THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov. 9                 Western Washington at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
Saturday, Nov. 11                Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific, 4:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons have arrived at the home stretch of their 2017 home volleyball schedule.
 
SPU wraps up the Brougham Pavilion portion of its calendar this week when arch-rival Western Washington comes to town on Thursday, followed by a visit from Simon Fraser on Saturday. The Falcons and national No. 8-ranked Vikings serve it up at 7:00 p.m. The match against the Clan starts at 4:00 p.m.
 
Saturday's contest against their Canadian counterparts will be preceded by a Senior Day ceremony in honor of Colleen Hannigan, Sophie Kuehl, and Hannah Lautenbach. That will take place immediately after both national anthems.
 
Seattle Pacific is returning from a rough road trip, having gone down in three games at both Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene last week.
 
On the first go-round through GNAC play, the Falcons won in four games at Simon Fraser, but fell in three at Western Washington.
 
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.
 
TOP 10 HERE, TOP 5 THERE
Hannah Lautenbach is just 31.5 points away from a place among Seattle Pacific's top-10 all-time point scorers, and Symone Tran is closing in on a the top 5 for career assists.
 
Lautenbach, who joined the 1,000-point club on Oct. 19 as just the 16th Falcon in 32 years to get into four figures, is now up to No. 11, edging ahead of Angie Wodrich last weekend. Lautenbach has 1,080 points; Wodrich tallied 1,079.0 from 2004-07.
 
Currently in the No. 10 spot is Nancy Best, one of the program's founding players back in 1986. Best had 1,111.5 from 1986-89, long before points were even an official NCAA statistic. (It became a stat in 2004.) Players earn one point for a kill, service ace, or solo block, and half a point for a block assist.
 
Tran jumped into the No. 6 spot on the assists list last Thursday at Central Washington. She begins the week with 2,876. Now in No. 5 is Heather Peterson, with 3,073 assists from 1991-94.
 
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.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are looking to snap a two-match losing streak.
-- Western Washington is by far the hottest team in the GNAC, coming in on a 14-match winning streak.
-- A win in either match would push Seattle Pacific past last year's total of seven GNAC victories.
-- This is the 11th week of the 12-week season, and the Falcons have faced a nationally ranked opponent in six of those weeks.
-- SPU has a 3-5 record in Brougham Pavilion this season. That includes a 'W' in their last home match, a 3-0 sweep of Montana State Billings on Oct. 28.
-- Seattle Pacific's last win against Western Washington was seven meetings ago, and it was a biggie: 3-1 in Bellingham on Oct. 24, 2013, the 500th victory in program history. The Vikings were ranked No. 8 that night, same as they are this week.
-- That match also was the most recent win against a nationally ranked opponent.
-- The most recent win against WWU in Brougham was a five-gamer on Oct. 8, 2011.
-- This will be the 72nd time Seattle Pacific and Western Washington have met. SPU's only longer series is against Central Washington (75 matches).
-- On Oct. 14 at Western, just one player from the two teams combined logged double-digit kills: Abby Phelps of the Vikings had 14. Top for SPU was Gabby Oddo with nine.
-- Western Washington ranks No. 1 or 2 in the GNAC in every major stat category except opponents' hitting percentage – and in that one, the Vikings are the conference's third-best team at .151.
-- Last week, SPU faced D2's leading blocker in Central Washington's Sabrina Wheelhouse. This week, it comes up against the country's No. 2 blocker in Western's Joslyn Bopray (1.48 per game).
-- The Falcons pulled an upset against Simon Fraser last year in Seattle. The Clan were on the way to their first-ever NCAA Tournament, but got swept away by SPU, 25-22, 25-20, 25-11. Gabby Oddo had 14 kills in that one.
-- Oddo came up even bigger in Burnaby last month, putting 20 kills on to the floor, and hitting .349 in the four-game triumph.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 21-3, 15-1 GNAC (1st)
All-time series: WWU leads, 45-26. Current series streak: WWU won 7. Last time: WWU 3, SPU 0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-20; Oct. 14, 2017 at Bellingham). Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Since a four-game loss at Northwest Nazarene on Sept, 16, Western Washington has lost just three games in the past 14 matches. The Vikings had one stretch of four straight sweeps, and another of six, and at 21-3 overall, they are all but officially assured of a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Western ranks in the national top 10 in three stat categories: No. 3 for blocks per game (2.77), No. 8 for digs per game (19.76), and No. 9 for attacks per game (40.52). As good as the Vikings are defensively, they have plenty of offensive firepower, too. Abby Phelps, a 5-foot-10 junior outside hitter, is No. 3 in GNAC kills with 329 (3.96 per game). Just as tough at the net are 5-10 senior opposite Joelle Buckner (243 kills) and 6-1 junior middle blocker Michaela Hall (226 kills). Bopray and Buckner are Nos. 2 and 4 in GNAC blocking with 123 and 103, respectively. Bopray had 10 block assists last time against the Falcons, and Western outscored SPU on the block, 13-4.
 
