THE SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Oct. 24                 Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Oct. 28                 Montana State Billings at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
         Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – No question that last week was a tough one on the volleyball court for the Seattle Pacific Falcons. But they don't have much time to think about it.
 
For the second and final time this season, the Falcons have a quick turnaround, returning to Great Northwest Athletic Conference action on Tuesday with a short drive south to Lacey and a visit to Saint Martin's.
 
The Falcons and Saints serve it up at 7:00 p.m. in Marcus Pavilion. Then, after a bye on Thursday, SPU is back in Brougham Pavilion on Saturday to take on Montana State Billings, also at 7:00 p.m.
 
Seattle Pacific, out to stop a three-match skid, was within striking range of wins against both Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks last week in Brougham. The Falcons twice came from a game down to get even with Anchorage, then took a two-game lead on Fairbanks. But the Seawolves and Nanooks both pulled out five-game victories.
 
Tuesday's contest at Saint Martin's begins a stretch of three out of four on the road for Seattle Pacific.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats and free live Webcasts will be available from all GNAC matches, home and away. Appropriate links for this week's contests are available at the top of this story.
 
TICKET TALK
Tickets for home matches are available at the Brougham Pavilion windows beginning 60 minutes prior to start time. Prices are $7 for adults, and $4 for students, youths, and senior citizens. Seattle Pacific students, faculty, and staff are free with proper school ID. All seating is general admission.
 
LAUTENBACH NOW A MEMBER OF ELITE SPU CLUB
In last Thursday's match against Alaska Anchorage, senior middle blocker / opposite Hannah Lautenbach put the 1,000^th point of her career into the books.
 

Coming into that match with 997.5 points, Lautenbach got the grand early in Game 2. She already had two points off a pair of kills in the opening game, leaving her half a point away. That half a point came when Lautenbach and freshman middle Gabi Stegemoller combined on a block.
 
Lautenbach became just the 16^th player in the 32-year history of the SPU program to reach 1,000 points. By the end of that night, which she finished with 12 points (eight kills, one service ace, and three block assists, the latter worth half a point apiece) Lautenbach actually was up to No. 15 on the list with a total of 1,009.5. That moved her past Monica Abrahmson's 1,007.5.
 
She comes into this week with 1,035.5. A spot in the all-time top 10 would take another 76 points in the final eight matches. The No. 10 spot currently belongs to Nancy Best, a Falcon original who was on the inaugural 1986 team and concluded her career with 1,111.5.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons continue to do well outside of Seattle. They are 8-5 on the road, including 4-3 in true road matches.
-- SPU is 2-5 in home matches, and is looking for its first Brougham Pavilion win since Sept. 26.
-- The five-gamer last month against Saint Martin's was the first time those teams have gone to the limit since Sept. 18, 2004, when SPU prevailed in Lacey.
 

-- The last win in the series for Saint Martin's was a five-gamer in Lacey on Oct. 20, 2001.
-- Seattle Pacific's 31-match win streak against the Saints began on Sept. 21, 2002 with a four-game victory in Lacey.
-- Both matches this week present SPU with an opportunity for a season series sweep.
-- The Falcons have swept 15 years in a row vs. Saint Martin's, but haven't taken both from Billings since 2013.
-- Despite being down 2 games to 1 against both teams last month, SPU led most of the way in Game 4 and never trailed in Game 5.
-- In the Saint Martin's match, junior middle blocker Shaun Crespi had 11 kills and 12 total blocks. That was the first kill-block double-double for a Seattle Pacific player since Oct. 25, 2008. Crespi's 12 blocks marked a career high, as did the 11 block assists that were part of that total.
-- Crespi's performance was one of four SPU double-doubles in that match. The others were by Gabby Oddo (20 kills-10 digs), Hannah Lautenbach (14 kills-11 digs) and Symone Tran (54 assists-14 digs).
-- Oddo was back in the 20s for kills just two nights later at Billings (23), and Tran was once again in the 50s for assists (55).
-- Crespi came back with 10 kills and four blocks at Billings.
-- Seattle Pacific hit better than .200 in both matches, finishing at .217 vs. Saint Martin's and .222 at Billings. That marked the sixth and seventh times this season it has topped .200, but the Falcons have not been at or above that mark in the six matches since then.
 
