THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Sept. 14              Concordia-Portland at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2.650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Sept. 16               Western Oregon 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 – Their eight preseason matches produced five victories, some dramatic comebacks, and signs of resiliency that will bode well for them once conference matches start showing up on the volleyball calendar.
 
Those matches start showing up the week for Seattle Pacific.
 
The Falcons will set up the net in Brougham Pavilion and welcome their first visitors of the 2017 season, as Concordia-Portland and Western Oregon come to town for the start of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule. The Cavaliers are in Seattle on Thursday, and the Wolves on Saturday. First serve for both matches is at 7:00 p.m.
 
SPU will bring a 5-3 record into their GNAC and home opener after going 3-1 in last weekend's D2 West Region Showcase on WOU's home court in Monmouth. That included a pair of comeback five-game victories just hours apart against Cal State East Bay and Fresno Pacific.
 
These are the first two of 10 home contests on the docket over the next 10 weeks.
 
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.
 
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.
 
FALCONS PICKED FOR 8TH IN GNAC
With the start of conference play, Seattle Pacific has been tabbed for an eighth-place finish by the GNAC coaches in their preseason poll.
 
The Falcons received 46 points in the voting by the 11 conference coaches.
 
Defending champion Alaska Anchorage, which advanced all the way to the NCAA Division II championship match last fall, is an ever-so-slight favorite in what is looming as a three-way battle for the top spot. The Seawolves received five first-place votes and 110 points.
 
Right behind are Western Washington with three first-places and 109 points, followed by Northwest Nazarene with three first-places and 106 points.
 
Through preseason play, NNU is the only undefeated team in the conference, going 8-0. Anchorage is 4-4, and WWU is 6-2.
 
SPU went 7-13 in conference matches last season, tying for seventh with Western Oregon.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are 8-8 all-time in GNAC openers. That includes a 3-2 mark at home.
-- Last year, SPU opened on the road at Alaska Fairbanks, falling in five games.
-- The most recent conference home opener was in in 2014, a 3-0 sweep of Saint Martin's.
-- That also was the last time Seattle Pacific opened conference play with a victory.
-- The Falcons went 6-4 in Brougham Pavilion in 2016. That included wins against NCAA qualifiers Simon Fraser and Central Washington, and a five-game loss to Concordia.
-- At 5-3, Seattle Pacific finished with one more preseason win than last year, when it went 4-4.
-- Riding a three-match win streak, the Falcons have equaled their longest such stretch of 2016, when they rang up three in a row during the month of October.
-- The last time they had a longer win streak was five in a row from Sept. 6-12, 2014.
-- Concordia-Portland was picked for 6th in the GNAC, and Western Oregon was one spot behind in 7th.
-- SPU will be trying to keep Cavaliers senior Lindsey Dorsey in check on Thursday. Last year in Brougham, the 5-foot-9 opposite went for 23 kills, tying for the second-highest total anyone had against the Falcons all season.
-- The Falcons and Western Oregon have split for the past three seasons, each team winning on its home court.
-- Concordia won both matches from SPU last season. The teams split in 2015, Concordia's first season in the GNAC and in NCAA Division II.
-- Because they open the conference season against each other, Seattle Pacific and Oregon schools won't meet again until the final weekend of the schedule. The Falcons will visit Monmouth on Nov. 16 and Portland on Nov. 18.
 
SCOUTING REPORT
CONCORDIA-PORTLAND CAVALIERS: 5-2, 0-0 GNAC
All-time series: SPU leads, 7-4. Current series streak: CU won 3. Last time: CU 3, SPU 0 (25-14, 26-24, 25-22; Oct. 20, 2016 at Portland). Cavaliers on the Web.
Cavaliers in a nutshell: Concordia split its four West Region Showcase matches in Ellensburg, beating Stanislaus State and Dixie State, but falling to UC San Diego and Azusa Pacific. As expected, 5-foot-9 senior opposite Lindsey Dorsey has been a go-to on offense. She has a team-leading 86 kills, a 3.31 per-game average that ranks No. 9 in the GNAC. Dorsey also hits at a .226 clip, and is a dangerous server, having already delivered 13 aces, and ranking No. 2 in the GNAC at 0.50 per game. Also effective up front is 5-11 junior outside Livia Strandberg, who has 72 kills. Junior Britt Beyer, a 6-foot middle blocker, hits .327 (No. 5 in the GNAC), and fellow 6-foot middle Colby Barnett is No. 6 in blocks at 1.15 per game, with five solos among her 30 total.
 
WESTERN OREGON WOLVES: 4-3, 0-0 GNAC
All-time series: SPU leads, 27-18. Current series streak: WOU won 1. Last time: WOU 3, SPU 1 (25-19, 25-18, 20-25, 25-22; Oct. 22, 2016 at Monmouth). Wolves on the Web.
Wolves in a nutshell: Playing on its home court, Western Oregon went 2-2 in its D2 West Region Showcase pod last weekend. Twice, the Wolves went to a fifth game, coming from behind to beat Fresno Pacific, but then falling to Cal State East Bay as the Pioneers rallied after losing the first two games. Alisha Bettinson, a 5-foot-10 senior outside hitter, was one of four players chosen to the all-tournament team from the six-team WOU pod, was in double-digit kills all week, slamming 66 through the four matches. She it .200 or better in three of those contests, and double-digit digs in three, as well. She ranks No. 3 in the GNAC at 4.21 kills per game. Joining her up front is 6-foot senior middle blocker Sydney Blankinship. She ranks No. 6 in conference hitting with her .319 percentage, and has 14 total blocks. Junior opposite Mariella Vandenkooy, another 6-footer, leads the team with 18 total blocks.
 
