THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov. 12    Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene, 6:00 p.m. PST
                                       Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
                                       Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Nov. 14     Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                       Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
                                       Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
       Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – For the last time this fall, the Seattle Pacific Falcons will be packing up for a volleyball road trip.
 
Just four matches remain on the calendar, and SPU will fly off to Idaho for the first of those, visiting Northwest Nazarene in Nampa on Thursday. The first serve is at 6:00 p.m.
 
On Saturday, it'll be a two-hour journey across the Cascades to Ellensburg, where Central Washington will be waiting to take on the Falcons at 7:00 p.m.
 
SPU will be seeking some redemption against both opponents. Last month in Seattle, the Falcons had a one-game lead on defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion NNU before the Crusaders took the last two for a five-game victory. Central left Brougham with a three-game sweep.
 
Seattle Pacific will have had a full week without a match before stepping onto Northwest Nazarene's court. The Falcons swept Saint Martin's last Tuesday, but then got swept at Montana State Billings last Thursday.
 
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.
 
SENIOR NIGHT IS COMING FOR FALCON FOURSOME
The four seniors on the Seattle Pacific roster will wind up their college volleyball careers next Saturday night when Simon Fraser comes to Brougham Pavilion. Jessica Boyle, Ellie Britt, Luisa McInnis, and Breanne Wiekamp will be honored in brief ceremony prior to the first serve.
 
Outside hitter Britt and libero Wiekamp have been with the Falcons all four years.
 
Britt is having the best statistical season of her career in terms of kills, hitting percentage, and service aces. Wiekamp has collected more than 1,000 digs, and is on pace to become just the second ironwoman in SPU's 30-year history by playing in every possible set of her career.
 
Middle blockers Boyle and McInnis joined Seattle Pacific as juniors after transferring from two-year schools. Boyle made the short trip down Interstate 5 from Edmonds Community College. McInnis chose the Falcons after two years at Santa Rosa Junior College in California and has become a regular starter.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons will face the GNAC's top two hitters . Northwest Nazarene's Madi Farrell leads at .374, and Central Washington's Sabrina Wheelhouse is No. 2 at .353.
-- One of sophomore outside hitter Lexi Biond's three matches of 20-plus kills came on Oct. 17 against Northwest Nazarene when she hammered 23.
-- Senior middle blocker Luisa McInnis had two matches of hitting better than .500 this year. The first of those was against Central Washington on Oct. 15 in Brougham Pavilion (6 kills-1 error-9 attacks-.556 percentage).
-- McInnis had a career-high 10 total blocks (including one solo) in last month's NNU match.
-- Central Washington has edged back in front of the all-time series against Seattle Pacific, 35-34. The Wildcats have won the last five.
-- In terms of total games won by each team in the series, SPU has 128 and Central has 125.
-- Senior outside hitter Ellie Britt is nine kills and 13 points away from setting single-season bests in both categories. Britt has 183 kills (191 in 2013) and 216 points (228.5 in 2013).
-- Falcons coach Chris Johnson is 12-9 all-time against Northwest Nazarene, including 6-4 in Nampa.
-- Johnson's teams have a 10-11 record against Central, including a 5-5 mark in Ellensburg.
 
SCOUTING THE NW NAZARENE CRUSADERS: 15-9, 12-4 GNAC (4^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 20-11. Current series streak: NNU won 5. Last time: NNU 3, SPU 2 (25-17, 26-28, 24-26, 25-16, 15-10; Oct. 17 at Seattle). Crusaders on the Web.
Crusaders in a nutshell: Its postseason hopes hanging in the balance after losses at Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage last week, NNU can be expected to come at the Falcons with full force. Last month, the Crusaders beat then-undefeated Alaska Anchorage in Nampa. They played well against the Seawolves on UAA's court last Saturday, hitting .234, but went down in four games. Sophomore outside hitter Kendra Bodine leads the way with 282 kills, 19 of those coming last month at SPU. Middle blocker Madi Farrell is a two-way force. The 6-foot-2 sophomore has 227 kills (14 in last month's match), hits .374, and is the GNAC's top blocker with 135 (including 12 solos). Coming up big against the Falcons in October was 6-2 senior middle blocker Jenna Caywood with 20 kills and a .621 hitting percentage (just two errors on 29 attacks). Setting them up is sophomore Hailey Cook with an average of 10.50 assists per game – just .01 off the conference lead.
 
