D2 WEST REGION VOLLEYBALL SHOWCASE SCHEDULE
All matches at the Torodome / Carson, Calif.
 
Thursday, Sept. 8        Seattle Pacific vs. Humboldt State, 2:00 p.m.
 
Friday, Sept. 9             Seattle Pacific vs. Cal State Dominguez Hills, 2:30 p.m.
                                         Seattle Pacific vs. Hawaii Hilo, 7:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, Sept. 10       Seattle Pacific vs. Azusa Pacific, 1:00 p.m.
 
 
        Live Webcast (all except Saturday; no Webcast vs. Azusa)
        Live stats (all matches)
        Tournament home page
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
  
SEATTLE – The preseason nerves and first-match jitters are done. Even so, the Seattle Pacific Falcons still have plenty on the line as they head into their final preseason volleyball tournament.
 
After a 1-3 start last week in Irvine, Calif., the Falcons take a 35-mile trek to the west across Southern California this week for the D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase.
 
SPU will play four matches in the three-day tournament, beginning with Humboldt State on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. in the Torodome at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
 
Friday will see some double-duty, with an afternoon match (2:30) against the host Toros, and an evening contest (7:30) against Hawaii Hilo. The Falcons wind up on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. against Azusa Pacific. Also playing in Carson this week (but not against SPU) is Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Montana State Billings.
 
After the 10-day stay in SoCal, Seattle Pacific will fly back home for two more days of practice early next week prior to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference openers in Alaska.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats will be available from all 12 matches in the tournament. In addition, three of SPU's four matches will have live Webcasts. Fans can look in on Thursday against Humboldt and on Friday against Dominguez Hills and Hilo. The Saturday match against Azusa will not be Webcast because of a conflict with a Dominguez Hills soccer game. The appropriate links for live stats and the Webcasts (they are different links) can be found at the top of this story.
 
SAME CONCEPT, BIGGER TOURNEY
  The D2 Showcase is an outgrowth of what had been a preseason crossover tournament between the GNAC and the Pacific West conferences. The Pac West hosted in 2014, and the GNAC – including Seattle Pacific – served as hosts last year.
 
Now, all three West Region conferences are represented, as the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) has come aboard.
 
The agreement is for three years, with the CCAA hosting this season, the GNAC in 2017, and the Pac West in 2018.
 
The tournament is taking place at six sites, with match-ups based on last season's standings. This week, the Nos. 1 and 2 finishers from each conference are at Sonoma State, Nos. 3 and 4 at UC San Diego, Nos. 5 and 6 at San Francisco State, Nos. 7 and 8 at Cal State Stanislaus, and Nos. 9 and 10 at Dominguez Hills. Each site thus has six teams, with 12 matches on the schedule. All of the hosts were the higher-finishing school in the standings (Sonoma first, UC San Diego third, San Francisco fifth, etc.).
 
Since each conference has more than 10 schools, the eight that finished outside of their respective top 10 (one GNAC, three CCAA, four Pac West) are playing a tournament at Cal State East Bay.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- SPU went with the same starting lineup in all four matches last week: Gabby Oddo and Colleen Hannigan at outside hitter, Shaun Crespi and Nicole Tchabanov at middle blocker, Hannah Lautenbach at opposite, Symone Tran at setter, and Amanda Ganete at libero.
-- In just her first four college matches, Oddo is already halfway to a hundred in kills (50) and digs (51).
-- If the Falcons go 2-2 or better this weekend, they will exceed last year's preseason mark of 2-6.
-- With 19 service aces and 18 errors, Seattle Pacific is one of just three GNAC team with more aces than errors. The others are Simon Fraser (23 / 18), and Western Washington (21 / 19).
-- Of the 14 sets in last week's four matches, the Falcons kept their opponent below .200 hitting in six of them. That included three sets below .100.
--Seattle Pacific and Humboldt State have played 26 times over the years – but haven't met since 2005. That was the last year the Lumberjacks were part of the GNAC before they left for the CCAA.
--That 2005 season was Chris Johnson's first at the Falcons' coaching helm, and his team won both matches against Humboldt – a four-gamer in California, and a three-game sweep in Seattle.
-- SPU has won the last 16 matches against Humboldt. The last victory in the series for the Lumberjacks was Sept. 11, 1997, a five-gamer in Arcata, Calif.
-- In addition to being 2-0 all-time against Humboldt State, Johnson is 2-0 against Dominguez Hills, 3-1 against Hilo, and 1-2 against Azusa Pacific.
--That victory vs. Azusa came last Friday when the Falcons swept the Cougars at the Concordia Irvine Labor Day Classic. Seattle Pacific hadn't even taken a game from APU in the previous two matches.
-- It has been awhile since Dominguez Hills and Hilo appeared on the schedule, too. The last one against Dominguez was in 2009; the last one against Hilo was in 2010. SPU won both.
-- Seattle Pacific has won all eight matches against Dominguez Hills, taking 24 of the 28 games.
-- Of the 14 all-time matches between SPU and Hawaii Hilo – a 7-7 split – the Vulcans took the first five, but the Falcons have son seven of the last nine. The most recent victory, at the Hawaii Invitational in 2010, was part of Seattle Pacific's record-setting 26-3 season.
 
