest total ever for the Falcons.
 
Heading into this week, Wiekamp has pushed her total to 1,035 digs. Her 5.42 average is tied for 37^th in NCAA Division II.
 
With 10 matches left in the season, Wiekamp has an excellent chance of climbing to No. 7 on SPU's career list. That spot currently belongs to Danielle Dettorre, who collected 1,192 from 1996-99. From there, it's a big jump to No. 6, belonging to Stephanie Huffman (1,339 from 1997-2000).





SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons have a chance to sweep four of their 10 GNAC season series – starting with the two this week.
-- The last time either SPU or WOU swept the series was in 2013, when the Falcons won five-gamers at both venues.
-- A result on the road would be most welcomed by SPU, as it is just 2-7 outside of Brougham Pavilion this fall.
-- In three matches this season, Seattle Pacific has had three players with double-digit kills. One of those was against Western Oregon on Sept. 24 when Lexi Biondi had 12; Ellie Britt and Hannah Lautenbach slammed 11 apiece.
-- Lautenbach has two streaks of back-to-back double-digit kills. The first came Sept. 24 and 26 with 13 against Concordia and 11 against Western Oregon.
-- Setter Symone Tran double-doubled against both Oregon schools: 32 assists and 10 digs against Concordia, followed by 37 assists and 13 digs against WOU.
-- While this is SPU's first conference match at Concordia, the Falcons have played on Cavalier Court previously. The last time was in late August of 2014 when the Falcons came from 1-0 and 2-1 down in games to win in five.
-- Concordia's only win in the series was in the second match, 3-1 in Portland (16-14, 15-12, 8-15, 15-9) on Oct. 16, 1986, during Seattle Pacific's inaugural season.
-- Coach Chris Johnson is 15-6 against Western Oregon, including 11-4 against Wolves coach Brad Saindon.
-- This will be just Johnson's second official match against Concordia and coach Melanie Hambelton.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN OREGON WOLVES: 5-14, 2-8 GNAC (tie 8^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 26-16. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 3, WOU 0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-17; Sept. 26, 2015 at Seattle). Wolves on the Web.
Wolves in a nutshell: Western Oregon picked up a welcome victory last week, scoring a three-game sweep at Montana State Billings that halted a seven-match losing streak. WOU's two biggest offensive threats came up big in that match, as freshman outside hitter Amanda Short had 14 kills and hit a solid .444. Sophomore outside Alisha Bettinson added 11 kills on .276 hitting. For the year, Bettinson leads the Wolves with 190 kills, although she had just six in last month's match at SPU. Short has 173 kills, also having collected six in Seattle. Sophomore middle blocker Sydney Blankinship continues to lead Western Oregon's hitters at .296, tied for No. 6 in the GNAC. Junior opposite Paige Kelsey can find the mark, as well, with her .262 percentage and 95 kills. Short is one of the conference's better servers with 23 aces. Junior libero Christie Colasurdo ranks at the GNAC's top libero at 5.96 digs. Her 405 total digs makes her one of just two conference players with more than 400 for the year.

SCOUTING THE CONCORDIA CAVALIERS (13-5, 5-5 GNAC (tie 5^th).
All-time series: SPU leads, 7-1. Current series streak: SPU won 6. Last time: SPU 3, Concordia 0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-19; Sept. 24, 2015 at Seattle). Cavaliers on the Web.
Cavaliers in a nutshell: After losing three straight earlier this month, Concordia enters the week on a three-match winning streak, all on the road: 3-2 at Simon Fraser, 3-1 at Western Oregon, and 3-0 at Montana State Billings. In just  three sets the Yellowjackets, Sophomore opposite Lindsey Dorsey put 16 kills on the floor, hitting .414, and junior outside hitter Brenna Huwe was right behind with 15 on .324 hitting. Such numbers aren't a surprise for either player. Huwe leads the Cavaliers with 185 kills, her 2.98 per-game average ranking No. 9 in the GNAC. Dorsey is next with 181 kills / 2.97 average. Dorsey also hits at a team-leading .262 clip, tying her for 11th in the conference. Not to be overlooked is sophomore middle blocker Colby Barenette, with 137 kills and a .231 hitting percentage. Junior setter Jenessa Taylor's 685 assists is the GNAC's second-highest total, as is her 10.54 per-game average. Barnette also ranks No. 7 blocks with 77 total, including five solos. The Cavaliers are one conference's better defensive teams, averaging 16.69 digs per game and allowing opponents just a .145 hitting percentage, both of which rank No. 2.
 
FALCONS REPLAY
– Central Washington slammed 15 more kills than Seattle Pacific and swept the Falcons last Thursday night, 25-17, 25-11, 25-19.
– Lexi Biondi had 23 kills, and Hannah Lautenbach recorded a double-double of 17 kills and 17 digs on Saturday, but Northwest Nazarene used  a 4-1 run in Game 5 to go ahead for good and get past SPU, 25-17, 26-28, 24-26, 25-16, 15-10.
 
BACK HOME
When SPU visits Concordia in Portland on Saturday, it will be a homecoming of sorts for three players.
 
Sophomore opposite / middle blocker Hannah Lautenbach is from Westview High School in Portland, where she was a two-time all-league player.