AMONG THE WEST'S BEST
 

Sophomore outside hitter Gabby Oddo was named to the four-player all-tournament team from the Western Oregon pod of the D2 West Region Showcase.
 
Oddo (Alta Loma, Calif.) had 50 kills and hit .212 through the four matches. She had 18 of those kills and his .279 in Friday's five-game win against Cal State East Bay.
 
She also had 13 digs, two block assists, and one service ace for the week.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
The Falcons came up with two double-doubles at the West Region Showcase, one by senior middle blocker / opposite Hannah Lautenbach, and the other by junior setter Symone Tran. Both were in the five-game, come-from-behind victory against Cal State East Bay last Friday. They have combined for all six of SPU's double-doubles so far this season.
 
Hannah Lautenbach
(4 season / 15 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
 
Symone Tran
(2 season / 28 career)
47 AST-16D vs. UC Colo. Springs, Aug. 31
48 AST-14D vs. Cal State East Bay, Sept. 8
 
STEALTH STEGEMOLLER
She hasn't had any eye-popping double-digit performances yet. But freshman middle blocker Gabi Stegemoller is very quietly – and very effectively – getting her job done.

 

Stegemoller (West Linn, Ore.) has had at least one block in six of Seattle Pacific's eight matches. In last Friday's come-from-behind five-game victory against Cal State East Bay, she had a career-high five blocks, three of which were solo. That's the most solos by any Falcon in a match this season, and makes her one of just two players on the team with more than one. (Sophomore Nicole Tchabanov, with five, is the other.)
 
But that's not all. Stegemoller also had a career-high eight kills, three digs, and hit .227 vs. the Pioneers. Just a day earlier against Chaminade, she had five kills with a .231 hitting percentage. On Sept. 2, against then-national No. 3-ranked Nebraska Kearney in Hawaii, Stegemoller swung six times and found the floor on four of them.
 
WORKIN' OVERTIME? BRING IT ON
The Falcons certainly wouldn't mind putting a few more three-game wins into the books.
 
But if it takes five games, they're fine with that, too.,
 
Through their first eight matches, SPU has gone to the five-game limit in exactly half of them. Of those, three have gone into the win column, all in come-from-behind fashion: vs. UC Colorado Springs on Aug. 31 (down 2-0), vs. Cal State East Bay on Sept. 8 (down 2-1), and vs. Fresno Pacific, also on Sept. 8 (down 2-0).
 
In those eight games that they needed to pull out the match (three vs. Colorado Springs and Fresno Pacific, two vs. East Bay), Seattle Pacific hit a combined .347, with 96 kills and 22 errors on 213 attacks. The Falcons topped .400 hitting in the Game 5s against East Bay (.435) and FPU (.450).
 
THE FALCONS SAY …
COACH ABBIE WRIGHT
(On going 5-3 in preseason play)
 

"It's going to give our girls some confidence. We know what it's like to lose, we know what it's like to win a really long match. We've won in three, we've won in four, we've lost in five, we've won in five. We've kind of seen the whole spectrum. I  love that we've gotten all different kinds of experiences."
 
(On the team's defense)
"Our defense has gotten exponentially better than even a week ago in Hawaii. We just looked like a different team from that point of view. That's going to make our hitters look better because we're giving them opportunities."
 
SETTER SYMONE TRAN
(On being able to come from behind to win)
"I think it all has to do with our conditioning. We prepped really well in preseason with our double (practice) days. I have to give credit to our coaches for pushing us really hard. We were able to pull through on long rallies and long matches."
 
OLIVIA TURNER
(On her first two weeks of college volleyball)
"The adrenaline is amazing, and playing with these girls is amazing. I love the environment here, and just really love it."
 
SOPHIE KUEHL
(On finding a way to win in five games)
"It has been taking us awhile to get going. But we hit that point where we're like, 'OK, if we don't win these next few, we're losing it.' It like that determination picks up and we all step up and do our role and pull out the win."
 
AROUND THE WEST
With conference play beginning throughout the region this week, GNAC rival Northwest Nazarene has emerged as one of the West's top teams, going unbeaten through eight preseason matches. That included three-game sweeps in five of them. Alaska Fairbanks has been one of the surprise teams, going 7-2.
 
The only other unbeaten team is Cal Baptist of the Pacific West Conference. The Lancers went 7-0 in the preseason, including sweep of Alaska Anchorage, Western Washington, and Cal State San Bernardino. They lost just one game in those seven matches. Azusa Pacific is 7-1, and D2 newcomer Biola went 6-2,
 
Cal State East Bay, Cal State Monterey Bay, and UC San Diego share the California Collegiate Athletic Association's top record, all at 6-2. One of East Bay's two losses was to Seattle Pacific. Sonoma State is 6-3, and perennial power San Bernardino is 4-4.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons take their first conference road trip next week, heading off to Alaska. First up is a stop in Fairbanks on Thursday, Sept. 21. Then it's off to Anchorage on Saturday the 23rd. Both matches start at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time. The next home match in Brougham Pavilion is Tuesday, Sept. 26 against Saint Martin's at 7:00 p.m.
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                Conference           Overall
Northwest Nazarene       0-0          8-0
Alaska Fairbanks         0-0          7-2
Western Washington       0-0          6-2
Concordia                0-0          5-2
Central Washington       0-0          5-3
Saint Martin's           0-0          5-3
Seattle Pacific          0-0          5-3
Western Oregon           0-0          4-3
Alaska Anchorage         0-0          4-4
Montana State Billings   0-0          4-4
Simon Fraser             0-0          3-5