THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Oct. 12                Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser, 7:00 p.m.
                                                West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Oct. 7                  Seattle Pacific at No. 11 Western Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
  
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – An international trip for one match. A nationally ranked, arch-rival opponent for the other one. And, arrival at the midpoint of the conference schedule.
 
The upcoming week has all kinds of twists for the Seattle Pacific volleyball team.
 
Coming off a tough few days during which they went toe-to-toe with Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington before falling short in both contests, the Falcons will try to get back into the win column when they hit the road to visit Simon Fraser and Western Washington.
 
SPU and Simon square off Thursday night on Thursday in Canada, with the first serve at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday, the team gets its first look at Western Washington's newly renovated Carver Gymnasium. The clash against the No. 11-ranked Vikings also starts at 7:00.
 
That will give the Falcons 10 matches on their 20-match Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule. The remaining 10, to be played during the next five weeks, will be evenly divided, with five at home and five on the road.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats and free live Webcasts will be available from all GNAC matches, home and away. The Webcasts are through Stretch Internet, the GNAC's online provider. Appropriate links are available at the top of this story.
 
COULD BE GRAND NIGHT – OR TWO – UP NORTH
Hannah Lautenbach and Amanda Ganete both are well within reach of hitting the 1,000 mark in different statistical categories as they head into this week's schedule.

 

Senior middle blocker Lautenbach (Portland, Ore.) has 977.5 points through her first 3½ seasons as a Falcon. That total comes from 791 kills, 48 service aces, 9 solo blocks, and 259 block assists. The kills, aces, and blocks are one point apiece; block assists are half a point.
 
Lautenbach would become the 10th SPU player to reach 1,000 points since that became an official statistic in 2004. The most recent Falcon to reach that milestone was Madi Cavell. She tallied 1,135 points from 2011-14.

 

Ganete (Hillsboro, Ore.) is just 13 digs away from her 1,000th. She had 39 combined in last week's two matches.
 
After recording just eight digs in the season-opener against UC Colorado Springs on Aug. 31, Ganete has been in double-digits for 15 matches in a row. That includes seven of 20 or more, including a career-high 31 on Sept. 23 at Alaska Anchorage. She had 25 last Saturday against Central Washington.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- For just the second time this season, the Falcons will be trying to snap a multiple-match losing streak. The first one was three in a row (Nebraska Kearney, and twice to Chaminade).
-- Seattle Pacific has found success outside of Brougham Pavilion, winning 7 of 11 matches.
-- That includes a 3-2 record in true road matches.
-- The Falcons have scored at least one win on every road trip this season: 2-2 in the Hawaii Challenge, 3-1 in the D2 West Region Showcase at Western Oregon, a split in Alaska, and a five-gamer at Montana State Billings.
-- SPU split with Simon Fraser last year, sweeping at home and dropping a four-gamer in Burnaby.
-- The current flock of Falcons has never won in Canada. SPU's most recent victory on the Clan's court was 3-1 on Oct. 26, 2013.
-- One of Seattle Pacific's biggest victories came at Western Washington on Oct. 24, 2013, a 3-1 decision that went into the books as the 500th win in program history.
-- Western Washington was ranked No. 8 on that night, and that was the last time the Falcons beat a ranked opponent.
-- This is the second straight week – and the fourth time this season – that Seattle Pacific will come up against a team ranked in the top 25. The others were No. 3 Nebraska Kearney, No. 20 Alaska Anchorage, and No. 12 Northwest Nazarene. Kearney and NNU are still in the ranking; Anchorage is receiving votes.
-- The all-time series against Western, totaling 70 matches, is SPU's second-longest. The only team it has played more frequently – albeit not by much – is Central Washington (73 matches).
-- Of Western Washington's three losses this year, two have come against ranked teams: No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul, and No. 24 Cal Baptist. But, the Vikings also have beaten a pair of top 25ers: No. 11 Cal State San Bernardino, and No. 15 Concordia Irvine.
-- Although their gymnasium has been re-done, one thing hasn't changed: The Vikings will still use their sport court playing surface.
 