SCOUTING THE HUMBOLDT STATE LUMBERJACKS: 3-1, 0-0 CCAA
All-time series: SPU leads, 20-6. Current series streak: SPU won 16. Last time: SPU 3, HSU 0 (30-17, 30-17, 30-17; Oct. 13, 2005 at Seattle). Lumberjacks on the Web.
Lumberjacks in a nutshell: Humboldt won three out of four against Pacific West opponents at last week's Route 92 Showdown in Hayward, Calif., the only loss being a four-gamer against Dominican. Setting the pace on offense is 5-foot-9 senior outside hitter Symone Hayden. She slammed 52 kills last week (3.47 per game) and came up with nearly as many digs (49). Behind her, the attack was well balanced among 6-2 sophomore outside hitter Alex Lolland (37 kills), 6-1 senor opposite Alex Hasenstab (32), and 5-9 senior middle blocker Nicole Bewley (31). Hayden, who had two double-doubles in four matches, also served seven aces, as did Katherine Rifilato. Bewley came up big on the block with 13 total, including two solos.
 
SCOUTING THE CAL ST. DOMINGUEZ HILLS TOROS: 1-3, 0-0 CCAA
All-time series: SPU leads, 8-0. Current series streak: SPU won 8. Last time: SPU 3, CSUDH 0 (25-20, 25-19, 28-26; Aug. 27, 2009 at Carson, Calif.) Toros on the Web.
Toros in a nutshell: It was a rough opening week for Dominguez Hills, as it lost three of its four matches – all three-game sweeps – in the Seaside Invitational at Point Loma Nazarene in San Diego. The only victory for the Toros was a sweep of the host Sea Lions. Dominguez comes into the week hitting just .067 as a team, and averaging a mere 9.5 kills per game. Tati Yandall, a 5-foot-10 redshirt freshman outside hitter, is the go-to on offense, as she has a team-high 37 kills (3.08 per game) and hits .175. Closest to her is 6-1 junior outside / opposite Claire Autry with 19 kills. She also has gotten her hands on a team-best nine total blocks. Yandall leads the way with seven service aces.
 
SCOUTING THE HAWAII HILO VULCANS: 0-1, 0-0 Pac West
All-time series: Tied, 7-7. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 3, Hilo 1 (25-23, 26-24, 22-25, 25-18; Sept. 10, 2010 at Laie, Hawaii). Vulcans on the Web.
Vulcans in a nutshell: Hilo didn't play its first match until Monday night, dropping a five-gamer at home to Cal Poly Pomona after winning the first two games. The Vulcans hit a solid .248 for the match. Factoring into that were outstanding performances from 5-foot-11 junior outside / middle Siera Green (16 kills .353) and 5-11 senior outside Kyndra Trevino-Scott (9 kills, .400). Trevino-Scott was a regular last year, starting 21 of the team's 23 matches and hitting .236. Her 145 kills ranked third for the Vulcans, and her 40 total blocks were second-most. Also back for Hawaii Hilo is leading attacker Marley Strand-Nicholson. The 6-foot senior middle blocker put 345 kills onto the floor last fall, and hit a respectable .205. She also delivered a team-high 31 service aces.
 
