D2 WEST REGION SHOWCASE SCHEDULE
All matches in New P.E. Building @ Western Oregon / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Thursday, Sept. 7                Seattle Pacific vs. Chaminade, 3:00 p.m.
  
Friday, Sept. 8                     Seattle Pacific vs. Cal State East Bay, 10:00 a.m.
                                             Seattle Pacific vs. Fresno Pacific, 5:30 p.m.
  
Saturday, Sept. 9                Seattle Pacific vs. Cal State San Marcos, 3:30 p.m.

Live Webcasts and live stats (all matches)
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
        Tournament Central (HTML)
 
SEATTLE – They snared a pair of victories on their season-opening trip to Hawaii, coming from behind for one and grinding out another.
 
No matter what style of play it takes, the Seattle Pacific Falcons will be looking to do even better this week as competition shifts to Oregon.
 
SPU will join two California Collegiate Athletic Association teams, two from the Pacific West, along with host Western Oregon in the D2 West Region Showcase. The Falcons will take the court for the opening contest in the final preseason tournament of the year, facing Chaminade in a rematch of last Saturday's five-set battle in Honolulu. The first serve in Western Oregon's New P.E. Building is at 3:00 p.m.
 
Seattle Pacific also is first on the floor come Friday morning, playing Cal State East Bay at 10:00 a.m. A 5:30 p.m. match against Fresno Pacific winds up the Falcons' day, and they conclude the tournament on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against Cal State San Marcos.
 
SPU went 2-2 in Hawaii, rallying from two games down to beat UC Colorado Springs in five, then battling Hawaii Pacific through three tight games before putting a sweep into the books.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Live stats and free live Webcasts (video only, no audio commentary) will be available for every match of the tournament. The appropriate links are available at the top of this story.
 
SPOTLIGHTING THE SHOWCASE
This is the second year of a three-year arrangement between the GNAC, Pacific West, and CCAA to put on the preseason West Region Showcase.
 
The tournament is an outgrowth the GNAC-Pac West Crossover Tournament, which took place in 2014 and 2015. The CCAA joined up last year, and hosted the tournament at its schools. This year is the GNAC's turn, and the Pac West will host in 2018.
 
Each tournament "pod" contains two teams from each conference, based on the order of the previous season's standings: Nos. 1 and 2 in one pod, Nos. 3-4, Nos. 5-6, Nos. 7-8, and Nos. 9-10 in their respective pods, usually at the site of the higher-placing team. All teams play four matches, one against each team from the conferences other than their own.
 
Those outside of the top 10 – GNAC No. 11, CCAA Nos. 11-13, and Pac West Nos. 11-13 – all gather at another site (this year, it's San Francisco State) for their own Showcase.
 
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Seattle Pacific went 3-1 in last year's Showcase at Cal State Dominguez Hills, beating Humboldt State, Dominguez Hills, and Azusa Pacific, but losing to Hawaii Hilo.
-- At 2-2, the Falcons are already ahead of last year, when they went 1-3 at the season-opening Concordia Irvine Labor Day Classic.
-- With their 3-1 Showcase performance, SPU wound up the 2016 preseason at 4-4.
-- SPU's last victory in Monmouth was Nov. 16, 2013, a five-gamer against Western Oregon in a late-season GNAC match.
-- The rematch against Chaminade will mark the second straight year and third time in the past five seasons that the Falcons have played one non-conference opponent twice. In 2016, SPU beat Azusa Pacific twice (3-0 in the Labor Day Classic, 3-2 in the Showcase). In 2013, the Falcons opened the year with a four-game loss at Cal State Los Angeles, but beat the Golden Eagles in five a week later.
-- For the second week in a row, Seattle Pacific has a first-time opponent. This one is Cal State San Marcos, which is now officially a full-fledged NCAA Division II member after a three-year probationary period ended in August. Last week, the Falcons faced UC Colorado Springs for the first time.
-- The Falcons were one of three GNAC teams that went 2-2 on opening weekend. Alaska Anchorage and Montana State Billings were the others.
 