SCOUTING THE SIMON FRASER CLAN: 7-9, 4-4 GNAC (tie 5th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 27-14. Current series streak: Simon won 1. Last time: Simon 3, SPU 1 (25-13, 23-25, 25-16, 25-18; Nov. 12, 2016 at Burnaby, B.C.). Clan on the Web.
Clan in a nutshell: Coming off the program's first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament last fall, Simon Fraser started slowly, losing four of its first five, then dropping its first three GNAC contests and falling to 3-8 overall. But the Clan have gotten back into a groove, winning four of their last five. As was the case last year, 6-foot-3 junior middle blocker Tessa May is a force, both offensively (.333 hitting, which ranks No. 3 in the GNAC, with 152 kills) and defensively (a team-high 65 blocks, with 11 solos). May went for 16 kills and hit .419 against SPU last year in Burnaby. Christine Howlett, a 5-11 senior outside hitter, is just as big a threat, hitting .244 with a team-high 156 kills. Kirsten Pinkney, a 6-foot sophomore outside, has 143 kills, a 2.98 average that ranks No. 10 in the GNAC.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 13-3, 7-1 GNAC (2nd)
All-time series: WWU leads, 44-26. Current series streak: WWU won 6. Last time: WWU 3, SPU 0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-15; Nov. 10, 2016 at Bellingham). Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Western come into the week having won six in a row. In those six straight wins, it has dropped just two games: one at home to Simon Fraser, and one on Saturday night at Alaska Anchorage. As is usually the case, Western has multiple options for putting the ball on the floor. Leading the way is 5-foot-10 junior outside hitter Abby Phelps with 217 kills, a 3.74 per-game average that ranks No. 4 in the GNAC. She hits .231 and has delivered a team-leading 23 service aces. Also dangerous up front are 5-10 senior opposite Joellee Buckner with 170 kills and a .260 hitting percentage, and 6-1 junior middle blocker Michaela Hall with 166 and a .313 percentage. Hall also is big on the block with 72 total. Even bigger is Joslyn Bopray, a 6-foot-1 sophomore middle who has 74, including 15 solos. Not to be overlooked is 5-10 senior outside Arielle Turner with 126 kills and 20 aces.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Junior setter Symone Tran (Portland, Ore.) is now on a personal-best streak of eight double-doubles, having done so in every GNAC match since that portion of the schedule began on Sept. 14. That beats her previous best streak of seven, set last year. That puts her at 10 for the season and 39 for her career.
 
Senior middle blocker Hannah Lautenbach ran her streak to five in a row with one against Northwest Nazarene, making it 20 for her career. Half of that one was a career-best 23 digs. She was well into double-digit digs two nights later against Central Washington, but was limited to six kills.
 
Colleen Hannigan
(0 season / 4 career)
 
Hannah Lautenbach
(9 season / 20 career)
15K-14D vs. UC Colo. Springs, Aug. 31
12K-11D at Hawaii Pacific, Sept. 1
11K-10D at Chaminade, Sept. 2
11K-15D vs. Cal State East Bay, Sept. 8
17K-12D at Alaska Fairbanks, Sept. 21
10K-14D at Alaska Anchorage, Sept. 23
14K-11D vs. Saint Martin's, Sept. 26
12K-17D at Montana State Billings, Sept. 28
12K-23D vs. Northwest Nazarene, Oct. 5
 
Gabby Oddo
(3 season / 16 career)
10K-10D vs. Western Oregon, Sept. 16
18K-10D at Alaska Anchorage, Sept. 23
20K-10D vs. Saint Martin's, Sept. 26
 
Symone Tran
(10 season / 39 career)
47 AST-16D vs. UC Colo. Springs, Aug. 31
48 AST-14D vs. Cal State East Bay, Sept. 8
43 AST-12D vs. Concordia-Portland, Sept. 14
31 AST-14D vs. Western Oregon, Sept. 16
58 AST-10D at Alaska Fairbanks, Sept. 21
34 AST-17D at Alaska Anchorage, Sept. 23
54 AST-14D vs. Saint Martin's, Sept. 26
55 AST-16D at Montana State Billings, Sept. 28
36AST-22D vs. Northwest Nazarene, Oct. 5
45 AST-17D vs. Central Washington, Oct. 7
 
KEEPING IT INSIDE THE LINES
While Symone Tran usually is busy setting up her teammates for attacks, the 5-foot-8 junior setter like to take a few swings herself when the opportunity is there. Naturally, some of those attacks get dug up by the other team.

 

But those that do find the floor usually land inbounds.
 
Tran has had 11 error-free matches in the first 16 of the season. That includes a current streak of four in a row. And this isn't just with one or two attacks, either. That four in a row includes seven swings against Saint Martin's (four kills), eight at Montana State Billings (one kill), eight vs. Northwest Nazarene (three), and a season-high 11 vs. Central Washington (one).
 
Tran also has two streaks of three errorless matches this fall. She has just seven errors (and 36 kills) on 102 attacks for a .284 hitting percentage.
 
