Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – This one wasn't going to be over quickly – whether it was one point or the entire match.
 
But for the third time this season, the Seattle Pacific Falcon found a way to outlast the opposition.
 
Gabby Oddo slammed a career-high 22 kills – that last of them on match point – and Olivia Turner had a career-high 21 on Thursday night at the Seattle Pacific Falcons rallied from two games down to beat Alaska Fairbanks in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match.
 
Scores in The Patty Center were 22-25, 26-28, 26-24, 25-13, 15-13.
 
That is the third time this year SPU (7-4, 2-1 GNAC) has dropped the first two games, then come back to win in five. The previous two were against UC Colorado Springs on Aug. 31 and against Fresno Pacific on Sept. 8.

 

"The average rally is 12 seconds long. But you have to be prepared to play 24 seconds with them," SPU head coach Abbie Wright said of the Nanooks. "They're such a scrappy team, it's hard to get a ball down on the floor. It's just being able to transition three or four or five times, and then being confident even when you don't win the rally.
 
"Finding a way to mix things up a little bit and stay confident and aggressive, even when things weren't going our way was important for us."
 
 

Junior setter Symone Tran (Portland, Ore.) tied her career high with 58 assists, and added 10 digs for her third straight double-double. She was one of five Falcons in double-digit digs. Junior libero Amanda Ganete (Hillsboro, Ore.) led that department with 17, and senior middle blocker / opposite Hannah Lautenbach (Portland, Ore.) had 12, making it a double-double with a season-high 17 kills.
 
The Falcons were down 12-11 in the fifth game when they ran off three straight points – a kill by redshirt freshman Jaeden Hooker (Phoenix, Ariz.), then two in a row by sophomore outside hitter Oddo – to set up their first try at match point. The Nanooks (7-5, 0-3 GNAC) saved that one and regained the serve.
 
But Oddo (Alta Loma, Calif.) got the final point with an attack down the line.
 
"Gabby played smart volleyball like she usually does," Wright said. "Her being able to be a little bit creative was helpful in those tight situations. Hannah is just a solid leader who finds a way to get things done. Jaeden Hooker (a redshirt freshman who had the first five kills of her college career) has been rock-solid in practice, and she didn't skip a beat when she came into the match."
 
The 75 total kills were the most Seattle Pacific had since going for 73 in a five-game loss to Western Washington last Oct. 15 in Brougham Pavilion. The last time the Falcons had more was 77 in a five-game win at Central Washington on Oct. 27, 2012.
 
SPU had late leads in both Game 1 (20-18 and 21-20) and Game 2 (19-15 and 26-25), but the Nanooks rallied both times. The Falcons built a 19-16 lead in the third game, then saw Fairbanks run off five straight to go up 21-19. Tied at 24-24, Oddo tipped one over for game point, then closed it out with a shot down the line, thereby extending the match.
 
Seattle Pacific took command of Game 4 early, going up 9-4 after multiple-point serving runs by Ganete and senior Sophie Kuehl. Lautenbach then served up five straight, making it 17-7.
 
The Falcons had an 8-6 lead at the changeover in the deciding fifth game. UAF went up 10-9 with a 4-1 spurt. The teams traded the next four points, setting up SPU's final surge that snagged four of fhe final five.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Oddo's previous career high was 20 kills, last Sept 15 at – yup – Alaska Fairbanks. Turner's previous best was 18 two weeks ago vs. Fresno Pacific.
-- Seattle Pacific hit a season-high .275 (75 kills-25 errors-182 attacks). That's the second straight match of season-best hitting, topping Saturday's .242 in a sweep of Western Oregon.
-- That mark included .326 in Game 3, then .452 in Game 4, and .290 in Game 5.
-- Fairbanks hit even better, finishing at .296.
-- The Falcons had three players at better than .300: Symone Tran at .714 (5 kills-0 errors-7 attacks), Oddo at .372, and Lautenbach at .304.
-- Sophomore Mallie Donohoe tied her career high with 13 digs.

UP NEXT
The Falcons play at No. 20-ranked Alaska Anchorage on Saturday. First serve is a 8:00 p.m. PDT.

 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Sept. 21, 2017
The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Alaska Fairbanks 2
 
Game scores –22-25, 26-28, 26-24, 25-13, 15-13.
 
Service aces – SPU 3 (3 players with 1), UAF 1.
Kills – SPU 75 (Gabby Oddo 22, Olivia Turner 21, Hannah Lautenbach 17), UAF 68 (Markie Miller 21).
Assists – SPU 71 (Symone Tran 58), UAF 68 (Rachel Nichols 36).
Digs – SPU 73 (Amanda Ganete 17, Sophie Kuehl 14, Mallie Donohoe 13), UAF 69 (Jenna Hickel 24).
Block assists / solo – SPU 2 / 3 solo (Nicole Tchabanov 1 / 1 solo), UAF 10 / 6 solo (Kim Wong 3 / 2 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) —SPU 75-25-182--.275 (Tran 5-0-7--.714, Oddo 22-6-43--.372), UAF 68-18-169--.296 (Wong 8-1-12--.583, Miller 21-3-39--.462).
Attendance – 181.
 
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 7-4, 2-1 GNAC.   Alaska Fairbanks 7-5, 0-3 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Anchorage
Saturday, 8:00 p.m. PDT
Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska