THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov. 10             Seattle Pacific at Western Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Whatcom CC Pavilion / Bellingham, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Nov. 12              Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser, 7:00 p.m.
                                                West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – The final volleyball road trips of the season are at hand for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
 
SPU hits the highway on Thursday for Bellingham, where a match against nationally ranked Western Washington awaits them in the Whatcom Community College Pavilion at 7:00 p.m. This will be the second time the Falcons have tangled with the Vikings in that facility while their on-campus Carver Gymnasium goes through a renovation.
 
Then on Saturday, the Falcons cross the border into Canada, taking on Simon Fraser in West Gym at 7:00 p.m.
 
Seattle Pacific is coming off a split of last week's road matches, winning in three games at Saint Martin's, but losing in three at Montana State Billings.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Fans can keep up with this week's matches and with every match throughout the GNAC season with live stats and free live Webcasts. The Webcasts are through Stretch Internet, the conference's official internet provider. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 
SENIOR NIGHT IS COMING
With the season drawing to a close, the Falcons will salute their two seniors when they play host to Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 7:00 p.m.

 

Outside hitter Lexi Biondi and middle blocker Maddi Hommes will be honored in a ceremony prior to the first serve against the Nanooks.
 
Biondi (Albuquerque, N.M.) has amassed more than 500 kills and nearly 600 points, that after missing virtually all of her sophomore season with an injury. She is averaging nearly three kills per set this season.
 
Hommes (Lynden, Wash.) also missed a year due to an injury, that being her junior season in 2015. As a sophomore, she was a solid contributor defensively, with a team-high 85 blocks, and also had 95 kills. For two years, when volleyball was out of season, Hommes also did track and field for the Falcons.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- When SPU and Western Washington met on Oct. 15 in Brougham Pavilion, the Falcons came from two games down to force a deciding Game 5, which the Vikings ultimately won.
-- That is one of three matches this season in which Seattle Pacific dropped the first two games, but rallied to get into a fifth. The other two were Hawaii Hilo on Sept. 9 and Northwest Nazarene on Oct. 29.
-- The match against WWU featured numerous Falcon career highs. Among them: 17 kills and 28 attacks for sophomore middle blocker Shaun Crespi, 58 assists and 35 digs for sophomore setter Symone Tran, 30 digs for sophomore libero Amanda Ganete, and 32 digs for freshman outside hitter Gabby Oddo.
-- SPU will face a ranked team for the third time this season. Western is No. 18 this week, and was No. 20 last time. Alaska Anchorage was No. 12 when the Falcons play the Seawolves on the road in September.
-- The Falcons' most recent win against a ranked team was at Western Washington on Oct. 24, 2013.
-- Last month's sweep of Simon Fraser was Seattle Pacific's first against the Clan since Nov. 17, 2012, the regular-season finale.
-- The Falcons have a chance for their first season sweep of the Clan since 2013. Simon swept in 2014 and 2015.
-- SPU limited Simon Fraser to negative hitting – minus-.023 – in the first match. No one for the Clan (and only Gabby Oddo for the Falcons) reached double-digit kills that night.
-- The Clan and Falcons are ranked 2-3 for lowest opponents' hitting percentage in the GNAC at .155 and .163, respectively.
-- Coach Chris Johnson's teams are 9-15 against Western Washington and 9-4 against Simon.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 17-7, 13-3 GNAC (2nd)
All-time series: WWU leads, 43-26. Current series streak: WWU won 5. Last time: WWU 3, SPU 2 (25-13, 31-29, 24-26, 22-25, 15-8; Oct. 15 at Seattle). Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Western Washington had won 10 in a row – including an instant-classic five-game victory at Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 22 that halted the Seawolves' 21-match winning streak – before dropping a five-gamer at Northwest Nazarene last Thursday. Western remains the top-hitting team in the GNAC with a .254 percentage that ranks No. 15 in NCAA Division II. That mark includes the .246 the Vikings hit against SPU last month. They also are the conference leader (and No. 13 nationally) in kills per set at 14.13. Sophomore Abby Phelps, a 5-10 outside hitter, and junior outside Arielle Turner, also 5-10, start the week with 255 kills apiece. Right on their heels is 6-3 sophomore middle blocker Kayleigh Harper with 247. All three hit for accuracy – Harper at .362, Phelps at .244, and Turner at .235. Harper had a monster match against SPU last time with 22 kills and just one error on 41 swings for a .512 percentage, along with five total blocks.
 