TWICE AS TOUGH ON THE BLOCK
Having one player who's good enough to get double-digit blocks in a match is certainly nice– and junior middle Shaun Crespi (Camarillo, Calif.) has four such matches to her credit, including a career-high 12 in a five-game victory against Saint Martin's on Sept. 26.

 

But now, Nicole Tchabanov has joined that club. The 6-foot-2 sophomore middle had a career-high 10 total blocks (2 solo) last Thursday in a five-gamer against Northwest Nazarene, then nearly matched that two nights later with nine in just four games against Central Washington.
 
While Crespi had a pair of 10-block performances last year, this is just the second time in 10 seasons (including the current one) that the Falcons have had two different players in double figures. The last time was 2015 when Luisa McInnis had 10 vs. Alaska Fairbanks, and Crespi matched that two weeks later against NNU.
 
SOPHOMORE RECORD IN REACH? MAYBE
It was about this time last year that Gabby Oddo was getting well within reach of SPU's record for most kills by a freshman. The one to catch was Leilani Kamahoahoa's 352, set in 1998.

 

Then, the knee injury happened, as Oddo's season ended on Oct. 15. At the time, she had 242 kills with 10 matches remaining.
 
Fast forward to 2017. Oddo has racked up 222 kills through SPU's first 16 matches, with 12 more still to come. The hill for this one is a bit steeper: Alyssa Given had 381 kills during her sophomore season in 2005.
 
Given is one of five Falcons to have 300-plus kills as a sophomore. The others are Kamahoahoa (365 in 1999), Tosca Lindberg (357 in 1990), Stephanie Huffman (331 in 1998), and Chelsey Myers (303 in 2003).
 
SPEAKING OF STATS …
Oddo's numbers have her among the GNAC's top 10 for kills (No. 9 at 3.31 per game) and points (No. 10 at 3.68 per game).
 
Oddo isn't the only Falcon among the conference's top 10 in various statistical categories.
 
– Symone Tran is No. 4 in assists at 9.69 per game.
– Nicole Tchabanov is No. 6 in blocks at 1.18.
– Amanda Ganete is No. 10 in digs at 4.31.
 
On the NCAA Division II national list, Seattle Pacific has a handful of top-50 rankings:
TEAM
–  46th in total blocks (139.0).
 
INDIVIDUAL
--Nicole Tchabanov 28th in blocks per game (1.18).
--Tchabanov 35th in total blocks (73.0).
--Symone Tran 42nd in total assists (659).
 
AROUND THE WEST
After surviving a five-game battle at SPU last Thursday, Northwest Nazarene went on to beat Saint Martin's on Saturday, and remains atop the GNAC standings at 8-0 (16-0 overall; one of five D2 teams still unbeaten). The Crusaders are one match ahead of Western Washington, which won in four games – albeit four close ones – at Alaska Anchorage, and scored a sweep at Alaska Fairbanks.
 
Cal Baptist kept its perfect record intact in the Pacific West, and in fact has the same record as Northwest Nazarene: 16-0 overall, 8-0 in conference play. The Lancers are home for a pair of tough ones this week, facing Chaminade on Wednesday and Azusa Pacific on Saturday. A bit of the luster disappeared from the latter match when APU was swept by Biola last week for its first Pac West loss. The Cougars are still in second place at 7-2 (14-2 overall), well ahead of third-place Dixie State (4-2).
 
Sonoma State was hit with its first California Collegiate Athletic Association loss last week, dropping a five-gamer at Cal State East Bay after not being able to convert on eight tries at match point in Game 5. (The Seawolves were up 14-9, then 15-14,16-15, and 17-16). Sonoma is still 14-4 and 8-1 atop the North Division. UC San Diego continues to lead the South at 5-1 (11-3 overall).
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons begin the second half of the GNAC schedule at home next week when the Alaska schools come to Brougham Pavilion. Anchorage is in town on Thursday, Oct. 19, followed by Fairbanks on Saturday the 21st, both at 7:00 p.m. Last month, SPU pulled out a five-game victory at UAF, and dropped a four-gamer at UAA.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                               Conference          Overall
Northwest Nazarene       8-0         16-0
Western Washington       7-1         13-3
Central Washington       6-2         11-5
Alaska Anchorage         5-3         10-7
Seattle Pacific          4-4          9-7
Simon Fraser             4-4          7-9
Concordia-Portland       3-5          8-7
Saint Martin's           2-6          7-9
Western Oregon           2-6          6-9
Montana State Billings   2-6          6-11
Alaska Fairbanks         1-7          8-9