SCOUTING THE AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS: 0-4, 0-0 Pac West
All-time series: Azusa leads, 2-1. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 3, Azusa 0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-18; Sept. 2 at Irvine, Calif.). Cougars on the Web.
Cougars in a nutshell: Azusa lost all four matches at last week's Concordia Irvine Labor Day Classic, including the one to Seattle Pacific. The Cougars took Colorado Christian to five games in the opener, but then won just one game in the final three matches. Freshman middle blocker Julianne Miller, freshman outside Madison Ogas, and freshman outside / middle Sara Wagenveld emerged as the leading attackers. Miller wound up with 35 kills, Ogas had 33, and Wagenveld 31 in the four matches. (Wagenveld led the way against SPU with six.) Miller was by far and away the best hitter of opening week with a .338 percentage (just eight errors on 80 attacks). That included .231 vs. the Falcons (5 kills-2 errors-13 attacks). She and senior middle Ashley Midland combined for 25 total blocks, with six solos.
 
COACH CHRIS JOHNSON SAYS …
(On the first weekend)
"We're young, and we're just trying to figure out what's going to work for us. We liked some of the things we're seeing, but we're not quite putting everything together yet on a consistent basis. We've shown some of our potential and we've seen some of it. We just need to get it all at the same time."

 

(On the overall play)
"Our offense has got to get better. The defense has been doing pretty well. That's something that has definitely improved over last year. We held two opponents under .200. Shaun (Crespi) had a couple of good matches, and Nicole (Tchabanov) had a couple of great matches on Friday. Symone (Tran) is playing really well, and Amanda Ganete is playing really well."
 
(On the play of freshman Gabby Oddo)
"She has been fantastic. I've been really impressed with her play. She's such a smart hitter, and she has every single shot in the book. I was saying to Lindsay (assistant coach Wodrich) that I love watching Gabby hit, because I never know what she's going to do. She takes smart swings, can put it over the block and down the line, tool the block, tip, and hit sharp."
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Last fall, the Falcons recorded 17 double-doubles for the entire 28-match season. Now, just four matches into the current 28-match season, they already have five from the Concordia Irvine Labor Day Classic: three for freshman outside hitter Gabby Oddo (Alta Loma, Calif.) and two for sophomore setter Symone Tran (Portland, Ore.). Tran put 13 double-doubles (all assist-dig) into the books in 2015.
 
Gabby Oddo (3 season / 3 career)
14K-11D at Concordia Irvine, Sept. 2;
10K-10D vs. Colo. Christian, Sept. 3;
16K-21D vs. UC San Diego, Sept. 3.
 
Symone Tran (2 season / 15 career)
32 AST-21D at Concordia Irvine, Sept. 2;
43 AST-13D vs. UC San Diego, Sept. 3.

 

TRAN EYES A GRAND
It is entirely possible that by the end of Thursday's match against Humboldt State, Symone Tran will have passed the 1,000-assist mark for her career.
 
The sophomore setter began the season with 832. Last week in Irvine, she racked up 133 more, giving her 965 for her career. She ranged from 43 in Saturday's four-game match against UC San Diego, to 29 each in the three-gamers against Azusa Pacific and Colorado Christian.
 
Tran's average in 2015 was 8.95 per game. Last week's performances have her averaging 9.50 for the new season.



 
NICE START, NEWBIES
Falcon freshmen Gabby Oddo and Nicole Tchabanov didn't need much time to make an impactful impression as college players.

 

Oddo made her debut with a double-double of 14 kills and 11 digs last Friday against host Concordia Irvine in the Labor Day Classic. The 5-foot-9 outside hitter wound up with three double-doubles in the four matches, and was just one dig away from a fourth (10 kills-9 digs vs. Azusa Pacific).
 