SCOUTING THE SIMON FRASER CLAN: 13-11, 10-6 GNAC (5th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 28-14. Current series streak: SPU won 2. Last time: SPU 3, Simon 1 (25-21, 28-26, 17-25, 25-20; Oct. 12, 2017 at Burnaby, B.C.). Clan on the Web.
Clan in a nutshell: At one juncture, Simon Fraser was 3-8 overall and 0-3 in the GNAC. Since then the Clan have won 10 of their last 13, one of the losses being to SPU in West Gym on Oct. 12.  Simon heads into the week on a five-match winning streak, the latest of which was last Saturday's 3-0 sweep of Alaska Anchorage in B.C. The primary go-to player for the Clan is 6-foot-3 junior middle blocker Tessa May. She is the GNAC's second-best hitter at .358, with 233 kills. Angelica Kilberg, a 6-foot redshirt sophomore middle, hits .257, and right behind her is 5-11 senior outside hitter Christine Howlett at .250. Yet another player owns the team's best kills-per-game average: 6-foot sophomore outside Kristen Pinkney at 3.12 (206 total). While they're all trying to put the ball onto the floor, 5-9 redshirt junior libero Jayme Bratsberg does her job to keep it off the floor, ranking No. 2 in digs for the GNAC with an average of 5.37 per game.
 
SENIOR TRIO WILL BE HONORED AT HOME FINALE
Just prior to the first serve of Saturday's match against Simon Fraser in Brougham Pavilion, the Falcons will honor seniors Colleen Hannigan, Sophie Kuehl, and Hannah Lautenbach.
 
Hannigan, an outside hitter, has been with the team all four years and has contributed both as a starter and as a reserve. Early this season, she hammered her 200th career kill, and now is within range of 300, coming into the week at 276 with four matches remaining. Hannigan already has topped 300 career points, crossing that threshold last week.
 

Lautenbach also has is a four-year Falcon, and has been one of the most versatile front-row players ever to don an SPU uniform. Although primarily a middle blocker, she also has been very effective on the right side, and can play outside hitter, as well. On Oct. 19, Lautenbach became just the 16th Falcon in the program's 32-year history to tally her 1,000th point. She starts this week at No. 11 on career points list, and has a chance to reach 1,000 career digs. Lautenbach has 939 to start the week.

Kuehl transferred to Seattle Pacific in 2014 after spending her freshman year at the University of San Francisco. She redshirted in '14, but was back in action the following autumn, and has shined in her role as a defensive and serving specialist. Earlier in the season, Kuehl came up with her 500th career dig, and since then has moved past 600. She led the team in service aces last year with 26, and is tied for the lead this year with 21.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Hannah Lautenbach and Symone Tran each had one double-double last week, both of them coming at Central Washington.
 