SCOUTING THE SIMON FRASER CLAN: 18-6, 11-5 GNAC (3rd)
All-time series: SPU leads, 26-14. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 3, Simon 0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-11; Oct. 13 at Seattle). Clan on the Web.
Clan in a nutshell: Simon Fraser is on the cusp of its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid, sitting at No. 4 in the season's first set of regional rankings. The Clan is one of the tougher defensive teams in the conference. Along with ranking No. 2 for lowest opponents' hitting percentage (.155), the Clan lead the conference in digs (19.73 per game) and are fifth in blocks (2.10). Senior libero Alison McKay averages 6.62 digs per game, a mark that ranks No. 4 in nationally and makes her one of just six players in D2 with an average of 6.0 or better. On the offensive side, 5-11 senior outside hitter Emma Jennings leads the way with 249 kills (3.07 per game). The May sisters are a tough tandem, as well: 6-3 sophomore middle blocker Tessa has 224 kills, hits .271, and logged her 100th block of the season last week, and 5-9 senior outside Devon has 197 kills.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Just one double-double went into the books last, as sophomore setter Symone Tran had 31 assists and 11 digs in Saturday's three-game loss at Montana State Billings. That was Tran's 14th of the season and 27th of her career.
 
Seattle Pacific now has 36 double-doubles in 2016.
 
Colleen Hannigan (2 season / 2 career)
16K-15D vs. Hawaii Hilo, Sept. 9;
16K-20D vs. Central Washington, Oct. 27
 
Hannah Lautenbach (7 season / 11 career)
14K-19D vs. Hawaii Hilo, Sept. 9;
10K-10D vs. Western Oregon, Sept. 22;
13K-14D vs. Concordia-Oregon, Sept. 24;
20K-21D at Northwest Nazarene, Sept. 29;
10K-13D vs. Montana State Billings, Oct. 6;
13K-20D vs. Western Washington, Oct. 15;
14K-19D vs. Central Washington, Oct. 27.
 
Gabby Oddo (13 season / 13 career)
14K-11D at Concordia Irvine, Sept. 2;
10K-10D vs. Colo. Christian, Sept. 3;
16K-21D vs. UC San Diego, Sept. 3;
14K-13D vs. Humboldt State, Sept. 8;
19K-13D vs. Azusa Pacific, Sept. 10;
19K-10D at Alaska Fairbanks, Sept. 15;
10K-12D at Alaska Anchorage, Sept. 17;
12K-18D vs. Concordia-Oregon, Sept. 24;
16K-12D at Northwest Nazarene, Sept. 29;
16K-10D at Central Washington, Oct. 1;
16K-10D vs. Montana State Billings, Oct. 6;
14K-17D vs. Simon Fraser, Oct. 13;
14K-32D vs. Western Washington, Oct. 15.
 
Symone Tran (14season / 27 career)
32 AST-21D at Concordia Irvine, Sept. 2;
43 AST-13D vs. UC San Diego, Sept. 3;
48 AST-16D vs. Hawaii Hilo, Sept. 9.
36 AST-24D vs. Azusa Pacific, Sept. 10;
42 AST-13D vs. Concordia-Oregon, Sept. 24;
55 AST-13D at Northwest Nazarene, Sept. 29;
55 AST-18D at Central Washington, Oct. 1;
39 AST-15D vs. Saint Martin's, Oct.4;
48 AST-13D vs. Montana State Billings, Oct. 6;
31 AST-11D vs. Simon Fraser, Oct. 13;
58 AST-35D vs. Western Washington, Oct. 15;
40 AST-14D at Western Oregon, Oct. 22;
53 AST-18D vs. Central Washington, Oct. 27;
31 AST-11D at Montana State Billings, Nov. 5
 
FIVE FALCONS EARN ACADEMIC HONORS
Seattle Pacific placed five of its players on the GNAC All-Academic team.
 
Sophomore setter Symone Tran, with her 3.82 grade-point average as a biochemistry major, was one of just five players in the entire conference at 3.80 or higher.
 
Joining her on the team are senior outside hitter Lexi Biondi, junior outside Colleen Hannigan, junior defensive / serving specialist Sophie Kuehl, and sophomore libero Amanda Ganete.
 
Biondi carries a 3.23 GPA as a communications major. Hannigan sports a 3.64 in business administration, Kuehl is at 3.43 in communications, and Ganete has a 3.41 in pre-med / physiology.
 
Biondi, Hannigan, and Kuehl are on the team for the second time. Tran and Ganete are first-time honorees.
 
To make the All-Academic team, players must be a sophomore or higher, have competed for at their school for at least one full season, and have a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or better.
 
