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SEATTLE – Ellie Britt found the right holes at the right times – and found them in bunches.
 
The senior outside hitter slammed 12 kills, and teammates Hannah Lautenbach and Lexi Biondi helped out with nine and eight kills, respectively, as Seattle Pacific opened its 2015 volleyball schedule on Thursday night with a sweep of British Columbia.
 
Scores of the exhibition match in Brougham Pavilion were 25-22, 25-23, 25-15.





This one didn't officially count for anything, but it did send SPU heading toward the start of the regular season on a positive. The matches that do count begin next week when the Falcons head to the Cal State Los Angeles Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 4 and 5.
 
"I was really happy with the way we played, especially defensively and covering our hitters," head coach Chris Johnson said. "We made it really tough for UBC to score points and get kills. It was good to see our team playing and having fun and just staying aggressive throughout the match."
 
Britt (Orange, Calif.) had just one error on 28 attacks, hitting a solid .393. She also came up with five digs, two blocks (one of them solo) and one service ace.
 
"My team made it easy," Britt said. "Our digging was amazing, our passing was good, and our setting – Symone (Tran) was putting up such hittable balls no matter what the pass gave her, and that just made it really easy. …I was so, so impressed with our team tonight. We were not letting up."
 
Sophomore outside hitter Lautenbach (Portland, Ore.) had six digs, two aces, and two block assists to go along with her nine kills. Redshirt sophomore hitter Lexi Biondi (Albuquerque, N.M.), back after missing all but three sets of the 2014 season with a knee injury, also had an ace.





The Falcons did not start well, falling into a 16-9 hole in Game 1. But they went on an 8-1 run to tie it at 17-17. Freshman setter Tran (Portland, Ore.) served up five of those points, starting the surge with an ace. Then, down 19-18, SPU ran off four straight go up 22-19 and never trailed again.
 
A late 4-0 run snapped a 17-17 tie in Game 2. UBC got within a point on three occasions, the last time at 24-23, before Britt finished it with a kill.
 
SPU effectively put away the third game – and the match – with a 7-2 spurt that stretched a 12-10 lead to 19-12. The Falcons saved their best for last, hitting .350 in that one (9 kills-2 errors-20 attacks).
 
Senior libero Breanne Wiekamp had 20 digs in just the three sets and served up four aces. Senior middle blocker Jessica Boyle (Lake Stevens, Wash. / Marysville-Pilchuck HS) led with four total blocks. Tran finished with 27 assists, two aces, and seven digs. Seattle Pacific had 12 aces for the night.
 
Laura MacTaggart topped British Columbia with 14 kills and hit .414. Danielle Brisebois added 13 kills, hitting .308. The Thunderbirds hit .161; SPU finished at .198.
 
"We've been talking a lot about having everyone on the same page and thinking the same thing at the same time, and I think we're getting better at that," Johnson said. "We just want to continue to jell and mesh as a team."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Aug. 27, 2015
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, British Columba 0 (exhibition)
 
Game scores – 25-21, 25-23, 25-15.
Service aces – UBC 1 (Kaitlin Crawford 1), SPU 12 (Breanne Wiekamp 4).
Kills – UBC 35 (Laura MacTaggart 14), SPU 35 (Ellie Britt 12).
Assists – UBC 32 (Kelsey Clarke 23), SPU 32 (Symone Tran 27).
Digs – UBC 54 (Danielle Brisebois 15), SPU 53 (Wiekamp 20).
Block assists / solo – UBC 8 / 0 solo (Brisebois 3 / 0), SPU 8 / 2 solo (Jessica Boyle 3 / 1).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – UBC 35-17-112--.161 (MacTaggart 14-2-29--.414), SPU 35-13-111--.198 (Britt 12-1-28--.393).
Attendance – 41.
 
Next match – Seattle Pacific vs. Molloy College (at Cal State Los Angeles Invitational), Sept. 4, 9:00 a.m.