Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
LACEY, Wash. – Wherever the open spots were on the court Tuesday night, Gabi Stegemoller found them.
 
The Seattle Pacific freshman had a career-high nine kills in an error-free performance, and Symone Tran logged another double-double as the Falcons swept past Saint Martin's in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match.
 
Scores in Marcus Pavilion were 26-24, 25-20, 25-21.
 
SPU (11-10, 6-7 GNAC) halted a three-match slide. In so doing, it beat the Saints (8-13, 3-10 GNAC) for the 32nd straight time, a streak that started in Lacey on Sept. 21, 2002.

 

Coming off a week during which she displayed her defensive abilities with back-to-back career highs for total blocks, Stegemoller (West Linn, Ore.), a 6-foot-2 middle blocker, finished with a career-high 562 hitting percentage on Tuesday. Her nine kills came on 16 attacks.
 
Stegemoller's previous high for kills was eight, recorded in two matches. Her previous high hitting percentage was .500, also achieved twice.
 
"It was really exciting. We've been working a lot on middle blockers getting off the net and getting available," said Stegemoller, who got one of those nine kills late in the opener to save a game point. "That really showed in this (match)."
 



Junior setter Tran (Portland, Ore.) had 32 assists and 10 digs. That was her 12th double-double of the season and the 41st of her career.
 
SPU head coach Abbie Wright was pleased not only with the result, but with how the Falcons got it done after losing five-gamers at home last week to Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks.

 

"I'm really proud of the girls after last week by responding, showing some resilience, and finding ways to win on the road – and in a tight situation," Wright said. "They grew mentally tonight, and that was nice to see."
 
Seattle Pacific trailed for most of Game 1, once by as many as five at 21-16. The Falcons scrambled back into a 23-23 tie before Saint Martin's (8-13, 3-10 GNAC) earned a match point at 24-23. The kill by Stegemoller made it 24-24.

 

Sophomore libero Mallie Donohoe (Wildomar, Calif.) then delivered back-to-back service aces – the second of them catching the net cord, but dropping inbounds near the far sideline to win the game.
 
SPU was down 8-6 in Game 2 when freshman Maddie Batiste (Portland, Ore.) took over the serve. The Falcons ran off six straight points (one of them an ace by Batiste) to make it 12-8. They eventually built it to a seven-point bulge at 22-15, then fought off a Saints rally.
 
Seattle Pacific was ahead for all but a few moments of Game 3. Batiste and Tran had back-to-back three-point serving runs to help build an 11-6 lead. Saint Martin's got as close as 21-20.
 
 

The Falcons' final four points included two straight aces from senior defensive / serving specialist Sophie Kuehl (Vancouver, Wash. / Columbia River HS). The Falcons had a season-high 11 aces, with three each from Kuehl and Donohoe.
 
"We stayed aggressive and served aggressive," Wright said. "It's fitting that we had two aces to end (Game 1). It shows that when we play loose and concentrate on the next point, we play pretty good volleyball."
 


BY THE NUMBERS
-- SPU got back above .200 hitting as a team for the first time in seven matches, finishing at .213 (37 kills-14 errors-108 attacks). The last match above .200 had been .227 at Montana State Billings on Sept. 28.
--While 10 of their 21 matches having gone the maximum five games, this was just the sixth three-gamer of the season for the Falcons. They are 3-3 in such matches.
-- The offense was spread around, as no one reached double-digit kills. Gabby Oddo and Shaun Crespi had eight apiece.
-- Symone Tran's 10 digs pushed her past 800 for her career. She has 808.
-- Seattle Pacific is now 9-5 away from home; 5-3 in true road matches.
 
UP NEXT
After a bye on Thursday, the Falcons welcome Montana State Billings to Brougham Pavilion on Saturday. The first serve is at 7:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Saint Martin's 0
 
Game scores – 26-24, 25-20, 25-21.
 
Service aces – SPU 11 (Sophie Kuehl 3, Mallie Donohoe 3), STM 5 (Jordan Keane 2).
Kills – SPU 37 (Gabi Stegemoller 9), STM 33 (Rebecca Mitchell 9, Rachel Gondrezick 9).
Assists – SPU 34 (Symone Tran 32), STM 32 (Nicolette Nesbitt 25).
Digs – SPU 52 (Gabby Oddo 14), STM 54 (Hannah Neumann 17).
Block assists / solo – SPU 10 / 0 solo (Shaun Crespi 4 / 0 solo), STM 8 / 0 solo (Kamille Langford 3 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 37-14-108--.213 (Stegemoller 9-0-16--.562), STM 33-19-112--.125 (Nesbitt 3-0-4--.750).
Attendance – 102.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 11-10, 6-7 GNAC.  Saint Martin's 8-13, 3-10 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Montana State Billings at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Oct. 28     7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion