Box Score

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SEATTLE – Chris Johnson was trying to find the right words to describe his Seattle Pacific volleyball team's defense on Thursday night.
 
But the Falcons coach didn't really need words. The performance that shut down Simon Fraser did all the talking.
 
Gabby Oddo had 14 kills and recorded her 12th double-double of the season, Symone Tran logged her sixth double-double in a row, and SPU picked up 16 points on the block to stun the Clan with a three-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference sweep.
 
Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 25-22, 25-20, 25-11.
 
The Falcons (8-9, surpassing last year's 7 victories, and 4-5 GNAC) won their season-best third straight match. Simon Fraser (13-4, 6-3 GNAC) had come in as part of a three-way tie for second in the standings.

 

Sophomore middle blocker Shaun Crespi tied her career high with 10 block assists, and sophomore setter Tran had a best-ever six block assists. Crespi passed 100 total blocks for the season. Now with 104, she is the first Falcon to top 100 since Nikki Lowell racked up 134 in 2013.
 
Altogether, SPU had 28 block assists, its second-highest total of the year, topped only by the 32 in a five-gamer against Hawaii Hilo.
 
The Falcons also totaled 65 digs in just those three games, with five players in double digits. Freshman outside hitter Oddo led with 17. Tran had 11, and her 31 assists completed the double-double.
 
"I was so impressed by our defense tonight – front row and back row," Johnson said. "To have 16 blocks in three sets – that's an unheard of number for three sets. (Simon Fraser) just had a really tough time getting the ball cleanly past our block in the first place. We forced them to try tip and roll shots, and we were picking those up. We took away all of their options."
 




SPU had the Clan in negative hitting for the match (minus-.023), and kept their three biggest offensive threats below .000. One of those was 6-foot-3 sophomore middle blocker Tessa May, who came in ranked No. 6 in the GNAC at .283, but wound up at minus -.192 with just three kills.
 
"That's a very good hitter that we absolutely shut down," Johnson said.

 

Up 15-11 in the opener, the Falcons saw Simon Fraser go on a 7-0 run for an 18-16 lead. A 5-1 SPU burst produced a 21-19 edge. It was 23-22 for the Falcons when they got the last two points on combined blocks. Freshman middle Abbey Lautenbach (Portland, Ore.) had a hand in both, the first with Oddo, the second with Tran.
 
Seattle Pacific had two scoring surges in Game 2: a five-pointer that turned a 16-12 deficit into a 17-16 lead, then a seven-pointer with Tran serving that took the Falcons from 19-17 down to 24-19 up.
 
Another seven-point run – with an unusual start to it – set the tone for Game 3. The Clan had scored the first two points, and thought they had a third when a serve by Katie Dolguikh hit the net cord, then dribbled over and dropped to the floor for an apparent ace. But an inadvertent whistle resulted in a replay. This time, Abbey Lautenbach got the point on a kill, and Seattle Pacific added six more after that for 7-2.
 
Simon Fraser never got closer than three, at 7-4.
 
After not hitting well in the first two games, SPU hit .351 in the third, with 14 kills and just one error on 37 attacks, finishing at .180 for the match.
 
"Our momentum each game just kept building," Hannah Lautenbach said. "Our energy was at an all-time high. We found what worked and utilized that."
 
Seattle Pacific takes on 20th-ranked Western Washington on Saturday in Brougham. The match is scheduled for 7:00 p.m., but that time might be changed due to weather conditions. (Check online at www.spufalcons.com for the latest information.)
 
"That's always an exciting game, always really fun and energetic" Biondi said. "If we just maintain our energy and keep working hard and keep being aggressive and staying confident, I think we can do really well."


NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Oct.13, 2016
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Simon Fraser 0
 
Game scores – 25-22, 25-20, 25-11.
 
Service aces – Simon 3 (Emma Jennings 3), SPU 2 (Amanda Ganete 1, Sophie Kuehl 1).
Kills – Simon 26 (Jennings 6, Madison Power 6), SPU 37 (Gabby Oddo 14).
Assists – Simon 26 (Tamara Nipp 22), SPU 36 (Symone Tran 31).
Digs – Simon 63 (Alison McKay 16), SPU 65 (Oddo 17, Ganete 12, Tran 11).
Block assists / solo – Simon 8 / 0 solo (T.May 3 / 0 solo), SPU 28 / 2 solo (Shaun Crespi 10 / 0 solo, Tran 6 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – Simon 26-29-133—minus -.023 (Power 6-1-14—.357), SPU 37-15-122—.180 (Crespi 4-1-10—.300).
Attendance – 103.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 8-9, 4-5 GNAC. Simon Fraser 13-4, 6-3 GNAC.
 

Next match
Western Washington at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, 7:00 p.m.*
Brougham Pavilion
 
*Check www.spufalcons.com to see if match time has been changed due to weather conditions.