SCOUTING THE SAINT MARTIN'S SAINTS: 8-12, 3-9 GNAC (tie 8th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 54-5. Current series streak: SPU won 31. Last time: SPU 3, StM 2 (25-16, 24-26, 19-25, 25-17, 15-7). Saints on the Web.
Saints in a nutshell: Saint Martin's is coming off a split of last week's home matches against the Alaska schools. This team is one of the best the Saints have had in recent history. The last time Saint Martin's recorded eight wins in a season was 14 years ago in 2003 (8-21). Leading the way on offense is 5-foot-9 senior outside hitter Rebecca Mitchell. She has 254 kills for the season, 13 of which came last month against SPU. Her average of 3.48 per game is No. 6 in the GNAC. Junior outside Rachel Gondrezick is nearing her 200^th kill of the season, coming in with 188. Freshman outside Emily Gooding was in double-digit kills last time against SPU, winding up with 10. Saint Martin's got 13 points on the block in the first match against the Falcons. Kamille Langford, a 6-1 freshman middle, factored into four of those with six block assists and one solo.
 
SCOUTING THE MONTANA STATE BILLINGS YELLOWJACKETS: 6-15, 2-10 GNAC (tie 10^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 28-11. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 3, MSUB 2 (18-25, 25-18, 26-28, 25-15, 15-5; Sept. 28 at Billings). Yellowjackets on the Web.
Yellowjackets in a nutshell: Billings starts the week on a six-match losing streak. Since their last GNAC victory – a homecourt sweep of Saint Martin's on Sept. 30 – the Yellowjackets have won just one game, that coming in the opener against Simon Fraser last Thursday in Montana. But as SPU certainly would know, Billings – which has nine freshmen on its 16-player roster – also can play very tough, as the Falcons had to come from behind twice last month in Montana on the way to winning in five. One of those freshmen is 5-foot-9 outside hitter Maddi Vigil, whose per-game kills average of 3.37 ranks No. 9 in the GNAC. Vigil has 239 kills total, getting 21 of those when the Falcons visited in September. Another of the talented freshmen is 5-2 defensive specialist / libero Izela Alvarez. She ranks second in the GNAC for digs at 5.35 per game, and has delivered 24 service aces, an average of 0.33 per game that is the conference's No. 7 mark.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Symone Tran hit the big 4-0 last week … not in age, but in double-doubles. The junior setter from Porltand logged her 40^th when she had 51 assists and 14 digs last Saturday in a five-gamer against Alaska Fairbanks. The Falcons had three in that match, as Gabby Oddo and Hannah Lautenbach joined in with Tran.

Colleen Hannigan
(0 season / 4 career)
 
Hannah Lautenbach
(10 season / 21 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
20K-19D vs. Alaska Fairbanks, Oct. 21
 
Gabby Oddo
(5 season / 18 career)
10K-10D vs. Western Oregon, Sept. 16
18K-10D at Alaska Anchorage, Sept. 23
20K-10D vs. Saint Martin's, Sept. 26
21K-15D vs. Alaska Anchorage, Oct. 19
15K-16D vs. Alaska Fairbanks, Oct. 21
 

Symone Tran
(11 season / 40 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
36 AST-22D vs. Northwest Nazarene, Oct. 5
45 AST-17D vs. Central Washington, Oct. 7
51 AST-14D vs. Alaska Fairbanks, Oct. 21
 
ONCE NOT ENOUGH FOR STEGEMOLLER
It's safe to say that freshman middle blocker Gabi Stegemoller is getting back into the groove after an unplanned hiatus for an injury.

 

Stegemoller set career highs for total blocks in both of Seattle Pacific's matches last week at home. On Thursday against Alaska Anchorage, she had her hands on six, all of them block assists. That was one more than her previous career high of five on Sept. 8 against Fresno Pacific.
 
Just two nights later against Alaska Fairbanks, she set her career high again, this time with eight block assists.
 
The 6-foot-2 Stegemoller missed six matches from mid-September through the first week of October. In her four matches since returning, she has 16 total blocks, 15 kills, and is hitting .278.
 