SCOUTING THE CTRL. WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 17-6, 13-3 GNAC (3^rd)
All-time series: CWU leads, 35-34. Current series streak: CWU won 5. Last time: CWU 3, SPU 0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-19; Oct. 15 at Seattle). Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central Washington has won seven of its last eight. The only loss was last Thursday in five games at No. 11-ranked Alaska Anchorage (15-13 in the fifth). The team does a good job of spreading its offense around. Last month in Seattle against the Falcons, only senior outside hitter Linden Firethorne went for double-digit kills, putting down 12 and hitting at a .474 clip with just three errors on 19 swings. Her 327 kills are the third-highest total in the conference, and her 3.63 per-game average also is the third-highest. A total of seven different players came up with kills at SPU. Junior outside hitter Kiah Jones had nine of those and has 223 for the season. Sophomore Sabrina Wheelhouse, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker, has 142 kills and hits .353. In fact, four of Central's five regulars along the net hit better than .200. Middles Wheelhouse and Kaitlin Quirk have 115 and 116 blocks, respectively, with 26 solos between them: 17 for Wheelhouse, nine for Quirk.
                               
FALCONS REPLAY
– Luisa McInnis put down 10 kills and hit a solid .643, as Seattle Pacific halted a six-match losing streak by sweeping Saint Martin's Saints last Tuesday in Brougham Pavilion, 25-22, 25-15, 25-11.
– Lexi Biondi had 13 kills and hit.391, but Montana State Billings put together a decisive run in each game last Thursday to sweep the Falcons in Alterowitz Gymnasium, 25-19, 25-21, 25-20.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
The Falcons did not have a double-double in either of last week's matches. SPU has 14 for the season: 10 for Symone Tran (all assist-dig), three for Hannah Lautenbach (kill-dig), and one for Shaun Crespi (kill-block).
 
2015 double-doubles:
Shaun Crespi (1 season / 1 career):
10K-10BA vs. Alaska Fairbanks, Oct. 29.
 
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 (10 season / 10 career):
20 AST-11D vs. Azusa Pacific, Sept. 10;
25 AST-11D vs. Hawaii Pacific, Sept. 12;
51 AST-15D at Simon Fraser, Sept. 17;
32 AST-10D vs. Concordia, Sept. 24;
37 AST-13D vs. Western Oregon, Sept. 26;
34 AST-10D at Alaska Fairbanks, Oct. 3;
51 AST-12D vs. Northwest Nazarene, Oct. 17;
39 AST-11D at Western Oregon, Oct. 22
28 AST-11D at Concordia, Oct. 24;
39 AST-13D vs. Alaska Fairbanks, Oct. 29.

WELCOME BACK, DANI
When freshman outside hitter Dani Johnson went down with an ankle injury on Sept. 19 at Western Washington, it was thought that her season probably was finished.

 

Turns out that wasn't the case. Although Johnson (Bellingham, Wash. / Sehome HS), who started nine of Seattle Pacific's first 12 matches, hasn't been back to playing full time, she has seen some spot action off the bench during SPU's most recent two home contests.
 
First, she got in very briefly against Alaska Anchorage on Halloween night. Then in last Tuesday's 3-0 sweep of Saint Martin's, Johnson not only got onto the court, she got four swings at the ball and put one of them down for a kill.
 
ONE MORE MILESTONE FOR McINNIS
Senior middle blocker Luisa McInnis put her 500th career point into the stat column last Tuesday against Saint Martin's.

