Box Score Box score, play-by-playBELLINGHAM, Wash. –
Lexi Biondi had 11 kills,
Ellie Britt added 10, and the Seattle Pacific Falcons, in spite of getting off to a rough start, wound up giving 16
th-ranked Western Washington all it could handle before the Vikings won Saturday's Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match in three games.
Scores in the Whatcom Community College Pavilion were 25-17, 25-21, 25-23.
Ellie BrittSenior outside hitter Britt (Orange, Calif.) played error-free, hitting a season-best .417 on her 24 attacks. She also had a service ace and two block assists.
"Moving Ellie over to the left helped a lot. She had a great night over there," head coach
Chris Johnson said. "She has been playing really well lately. She also blocked well tonight."
Sophomore outside hitter Biondi (Albuquerque, N.M.) had four block assists for the Falcons (2-8, 0-2 GNAC), who return home to Brougham Pavilion this coming week to face conference newcomer Concordia (Ore.) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Western Oregon on Saturday at 2:00.
Senior middle blocker
Jessica Boyle (Lake Stevens, Wash. / Marysville-Pilchuck HS) led SPU with six block assists. Freshman setter
Symone Tran (Portland, Ore.) earned 29 assists, and freshman libero / defensive specialist
Amanda Ganete (Hillsboro, Ore.) had 15 digs, just one shy of the career high she set on Thursday at Simon Fraser.
Western Washington (8-2, 2-0 GNAC) scored the first six points of the match on the way to a 13-4 lead
Seattle Pacific then started to click and got as close as five at 21-16. The Vikings closed out the game with four of the final five points.
The second and third games were close throughout. The Falcons were down 20-17 in Game 2, but rallied to get back into a 20-20 tie on a kill by sophomore
Hannah Lautenbach (Portland, Ore.), a Western hitting error, and a kill by Biondi. Western Washington scored the next four to take control at 24-20.
SPU had a 14-13 lead in Game 3. The Vikings wen back on top 17-14, and eventually stretched it all the way out to 24-18, giving themselves six match points.
The Falcons fought off five of those, four of them with Ganete serving. A pair of kills by Britt were sandwiched around two Western Washington errors, and just like that, it was 24-23
But a Michaela Hall kill on the next point clinched it for the Vikings, who now have won eight straight after starting the season with two losses to nationally ranked teams at a preseason tournament in Florida.
"We didn't stop fighting, and there are a lot of things that we continue to do well," Johnson said. "On the one hand, I'm really proud of the way we fought and stayed with it. On the other hand, we're still making too many mistakes to win games. We have to hold ourselves accountable and hold ourselves to higher standards."
Rachael Roeder led Western with 19 kills and hit .581 with just one error on 31 swings.
The Falcons, who were without starting middle blocker
Shaun Crespi all week because of an injury, saw starting outside hitter
Dani Johnson leave the match injured early in the opening game. She was out of action for the rest of the night.
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALLSaturday, Sept. 19, 2015Whatcom CC Pavilion / Bellingham, Wash. (No. 16) Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 0 Game scores – 25-17, 25-21, 25-23.
Service aces – SPU 3 (3 players with 1), WWU 2 (2 players with 1).
Kills – SPU 39 (
Lexi Biondi 11,
Ellie Britt 10), WWU 50 (Rachael Roeder 19).
Assists – SPU 34 (
Symone Tran 29), WWU 47 (Brette Boesel 25).
Digs – SPU 47 (
Amanda Ganete 15), WWU 55 (Jennica McPHerson 17).
Block assists / solo – SPU 12 / 1 solo (Jessia Boyle 6 / 0 solo), WWU 14 / 1 solo (Kayleigh Harper 6 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 39-19-124--.161 (Britt 10-0-24--.417), WWU 50-15-115--.304 (Roeder 19-1-31--.581).
Attendance – 326.
Records – Seattle Pacific 2-8, 0-2 GNAC. Western Washington 8-2, 2-0 GNAC.
Next match – Concordia (Ore.) at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Sept. 24, 7:30 p.m. / Brougham Pavilion