DIGS LIST COULD GROW IN A HURRY
In a four-game victory at Simon Fraser on Oct. 12, junior libero Amanda Ganete became just the ninth player to collect her 1,000^th dig for the Falcons. Ganete had 18 that night, then added 10 at Western Washington for her current total of 1,015.
 
Who'll be No. 10?
 
Senior Hannah Lautenbach is closest. With eight matches left in her college career, she has 900 digs.
 
Symone Tran, approaching the end of her junior year and still with her entire senior year to go. Is at 798.
 
NOTEWORTHY NUMBERS
SPU players have a handful of places among the top 10 in the GNAC, and among the top 50 in NCAA Division II:
 
Symone Tran is No. 2 in total assists with 823.
Gabby Oddo is No. 4 in total kills with 287.
Tran is No. 4 in assists per game at 9.68.
Nicole Tchabanov is No. 5 in blocks per game at 1.21 (and No. 23 in D2).
Tchabanov is No. 6 in total blocks with 80.
Amanda Ganete is No. 8 in total digs with 321.
Gabby Oddo is No. 8 in kills per game at 3.42.
Oddo is No. 9 in points per game at 3.77.
Amanda Ganete is No. 10 in digs per game at 4.28.
 
Seattle Pacific is No. 4 in total blocks with 180.0 (and No. 35 in D2).
 
ODDO GETTINC CLOSER TO RECORD
 

With eight matches to go, Gabby Oddo is now less than 100 kills away from the most ever by a Seattle Pacific sophomore.
 
Oddo begins this week with 287 kills for the season. The mark to beat is 381, set in 2005 by Alyssa Given. That leaves Oddo 94 kills shy of Given's standard.
 
Whether Oddo gets there remains to be seen. There is another threshold she could reach this week, as she is just 13 shy of her 300^th for the season. Along with Given, only four other Falcons have recorded 300 kills as sophomores: Leilani Kamahoahoa (365), Tosca Lindberg (357), Stephanie Huffman (331) and Chelsey Myers (303).
 
AROUND THE WEST
The top of the GNAC standings are still deadlocked between Northwest Nazarene and Western Washington. The newly renamed Nighthawks and the Vikings won both of their matches this week, boosting their conference records to 11-1. NNU is 19-1 overall; Western is 17-3. Both are very likely invitees to the NCAA Tournament. Central Washington (15-5, 10-2 GNAC) boosted its postseason chances by winning both of its contests last week. NNU and Central both visit Bellingham in the final week of the season.
 
Cal Baptist remains atop the Pacific West Conference at 11-0, and now has a three-match lead on Azusa Pacific after the Cougars lost twice last week. CBU is 19-0 overall, one of just three teams still undefeated in D2. Biola has a solid 14-5 record and Is 8-3 in Pac West play, but as a school transitioning to Division II is not eligible for the NCAA Tournament this year.
 
Sonoma State and UC San Diego still have the best overall records in the California Collegiate Athletic Association at 15-5. Sonoma leads the North Division at 9-2, while San Diego and Cal State San Bernardino (13-7 overall) are deadlocked atop the South at 9-3. None of those teams face each other during the remainder of the regular season.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons have a pair of road matches next week. They visit Ellensburg on Thursday, Nov. 2, to face Central Washington in Nicholson Pavilion at 7:00 p.m. The Wildcats escaped from Brougham Pavilion with a four-game win three weeks ago. Then on Saturday the 4^th, Seattle Pacific is at Northwest Nazarene, with a first serve at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time. NNU came from 2 games to 1 down last month in Seattle, winning in five.
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                 Conference          Overall
Northwest Nazarene       11-1        19-1
Western Washington       11-1        17-3
Central Washington       10-2        15-5
Alaska Anchorage          9-3        14-7
Simon Fraser              6-6        10-10
Seattle Pacific           5-7        10-10
Concordia-Portland        4-8         9-10
Alaska Fairbanks          3-9        10-10
Saint Martin's            3-9         8-12
Western Oregon            2-10        6-13
Montana State Billings    2-10        6-15