Not only did Oddo hit for power, she hit for some accuracy, too, After opening at .130 against Concordia, she went .286 against Azusa, .304 against Colorado Christian, and .250 against UC San Diego.

 

Tchabanov had a pair of shining performances at middle blocker. Tchabanov (San Ramon, Calif.) made her debut with .385 hitting (7 kills-2 errors-13 attacks) and five blocks against Concordia Irvine. Later on Friday, she followed up with .429 hitting (7-1-14) against Azusa. She had four more blocks on Saturday against Colorado Christian.
 
HITTING A HIGHER NOTE
Coach Chris Johnson isn't shy about saying that SPU's offense needs to get better. At least through the first weekend of the new season, three players are trending in that direction with hitting averages that top .200.
 
Leading the way is freshman outside hitter Gabby Oddo, who is at .222 so far. She has taken 153 swings, with 50 kills and just 16 errors – almost within Johnson's goal of no more than 10 percent errors (she's at 10.4 percent).
 
Sophomore middle blocker Shaun Crespi (Camarillo, Calif.) is hitting .214 (21 kills-9 errors-56 attacks), and freshman middle blocker Nicole Tchabanov is at .208 (21-10-53).
 
SPU's top hitting percentage among regular attackers in 2015 was Crespi's .197.
 
HITTING A HIGHER CAREER HIGH
A pair of Falcon veterans logged multiple career-high totals last week, and another had career-highs twice in the same category.

 

Junior outside hitter Colleen Hannigan (Brentwood, Calif.) hit double-digit kills for the first time as a Falcon when she put 10 down against UC San Diego on Saturday. In Friday's season-opener against Concordia Irvine, she had her best-ever totals for attacks (41), digs (14, her first double-digit mark in that stat), and block assists (two).
 
Setter Symone Tran also came up big against Irvine, with career bests for service aces (three) and digs (21). Her previous best for digs was 17.
 
Sophomore Amanda Ganete (Hillsboro, Ore.), who has earned libero's jersey, set a career best with 18 digs against Concordia Irvine. That beat her old mark of 11. But the new one lasted barely 24 hours, as she dug up 22 balls on Saturday against UC San Diego.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Heading into the second week, Northwest Nazarene is the only unbeaten team in the GNAC, as the Crusaders went 3-0 in the Dixie State Tournament. Alaska Anchorage is 6-1 (the Seawolves have played two tournaments).
 
Western Washington is 1-3, with all three losses to nationally ranked teams at the Concordia-St. Paul Tournament: twice against the No. 1-ranked hosts, and once to then-No. 18 (now No. 11) Northern State. Central Washington is 0-4, but two of its losses were to national-caliber opponents at last week's Flyer Festival in Romeoville, Ill. (a five-gamer to current No. 18 Augustana (S.D.), and a three-gamer to host and current No. 8 Lewis University).
 
The CCAA has no unbeaten teams. Chico State, Humboldt State, Cal State San Bernardino, and Cal State San Marcos are all 3-1.
 
On the other hand, the Pacific West has four unbeaten. Chaminade, heretofore a bottom dweller, is 5-0. Cal Baptist, Concordia, and Dominican are all 4-0.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for the latest news, notes, results, and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
The Alaska trip is always a tough one, but at least the Falcons get it off of their docket before classes begin. SPU visits Fairbanks next Thursday, Sept. 15, then is at Anchorage on Saturday the 17th. Both matches begin at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time.
 
Those will be the last of 10 straight out-of-town matches to open the season. The home opener is Thursday, Sept. 22, against Western Oregon at 7:30 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                          Conference          Overall
Northwest Nazarene           0-0                          3-0
Alaska Anchorage               0-0                          6-1
Simon Fraser                        0-0                          3-1
Concordia                             0-0                          2-2
Alaska Fairbanks                0-0                          1-2
Montana State Billings       0-0                          1-3
Seattle Pacific                      0-0                          1-3
Western Washington          0-0                          1-3
Saint Martin's                       0-0                          0-0
Western Oregon                  0-0                          0-3
Central Washington           0-0                          0-4