THEY KEPT GOING AND GOING AND …
When Western Washington visited Brougham Pavilion on Oct. 15, the match was moved up by two hours in anticipation of a nasty storm that was expected to batter the Seattle area.
 
The storm kind of fizzled out. The lights stayed on, and the Falcons and Vikings went well beyond the original 7 p.m. starting time, pushing the clock to nearly 7:30 before Western got the clinching point. Officially, the total time to get from the first point of Game 1 to the last point of Game 5 was 2 hours, 26 minutes.
 
The second and third games had much to do with that: 39 minutes for Game 2, which the Vikings won, 31-29, and 28 for Game 3, which went to the Falcons, 26-24. The second game featured 11 ties and five lead changes, as WWU fought off game points at 24-22, 24-23, 26-25, 27-26, 28-27, and 29-28.
 
The third game had seven ties and just two lead changes. In that one, it was SPU which bounced back from the brink, fighting off match points at 24-22 and 24-23 to win it, 26-24.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Here's how the Falcons rank in NCAA Division II:
 
TEAM
5th blocks per game 2.44 (2nd GNAC).
7th attacks per game 39.74 (2nd GNAC).
23rd total blocks 227.0 (2nd GNAC).
35th digs per game 17.92 (5th GNAC).
81st total attacks 3,696 (1st GNAC).
 
INDIVIDUAL
Shaun Crespi 3rd total blocks 133 (1st GNAC).
Shaun Crespi 5th blocks per game 1.48 (2nd GNAC).
Amanda Ganete 73rd digs per game 4.88 (5th GNAC).
Amanda Ganete 92nd total digs 454 (5th GNAC)
Gabby Oddo 24th attacks per game 11.49 (2nd GNAC).
Symone Tran 54th assists per game 10.22 (5th GNAC)
Symone Tran 68th total assists 950 (4th GNAC).
 
Click in this link to see where the Falcons rank nationally in all categories. Click on this link to how other GNAC teams and players stack up in D2.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Alaska Anchorage moved a step closer to clinching the GNAC title, thanks to some help from Northwest Nazarene. The Crusaders scored a five-game victory against Western Washington last Thursday in Nampa. UAA (25-2 overall, 15-1 GNAC) now has a two-match lead on Western (17-7, 13-3) with four matches left. The Vikings are the only team still with a chance to overtake Anchorage. Mathematically, Simon Fraser (18-6, 11-5 GNAC) could tie the Seawolves if it wins out and the Seawolves were to lose their last four. But Anchorage won both regular-season matches, so owns the tiebreaker.
 
Cal State Bernardino has risen to the top of the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Coyotes are 19-4 overall, 13-2 in conference, with a two-match lead on Cal State Los Angeles (11-4 CCAA) in the South Division. Chico State (19-6 overall, 13-3 CCAA) leads the North Division by one match ahead of Sonoma State in the North Division.
 
Concordia Irvine is on the verge of the Pacific West Conference title. The Eagles are 23-2, 14-2 in conference play, a margin of 1½ on Cal Baptist (17-6, 12-3) and Dominican (16-7, 12-3). But as they are still transitioning to Division II, they are not eligible for postseason play until next year.
 
In the first set of West Region rankings released last week (Nov. 2), the GNAC has five schools among the top eight; No. 1 Anchorage, No. 3 Western Washington, No. 4 Simon Fraser, No. 6 Northwest Nazarene, and No. 8 Central Washington. The CCAA has two in the top eight (San Bernardino at No. 2, Cal State Los Angeles at No. 7), and the Pac West has Cal Baptist at No. 5. Two more sets of rankings are due (Nov. 9 and 16) before the regional field is announced on Monday, Nov. 21.
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific winds up the season next week in Brougham Pavilion when the Alaska schools come to town. NCAA-bound Anchorage is here on Thursday, Nov. 17, followed by Fairbanks on Senior Night, Nov. 19. Both matches will begin at 7:00 p.m. The Falcons faced those two schools on the road during the opening weekend of conference play in Sepbemter. UAA won in three games; UAF prevailed in five.
 

GNAC STANDINGS
                                                Conference          Overall
Alaska Anchorage               15-1                        25-2
Western Washington           13-3                        17-7
Simon Fraser                        11-5                        18-6
Northwest Nazarene           10-6                        17-6
Central Washington             10-6                        14-10
Concordia                                9-7                        13-11
Seattle Pacific                         6-10                      10-14
Western Oregon                      6-10                       9-14
Montana State Billings           5-11                       7-19
Saint Martin's                           2-14                       6-14
Alaska Fairbanks                    1-15                       2-21