GNAC-PACIFIC WEST CROSSOVER TOURNAMENT
All matches at Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Thursday, Sept. 10             Montana St.Billings vs. Academy of Art, 10:00 a.m.
                                                Alaska Fairbanks vs. Cal Baptist, 12:30 p.m.
                                                Seattle Pacific vs. Azusa Pacific, 3:00 p.m.
                                                Simon Fraser vs. Hawaii Pacific, 5:30 p.m.
                                                Alaska Fairbanks vs. Academy of Art, 8:00 p.m.
 
Friday, Sept. 11                   Montana State Billings vs. Azusa Pacific, 9:00 a.m.
                                                Alaska Fairbanks vs. Hawaii Pacific, 11:15 a.m.
                                                Seattle Pacific vs. Academy of Art, 1:30 p.m.
                                                Simon Fraser vs. Cal Baptist, 3:45 p.m.
                                                Montana State Billings vs. Hawaii Pacific, 6:00 p.m.
                                                Seattle Pacific vs. Cal Baptist, 8:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, Sept. 12              Alaska Fairbanks vs. Azusa Pacific, 9:30 a.m.
                                                Simon Fraser vs. Academy of Art, 12:00 noon
                                                Montana State Billings vs. Cal Baptist, 2:30 p.m.
                                                Simon Fraser vs. Azusa Pacific, 5:00 p.m.
                                                Seattle Pacific vs. Hawaii Pacific, 7:30 p.m.
 
LIVE WEBCASTS (all matches; audio for SPU matches only)
LIVE STATS (all matches)
Tournament Central
 

        Weekly release, with complete  updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – They coming from Alaska and Hawaii. From Montana and California. They're even coming from Canada.
 
From far and near, they're bringing their volleyball talent to Seattle Pacific and Brougham Pavilion this week.
 
Three days, eight teams, 16 matches – and the Falcons will be right in the middle of it all when they host the Great Northwest Athletic Conference-Pacific West Crossover Tournament.
 
Competition begins on Thursday morning at 10:00 with the first of five matches. It picks up again on Friday morning at 9, with six matches scheduled. The final day is Saturday, with the first match at 9:30 a.m. and four more to follow.
 
SPU, coming off a 1-3 start to the season in last week's Cal State Los Angeles Invitational, will be looking to put as many marks into the win column as possible. This will be the final preseason tune-up before conference play begins next Thursday night at Simon Fraser.
 
HOW IT ALL WORKS
This is the second year of the GNAC-Pac West get-together. Last year, the Pac West was the host conference, and Seattle Pacific traveled to Dominican University in San Rafael,Calif., where it won three of its four matches.
 
The tournament actually has two venues each year. The top four GNAC and top four Pacific West teams from last season gather at one site (Central Washington is the GNAC host for that one). The Nos. 5 through 8 finishers in the previous year's standings play at another site – that's the group that is coming to Brougham.
 
Each GNAC team will play one match against each of the four Pac West teams. All results will count toward the NCAA West Region rankings when those come out later this season. Those rankings ultimately determine who qualifies for the NCAA Tournament, so the Crossover is of vital importance to all eight schools.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Free Webcasts and free live stats will be available from all 16 matches. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story. However, only the four SPU matches will have play-by-play commentary. Falcons broadcaster Tom Gialanella will call the action.
 
TICKET TALK
Daily ticket prices for this week's tournament are $6 for adults, and $3 for youths and seniors. Each day requires a separate ticket, but that ticket is good for all matches on that day.





SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- This is the second straight September that SPU has hosted a preseason tournament.
-- Last year, the Falcons went 3-1 in the Seattle Pacific Tournament, beating Chico State, Cal State Los Angeles and Dixie State, but falling short of Cal Poly Pomona.
-- Academy of Art was across the net from the Falcons in last year's GNAC-Pac West tournament. SPU pulled out a five-game victory. That match was notable for the triple-double posted by now-graduated setter Sara Biondi (12 kills-41 assists-18 digs). It was Seattle Pacific first triple-double since 2007.
-- The Falcons are still looking for their first double-double of 2015. The closest anyone came last week was 11 digs and nine kills for sophomore Hannah Lautenbach against Dixie State.
-- Of this week's four opponents, only Hawaii Pacific has been a regular on SPU's schedule. The teams have met 11 times, with the Sharks owning a 7-4 advantage.
-- Other than that, the Falcons have played Academy of Art twice (1-1), Azusa Pacific once (0-1) and Cal Baptist once (0-1). Chris Johnson has been at the coaching helm for all of those matches.
--SPU went 6-7 on its Brougham Pavilion home court last year.
--Three of the four Pacific West teams and two of the three GNAC teams coming to town have at least one Washington player on the roster. Alaska Fairbanks has three of those: senior setter Miranda Grieser from Maple Valley (southeast of campus), junior middle blocker Lilah Hudson of Seattle, and redshirt sophomore outside hitter Maddie Davis from Puyallup (near Tacoma).Cal Baptist also has multiple players from the Evergreen State: sophomore outside hitter Lauren Hackett of Covington, and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Kiera Brunson of Renton, both southeast of the city.
 