SCOUTING REPORT
CHAMINADE SILVERSWORDS: 2-2, 0-0 PAC WEST
All-time series: SPU leads, 11-6. Current series streak: Chaminade won 1. Last time: Chaminade 3, SPU 2 (25-23, 16-15, 15-25, 25-15 15-11; Sept. 2, 2017 at Honolulu). Silverswords on the Web.
Silverswords in a nutshell: Sophomore outside hitter Emma Tecklenberg, who hammered 16 kills against the Falcons, was even more potent against UC Colorado Springs with 20 – and that was in just a four-gamer. She double-doubled in both of those matches with 12 and 14 digs, respectively. Senior outside Kira Long got better as the weekend went along, going from eight kills against Nebraska Kearney to nine vs. SPU, 12 vs. Lewis (hitting .250 in that one) to 13 vs. Colorado Springs. She also wound up with 10 total blocks. Brooke Bell, a 6-foot-2 junior middle / opposite, finished the weekend with 12 blocks, half against SPU.
 
CAL STATE EAST BAY PIONEERS: 3-1, 0-0 CCAA
All-time series: East Bay leads, 1-0. Current series streak: East Bay won 1. Last time: EB 3, SPU 1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-11; Sept. 14, 2013 at Hayward, Calif.). Pioneers on the Web.
Pioneers in a nutshell: After dropping a five-game to host Notre Dame de Namur in the Route 92 Showdown tournament – a match in which it was two points away from closing out a four-game victory – East Bay came back with three straight wins. Having a big hand in that was 6-foot-2 junior outside hitter Kiki Leuteneker, as she posted double-digit kills (19, 13, and 18) in three of the four matches. In a three-game sweep of Dominican, she hit .522 (13 kills, just one error on 23 attacks). She also had 12 blocks for the weekend. In fact, the Pioneers had 40 total blocks in four matches, with four players in double digits, topped by the 19 of 6-2 junior middle Kathy McKiernan. Leuteneker is hardly the only threat on offense, as four teammates totaled at least 30 kills in the four matches.
 
FRESNO PACIFIC SUNBIRDS: 1-3, 0-0 PAC WEST
All-time series: Fresno leads, 3-1. Current series streak: Fresno won 1. Last time: Fresno 3, SPU 1 (25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 27-25; Sept. 13, 2014 at San Rafael, Calif.). Sunbirds on the Web.
Sunbirds in a nutshell: The weekend started well enough for FPU with a 3-0 sweep of Adelphi in the Cougar Classic at San Marcos. But then it was three straight losses, all by 3-0 scores. In two of those matches, the Sunbirds were kept below .100 hitting. Kylei Dewar, a 5-foot-10 junior middle blocker, sets the pace on offense with 34 kills, and 5-10 junior opposite Caroline Bodziak is close behind with 32. Bodziak also has the best hitting percentage among the team's regular attackers at .241. Dewar also finished in double-digit blocks for the weekend with a total of 10 (four solo). Senior 5-10 middle Malerie Crenshaw led with 11 total blocks.
 
CAL STATE SAN MARCOS COUGARS: 2-2, 0-0 CCAA
All-time series: First meeting. Cougars on the Web.
Cougars in a nutshell: San Marcos split two matches on both day of the Cougar Classic that it hosted. One of the wins was a sweep of Fresno Pacific; one of the losses was a three-game to GNAC member Saint Martin's. Most of the offense went through 6-2 sophomore outside hitter Maddy Newcombe (37 kills) and 5-9 freshman outside Micah Hebert (33). Hebert emerged as the team's leading hitter for the weekend at .267, with just 10 errors on 86 total attacks. Freshman libero Grecia Cordero-Barr was solid on the serve, sending nine aces across the net, and coming up with double-digit digs in all four matches.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
If Hannah Lautenbach wasn't putting the ball on the floor, she was busy keeping it off the floor. The Falcon senior came up with double-doubles in her first three matches in Hawaii, one of three GNAC players (Alisha Bettinson of Western Oregon and Abby Phelps of Western Washington are the others) with that many in Week 1.
 
Lautenbach (Portland, Ore.) started with 15 kills and 14 digs in last Thursday's five-game win against UC Colorado Springs. The next night at Hawaii Pacific, she had 12 kills and 11 digs, then went for 11 kills and 10 digs on Saturday at Chaminade.
 
The only other double-double for the weekend was by junior setter Symone Tran (Portland, Ore.), with 47 assists and 16 digs against Colorado Springs.
 
Colleen Hannigan
(0 season / 2 career)
 

Hannah Lautenbach
(3 season / 14 career)
15K-14D vs. UC Colo. Springs, Aug. 31
12K-11D at Hawaii Pacific, Sept. 1
11K-10D at Chaminade, Sept. 2
 
Gabby Oddo
(0 season / 13 career)
 
Symone Tran
(1 season / 27 career)
47 AST-16D vs. UC Colo. Springs, Aug. 31
 
TURNER TURNS SOME HEADS
Didn't take Olivia Turner long to make her mark as a Falcon.