Colleen Hannigan
(0 season / 4 career)
 
Hannah Lautenbach
(12 season / 23 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
11K-11D vs. Montana State Billings, Oct. 28
15K-15D at Central Washington, Nov. 2
 
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
(14 season / 43 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
32 AST-10D at Saint Martin's, Oct. 24
30 AST-13D vs. Montana State Billings, Oct. 28
43 AST-12D at Central Washington, Nov. 2
 
NOTEWORTHY NUMBERS
SPU players have a handful of places among the top 10 in the GNAC:
 
Symone Tran is No. 2 in total assists with 959.
Tran is No. 4 in assists per game at 9.89.
Nicole Tchabanov is No. 5 in blocks per game at 1.19.
Gabby Oddo is No. 6 in total kills with 326.
Oddo is No. 7 in total points at 361.5
Oddo is No. 8 in kills per game at 3.40.
Oddo is No. 9 in points per game at 3.77.
Tchabanov is No. 10 in total blocks with 80.
 
Seattle Pacific is No. 4 in total blocks with 203.0 and No. 4 in block per game at 2.09.
 
COUNTING DOWN TO MILESTONES
With four matches left:
-- Gabby Oddo is 55 kills from the most ever by an SPU sophomore. She has 326; the record is 381 by Alyssa Given in 2005.
-- Hannah Lautenbach is 61 digs from 1,000 for her career.
-- Symone Tran is 41 assists away from her second straight season of 1,000.

 
TCHABANOV BACK IN ACTION
Sophomore middle blocker Nicole Tchabanov returned to the court last Thursday, getting in for one game at Central Washington.
 
The 6-foot-2 Tchabanov has been out with an injury since playing in a four-game win at Simon Fraser on Oct. 12. Up to that time, she had been Seattle Pacific's leading blocker, with 80 total, including 12 solos.
 
In her absence, senior Hannah Lautenbach has edged ahead for the team lead with 81 blocks.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Although it's far from a done deal, Western Washington remains in control of its own destiny for the GNAC championship. The Vikings (21-3, 15-1 GNAC) remained one match ahead of Northwest Nazarene (22-2, 14-2 GNAC), and bolstered its chances last week with a four-game win in Bellingham against Alaska Anchorage. The Vikings thus swept the season series from UAA, while the Nighthawks split their two matches vs. the Seawolves. NNU – which handed Western its only conference loss, way back in September – visits Carver Gym next Thursday.
 
Cal Baptist has effectively clinched the Pacific West Conference crown. The still-undefeated Lancers, up to No. 2 in this week's national rankings, beat second-place Azusa Pacific in four games last week at APU. At 24-0 and 16-0 Pac West, they are four matches ahead of the Cougars with four to play, and swept the two-match season series.
 
Cal State San Bernardino has wrapped up the South Division title in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Coyotes are 8-2 in the division, and have the best in-conference record at 13-3, one better than Sonoma State's 12-4. Bernardino also has the second-best overall record at 17-7. In the North, Sonoma has clinched no worse than a tie for first place, two matches ahead of Chico State and Cal State East Bay. The Seawolves are the CCAA's best overall team at 18-7.
 
UP NEXT
SPU winds up the season on the road next week, with a visit to Western Oregon in Monmouth on Thursday, Nov. 16, and to Concordia-Portland on Saturday the 18th. Both matches begin at 7:00 p.m. The Falcons swept Western Oregon in Seattle back in September, but came up short in a four-gamer against Concordia.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                        Conference          Overall
Western Washington          15-1        21-3
Northwest Nazarene          14-2        22-2
Central Washington          13-3        18-6
Alaska Anchorage            11-5        16-9
Simon Fraser                10-6        14-10
Seattle Pacific              7-9        12-12
Concordia-Portland           6-10       11-12
Montana State Billings       4-12        8-18
Alaska Fairbanks             3-13       10-14
Saint Martin's               3-13        8-16
Western Oregon               2-14        6-17