 

Freshman setter Symone Tran is a graduate of Jesuit High School in the suburb of Beaverton. She was part of last fall's Crusaders team that went 31-0 and won the Oregon Class 6A (large school) state title. Freshman defensive / serving specialist Amanda Ganete is from nearby Hillsboro and earned back-to-back second-team all-league honors for Liberty High School.
               
CLIMBING THE STATS LADDER
From the time they headed into their first GNAC match of the season in mid-September through Saturday's conclusion of the first half of the conference schedule, the Falcons have taken a jump in several statistical categories.
               
Kills: 10.23 per set on Sept. 17 to 11.47 now.
Hitting percentage: .124 to .136.
Assists: 9.19 to 10.45.
Digs: 12.92 to 15.60.
Blocks: 1.62 to 1.81.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
SPU hadn't had a double-double since Oct. 3 at Alaska Fairbanks, but picked up two last Saturday against Northwest Nazarene: one for Hannah Lautenbach, and one for Symone Tran.
 

2015 double-doubles:
Hannah Lautenbach (3 season / 4 career):
11K-15D vs. Academy of Art, Sept. 11;
19K-20D at Simon Fraser, Sept. 17;
17K-17D vs. Northwest Nazarene, Oct.17.
 
Symone Tran (7 season / 7 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;
51AST-12D vs. Northwest Nazarene, Oct. 17.
 
WELCOME TO THE ACTION
When an illness kept setter Symone Tran on the sidelines last Thursday against Central Washington, the door opened for fellow freshman Molly Langdon to get her first extensive college playing time.

 

Langdon (Irvine, Calif.) earned the assist on 24 of SPU's 27 kills. She also had one kill of her own, and came up with two digs, as well.
 
Prior to that, Langdon's only other action came on Sept. 5 in one game of a four-gamer at Cal State Los Angeles.
 
Langdon is the third athlete from her family to don an SPU uniform. Brittany played soccer for the Falcons from 2009-12, and Kendall played volleyball – also as a setter – from 2011-14.
 
HANDS UP
Seattle Pacific came up with 16 total blocks – 15 combined and one solo – in last Saturday's five-game marathon against Northwest Nazarene. That was five more than their previous season high of 11 total blocks (nine combined, two solo) in four games against Academy of Art on Sept. 11.
 
The last time the Falcons had at least that many blocks in a match was Nov 2, 2013, at Montana State Billings, when the stat sheet also showed 16 total blocks. In fact, SPU had three matches that year with 16, collecting that many against Cal State L.A. and Western Oregon, both in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Leading the way on Saturday was senior middle blocker Luisa McInnis with a career-high 10 (nine block assists, one solo). Other career highs were earned by freshman middle Shaun Crespi (six block assists) and sophomore outside hitter Lexi Biondi (five block assists).
 
ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST
McInnis not only broke her previous career high in the blocking department, she left it in shambles.
 
The previous high for block assists for McInnis (Santa Rosa, Calif.) was five, which she hit four times, most recently last Oct. 23 at Simon Fraser.
 
Her previous best for total blocks in a match was six, set on Oct. 10, 2012, during her freshman year at Santa Rosa Junior College.
 
McInnis now has taken down three of her previous career highs from her Santa Rosa days. In addition to block assists and total blocks, she had two assists in a match at Dominican on Sept. 12, 2014, the first time she ever had more than one.
 
The solo block she had against NNU was McInnis' first as a Falcon. On Thursday against Central Washington, she set her SPU highs for kills (six) and hitting percentage (.556).
 
AROUND THE WEST
By winning a five-game match at Alaska Anchorage last Thursday, Western Washington now has a two-match lead in the GNAC, going undefeated through the first half of the schedule at 10-0. The preseason favorite Seawolves find themselves in a three-way tie for second at 8-2 with Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene.
 
Sonoma State and Cal State San Bernardino are still neck-and-neck in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Sonoma is 10-1 (14-3 overall); Bernardino is 10-2 (17-3). Both seem well on their way to the NCAAs, with Chico State (8-4,16-6) and Cal State Los Angeles (7-4, 15-5) also very much in the hunt.
 
Cal Baptist (8-2, 15-3 overall) and Brigham Young-Hawaii (8-2, 10-8) are deadlocked atop the Pacific West. They meet on Thursday in Laie, Hawaii, with the Seasiders already having won a five-gamer earlier this month on CBU's floor. Chaminade is tied for fifth at 6-3, but is 13-4 overall. That includes a 3-0 record against the GNAC and 3-1 against the CCAA, one of those victories being a four-gamer against Sonoma State.
 
UP NEXT
SPU begins another three-match homestand next week when the Alaska schools visit Brougham Pavilion. Fairbanks is in town on Thursday, Oct. 29, as the Falcons seek to reverse a four-game loss from Oct. 3 when the Nanooks were hosting. Nationally ranked Anchorage is here on Halloween night. Both matches begin at 7.
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                      GNAC       Overall
Western Washington      10-0     16-2
Alaska Anchorage        8-2      16-2
Central Washington      8-2      12-5
Northwest Nazarene      8-2      11-7
Simon Fraser            5-5       9-9
Concordia               5-5      13-5
Seattle Pacific         4-6       6-12
Western Oregon          2-8       5-14
Montana State Billings  2-8       3-15
Alaska Fairbanks        2-8       2-15
Saint Martin's          1-9       2-15