 

Although the 5-foot-11 freshman outside hitter from Phoenix wasn't on the court for the start of last Thursday's season opener against UC Colorado Springs, she subbed in after just six points had been played. By the end of the dramatic five-set comeback win, Turner had put 13 kills into the book.
 
The next night at Hawaii Pacific, she had another 13 – two of them coming on the last two points of the three-game sweep – and hit .250.
 
Turner kept going on Saturday afternoon at Chaminade, this time with 16 kills and a .343 hitting percentage. By the end of the weekend, she had a team-leading 48 kills and a .206 hitting percentage.
 
"Even if she errs, she's right back with a solid play," head coach Abbie Wright said. "I love the confidence she plays with."
 
WELCOME TO THE ACTION
Through the four Hawaii Challenge matches, three of the four freshmen on the roster saw some playing time.

 

Olivia Turner got into all 16 games. Gabi Stegemoller (West Linn, Ore.), a 6-2 middle blocker got into six games and had four kills on Saturday against national No. 3-ranked Nebraska Kearney. Maddie Batiste (Portland, Ore.), a 6-foot opposite / outside hitter, was in for five games and also had four kills in the Kearney match.
 
In addition, Jaeden Hooker got into competition for the first time. She is a redshirt freshman who was with the Falcons in 2016, but did not play. The 5-foot-9 outside hitter from Phoenix made her college debut midway through the second set against Hawaii Pacific.
 
 
THERE'S ALWAYS A FIRST ONE
It wasn't all about first matches last week. For a few of SPU veterans, making their first tallies in particular statistical categories was part of their trip across the Pacific Ocean.
 
Junior setter Molly Langdeon (Irvine, Calif.) delivered the first service ace on Saturday against Nebraska Kearney. Sophomore outside hitter / libero Mallie Donohoe (Wildomar, Calif.) sent two over the net at Hawaii Pacific on Friday, then added two more on Saturday at Chaminade.
 
Sophomore middle blocker Nicole Tchabanov (San Ramon, Calif.) earned her first assist, getting one against UC Colorado Springs on Thursday. She collected another one at HPU.
 
PAST THE 2K MARK
Needing 83 assists for the weekend to pass 2,000 for her career, no one doubted junior setter Symone Tran would reach that milestone. The only question was when.

 

After racking up 47 in Thursday's five-gamer against Colorado Springs, 'when' came on Friday when Tran had 43 more at Hawaii Pacific. That put her at 2,007.
 
Tran collected 57 through the final two matches and comes into the week with 2,064. By season's end, she could be pushing for a spot in Seattle Pacific's all-time top 5. The No. 5 spot currently belongs to Heather Peterson, who had 3,073 from 1991-94.

 
AROUND THE WEST
Northwest Nazarene and Concordia-Portland were the only two GNAC teams to come through opening weekend undefeated. The Crusaders won all four of their matches at the Monterey Bay Tournament in California, and the Cavaliers took all three at their own Labor Day Tournament in Portland.
 
Nobody is unbeaten in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Chico State and Sonoma State are both 4-1. A full half-dozen teams have 3-1 records: Cal State East Bay, Cal State Monterey Bay, San Francisco State, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State San Bernardino, and UC San Diego.
 
In the Pacific West, three teams – Azusa Pacific (4-0), Cal Baptist (3-0) and Concordia Irvine (3-0) are still perfect.
 
UP NEXT
Following two weekends on the road, the Falcons get to play on their Brougham Pavilion home court next week to begin the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule. Concordia-Portland will come to town on Thursday, Sept. 14, followed by Western Oregon on Saturday the 16th. First serve for both matches is at 7:00 p.m.
 
Tickets will be available at Brougham Pavilion beginning one hour before match time. Prices are $7 for adults and $4 for youths, students, and senior citizens.

 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                Conference          Overall
Northwest Nazarene       0-0         4-0
Concordia                0-0         3-0
Alaska Fairbanks         0-0         4-1
Central Washington       0-0         3-1
Saint Martin's           0-0         3-1
Western Washington       0-0         3-1
Western Oregon           0-0         2-1
Alaska Anchorage         0-0         2-2
Montana State Billings   0-0         2-2
Seattle Pacific          0-0         2-2
Simon Fraser             0-0         1-3