Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
SEATTLE – Had 'em down. Couldn't knock 'em out.
 
Gabby Oddo had 15 kills on Saturday night, and Nicole Tchabanov got her hands on nine blocks, but Seattle Pacific saw Central Washington rally from sizable deficits in the first and third games, and went on to beat the Falcons in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match.
 
Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 25-17.
 
SPU (9-7, 4-4 GNAC) had a 12-4 lead in Game 1, and stayed ahead all the way to 23-22 before Central (11-5, 6-2 GNAC) ran off the last three points.
 
Then, tied at one game apiece and up 18-11 in Game 3, Seattle Pacific saw the Wildcats put eight straight on the board for a 19-18 lead. The Falcons got back in front once more, at 20-19, but the momentum was on Central Washington's side – and stayed there for a lead of 2 games to 1.

 

"You have to play at a high level for a really long time to beat these teams," SPU head coach Abbie Wright said. "That's just the challenge of this conference – even if you're up, you have to sustain a high level. Tonight, we weren't able to close out and capitalize on our opportunities."
 
The Falcons, having made a comeback own to win Game 2 (a 7-1 run to go from 18-14 down to 21-19 up) and level the match at one game apiece, found their stride again in Game 4, building a 12-10 edge. CWU responded with an 8-1 run to make it 18-13, and Seattle Pacific never got closer than four after that.
 
Central Washington is the top blocking team in NCAA Division II, and got 15 points off blocks on Saturday.
 
"That's one of the toughest teams we've played. They're lights-out defensively, and it's had to put a ball down on them," Wright said.
 
The Falcons got 10 points of their own off the block, led by Tchabanov's nine, just one short of the career-high 10 she had on Thursday in a five-gamer against Northwest Nazarene. They also had 95 digs, which was seven more than the Wildcats had. Junior libero Amanda Ganete (Hillsboro, Ore.) led the way with 25.
 
"I'm pretty proud of our defense. We're out-digging teams," Wright said. "It's just being able to capitalize on opportunities, but we'll get there. Our conference is so tough, so we have to grow fast. Our girls are responding."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- One of the keys during Central's eight-point surge in Game 3 came with the Falcons still on top, 18-16. The ensuing point had 18 attacks – nine by each side – before the final SPU attack went wide to make it 18-17.
 

-- Junior middle blocker Shaun Crespi (Camarillo, Calif.) had her first .400 hitting night of the season, checking in at .421 with 10 kills and just two errors on 19 swings.
-- As a team, SPU hit just .124 on Saturday (48-26-178), but also kept Central below .200 (45-23-186--.177).
-- Junior setter Symone Tran (Portland, Ore.) logged a personal-best eighth straight double-double. This one was 45 assists and 17 digs. Last year, she had a streak of seven double-doubles in a row.
-- Ganete's 25 digs put her at 987 for her career, with a chance of coming up with No. 1,000 on Thursday at Simon Fraser.
-- Oddo's 15 kills, one service ace, and one block assist easily pushed her past the 500-point mark for her career. She started Saturday with 498, and now has 514.5.
 
UP NEXT
SPU concludes the first half of the GNAC schedule next week. Following Thursday's match at Simon Fraser, the Falcons play at Western Washington next Saturday at 7:00 p.m. That contest will be in the newly renovated Carver Gymnasium after the Vikings spent the past two seasons playing at Whatcom Community College.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Central Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 1
 
Game scores – 25-23, 21-25, 25-23, 25-17.
 
Service aces – CWU 4 (4 players with 1), SPU 7 (Hannah Lautenbach 2, Mallie Donohoe 2).
Kills – CWU 56 (Shelby Mauritson 14), SPU 48 (Gabby Oddo 15, Shaun Crespi 10).
Assists – CWU 47 (Gabrielle Aihara 21, Niki Cook 20), SPU 47 (Symone Tran 45).
Digs – CWU 88 (Kyla Morgan 33), SPU 95 (Amanda Ganete 25, Lautenbach 19, Tran 17, Mallie Donohoe 14).
Block assists / solo – CWU 28 / 1 solo (Sabrina Wheelhouse 9 / 0 solo), SPU 20 / 0 solo (Nicole Tchabanov 9 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – CWU 56-23-186--.177 (Wheelhouse 11-1-21--.476), SPU 48-26-178--.124 (Crespi 10-2-19--.421).
Attendance – 216.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 9-7, 4-4 GNAC. Central Washington 11-5, 6-2 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser
Thursday, Oct. 12    7:00 p.m.
West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.