SCOUTING THE AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS: 0-4, 0-0 PAC WEST
All-time series: APU leads, 1-0. Current series streak: APU won 1. Last time: APU 3, SPU 0 (25-13,25-22, 25-18, Sept. 14, 2013 at Hayward, Calif). Azusa Pacific on the Web.
Cougars in a nutshell: Azusa Pacific lost all four of its matches at the Spring Hill Suites Invitational in Anchorage last week. But three of those defeats came against nationally-ranked opponents (UAA, Nebraska Kearney, and Rockhurst). The Cougars got one game off of Anchorage (No. 14 this week), and came back against Kearney (now No. 15) to force a fifth game before falling short, 15-11.  APU was swept by No. 23 Rockhurst. Azusa has five players who are close to each other in kills. Ashley Midland, a 6-foot-1 junior middle blocker, leads with 36, and also is the team's leading hitter at .289. Senior right side Mattie Shellford has 34 kills, and senior outside hitter Katy Crouse has 31. Crystal Dedes, a 6-2 junior middle, already has 19 total blocks, with three solos, and Midland has 11 with a pair of solos.
 
SCOUTING THE ACADEMY OF ART URBAN KNIGHTS: 2-2, 0-0 PAC WEST
All-time series: Tied, 1-1. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 3, AA 2 (25-17, 16-25, 25-23, 18-25, 15-6; Sept. 11, 2014 at San Rafael, Calif.). Academy of Art on the Web.
Urban Knights in a nutshell: Art split four matches at last week's Route 92 Showdown in Belmont, Calif. The Knights won a pair of five-gamers, including one vs. Montana State Billings, against which it will open this week's tournament on Thursday morning. The Knights are led on offense by a 6-0 freshman outside hitter Stine Raben, named on Monday as co-winner of the Pac West's Freshman of the Week award. Raben had 48 kills in four matches (3.00 per game). She also had 32 digs and served up four aces. Bailey Soolsma, a 6-1 sophomore outside hitter, is second on the team with 28 kills, and hits at a .278 clip.
 
SCOUTING THE CAL BAPTIST LANCERS: 3-1, 0-0 PAC WEST                                                                     
All-time series: Cal Baptist leads, 1-0. Current series streak: CBU won 1. Last time: CBU 3, SPU 0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-22, Sept. 9, 2012 at Denver). Cal Baptist on the Web.
Lancers in a nutshell: California Baptist comes into the year as the favorite to win the Pacific West title, albeit by a very slight margin ahead of Point Loma Nazarene and Brigham Young-Hawaii. The Lancers won three of their four matches at last week's season-opening Route 92 Showdown, all against CCAA schools. Sophomore 6-foot-2 outside hitter Lauren Hackett has hammered 63 kills so far, an average of 3.94 per game. Jenna Perry, a 6-1 junior outside, is close behind with 54 kills, and leads the team in hitting with a sterling .336 percentage. Already with 24 blocks in just four matches is 6-0 junior middle Jessica Harris, whose 1.50 average per game leads the conference.
 
SCOUTING THE HAWAII PACIFIC SHARKS: 2-2, 0-0 PAC WEST
All-time series: HPU leads, 7-4. Current series streak: HPU won 1. Last time: HPU 3, SPU 0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-19; Sept 1, 2012 at Honolulu). Hawaii Pacific on the Web.
Sharks in a nutshell: HPU went 2-2 in its own Hawaii Invitational last week, sweeping then-No. 12 Sonoma State and also sweeping Saint Martin's, but falling short of Humboldt State and Simon Fraser. They'll have a chance right away to get back at Simon, as those two teams meet on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Senior outside hitter Elizabeth Culpepper, standing 6-1, leads Hawaii Pacific with 38 kills. She put down a team-high 11 of those in the sweep of Sonoma. The top hitter for the Sharks is also the top hitter in the Pac West. That would be 6-1 freshman middle blocker Carson Pyle at .357. HPU also has one of the conference's best servers in senior defensive specialist Amanda Moriarty, with 10 aces. Moriarty also tops the team in digs with 45.
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Hannah Lautenbach and Dani Johnson had 12 kills apiece, and SPU hit .410 as a team in a 25-17, 25-16, 25-15 victory against Molloy College last Friday in the Cal State Los Angeles Invitational.
-- Later that day, SPU had early leads in all three games, but was unable to sustain them, and lost to Dixie State, 25-21, 25-16, 25-22.
-- The following morning, SPU struggled with its hitting and was swept by Lewis University, 25-17, 25-22, 25-17.
-- Lexi Biondi tied her career high with 13 kills and hit .435, but despite stepping up their play, the Falcons still fell short of CSULA in the last match of the tournament, 25-17, 20-25, 25-19, 25-17.
                                                                             
HOME MILESTONE IN SIGHT
The Falcons come into their first official home matches of the year (they swept British Columbia in an exhibition on Aug. 27) with a chance to record their 200th Brougham Pavilion victory.

Now entering the program's 30th season, SPU has a 198-86 record (.697 winning percentage) on its home court. That includes undefeated records in 1998 (8-0), 2000 (11-0), 2006 (10-0), and 2010 (9-0).
 
The Falcons also had a 20-match home winning streak that began with a 3-0 sweep of Chaminade early in the 2005 season through a 3-2 victory against Seattle U early in 2007.
 
BIG WEEK FOR HANNIGAN
As a freshman, Colleen Hannigan didn't have a lot of playing time in 2014, getting onto the court for 18 games, and registering six kills.

 

In the first four matches of this season, the 5-foot-10 sophomore from Brentwood, Calif., already has seen action in half as many games, and has twice as many kills. Hannigan delivered a highly effective performance off the bench in last Friday's opening three-game sweep of Molloy College, putting eight kills onto the floor. That was way ahead of her previous high of three, a total she had reached twice.
 
Hannigan also had a career high for digs (six vs. Lewis; previous was three), and recorded her first solo block and her first block assist as a Falcon.

 

REPLACING EDMONDS WITH SPU
Senior middle blocker Jessica Boyle also got considerably more action in two days last week (six games played) than she did all of last year (two games). The 6-footer made the most of it, erasing two career highs that she had set during her two years at Edmonds Community College.
 
Boyle hit .667 against Molloy (5 kills-1 error-6 attempts). Her old mark was .500 against Centralia College in 2013. In that same Molloy match, she served two aces. She had one in three previous matches for Edmonds.
 
THAT WAS FAST: TRAN TOPS 100 ASSISTS
It sure didn't take Symone Tran very long to put her first 100 college assists into the book.
 
The freshman setter from Portland, Ore., left last week's Cal State Los Angeles Invitational with 102 assists for her four matches. Tran started off with 31 in the three-game sweep of Molloy College. She followed that with 19 against Dixie State, 22 against Lewis University (both three-gamers), and 30 in four games against Cal State L.A.
 
Of SPU's 139 kills, Tran factored into 106 of them, adding four kills of her own to go along with the 102 assists.
 
FRESHMEN HAD SOME FAB MOMENTS
In fact, Tran wasn't the only one of SPU's freshmen to make an impression in Los Angeles.

 

Shaun Crespi, a 6-2 middle blocker from Westlake Village, Calif., started all four matches and played all 13 sets. She recorded 22 kills, six total blocks, and hit .259. Crespi had back-to-back performances of better than .300, hitting .333 against Lewis and .316 against Cal State L.A.
 
Outside hitter Dani Johnson (Bellingham, Wash. / Sehome HS), who is 5-11, started three of the four matches and played in all but one set. She came up huge against Molloy with 12 kills and .409 hitting.
 
Libero Amanda Ganete (Hillsboro, Ore.) also played in every set, getting the start against Cal State L.A. She delivered four of SPU's six service aces against Dixie State on Friday, and had five digs against L.A.
 
Setter Molly Langdon (Irvine, Calif.) saw her first college action in the Cal State L.A. match., getting in for one game, and making the most of it by earning two assists.
 
UP NEXT
While this week's tournament certainly counts for a lot, the stakes get even higher next week with the start of the GNAC schedule. Seattle Pacific opens on the road, visiting Simon Fraser next Thursday in Burnaby, B.C., and Western Washington next Saturday in Bellingham. The first serve for both matches is at 7:00 p.m.
 
The match against Western will take place at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham., located about six miles north of the WWU campus. Most Viking volleyball matches, along with men's and women's basketball games, will be played there for the next two years while Carver Gymnasium is remodeled.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                GNAC    Overall
Alaska Anchorage                  0-0           4-0
Concordia (Ore.)                     0-0           4-0
Simon Fraser                           0-0           2-2
Western Washington             0-0           2-2
Montana State Billings          0-0           1-3
Northwest Nazarene             0-0           1-3
Seattle Pacific                         0-0           1-3
Central Washington              0-0           0-3
Alaska Fairbanks                   0-0           0-3
Saint Martin's                          0-0           0-4
Western Oregon                     0-0           0-4