 

Of course, McInnis (Santa Rosa, Calif.) didn't have far to go. She came into that match with 499, so needed just one kill, or one solo block, or two block assists.
 
She got it on the third point of the night, slamming a kill. McInnis wound up with 10 kills that night, the first time in her two years at Seattle Pacific that she has had double digits for kills.
 
Now, McInnis can hit one final milestone before her career concludes next week. With four matches left, she has 380 kills, so would need just five per night to reach 400.
 
SPEAKING OF REACHABLE MILESTONES …
Senior libero Breanne Wiekamp is 49 digs away from taking over the No. 7 spot on SPU's career list for that category.

 

Wiekamp (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) begins this week with 1,144. The current occupant of the seventh rung on the Falcon dig ladder is Danielle Dettorre, who had 1,192 from 1996-99.
 
Heading into this week's matches, Wiekamp ranks No. 32 nationally in NCAA Division II at 5.43 digs per game.

 

Also in the remaining four matches, sophomore outside hitter Lexi Biondi is within range of her 400th career point (currently 353), freshman middle blocker Shaun Crespi (Camarillo, Calif.) is closing in on her 200th point (168), and freshman setter Symone Tran (Portland, Ore.) has an excellent chance of recording her 800th assist (720) and 200th dig (189).
 
FLYING SOLO
In this case, that means flying high enough above the net to make a solo block, and the Falcons are on pace to have more of those in 2015 than at any time in the past eight seasons.

 

Through the first 24 matches, SPU has 36 solo blocks, led by the 10 of freshman Shaun Crespi. That equals the total of the 2013 team (Nikki Lowell led with 11) and is just three short of the 39 posted by the 2011 team (current assistant coach Lindsey Wodrich topped the charts with 10.)
 
It was eight years ago in 2007 when the Falcons had 45 solo blocks. Rachel Biornstad was on top with 14. The 2005 team, Chris Johnson's first as head coach, also had 45.
 
AROUND THE WEST
It's one of just four matches remaining on the schedule, but Saturday night's Western Washington-Alaska Anchorage battle in Bellingham could go a long way toward deciding the GNAC title and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Vikings and Seawolves are both 14-2. They rank 1-2 in the NCAA West Region rankings, so regardless of outcome, both are headed to the postseason. Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene, who were part of a four-way tie for first with Western and Anchorage, are now third and fourth, respectively. Central split two matches in Alaska, and NNU lost both.
 
Sonoma State, winners of 17 in a row, has clinched at least a tie for the California Collegiate Athletic Association title, leading Cal State San Bernardino by two matches with two left. The CCAA has a conference tournament, but those two (Sonoma is 21-3 overall, Bernardino is 22-4) are a lock to make the national tourney.
 
In the Pacific West, Dixie State (13-3, 16-8 overall) leads Cal Baptist (11-5, 18-6 overall) with four matches left. The regular-season champ gets the automatic NCAA berth. The Pac West does not have a postsesaon conference tournament.

 
UP NEXT
The Falcons will return to Brougham Pavilion next week to conclude the season. Western Washington comes in on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the 21st, Simon Fraser comes down from Canada for a 7 p.m. first serve. Seattle Pacific opened GNAC play in Canada against the Clan, and will be out to reverse those results after Simon staged a big rally to win in five games on Sept. 17 in Burnaby, B.C. Western won the opener of this year's two-match series in three games on Sept. 19 in Bellingham.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                        GNAC           Overall
Alaska Anchorage        14-2       22-2
Western Washington      14-2       20-4
Central Washington      13-3       17-6
Northwest Nazarene      12-4       15-9
Simon Fraser             8-8       12-12
Concordia                7-9       15-9
Seattle Pacific          5-11       7-17
Montana State Billings   5-11       6-19
Alaska Fairbanks         5-11       5-18
Western Oregon           4-12       7-18
Saint Martin's           1-15       2-21