Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Seattle Pacific Falcons have had their fill of five-game volleyball matches the past couple weeks.
 
With a gritty comeback performance on Thursday night, they managed to avoid getting involved in another one.
 
 

Hailey Gaines had 17 kills, Gabby Oddo slammed 15 as part of her seventh straight double-double, and SPU stormed back from a 10-1 deficit in the fourth game to beat Concordia-Portland in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest on LCEF Court.
 
Scores were 25-21, 25-19, 24-26, 29-27.
 
"We saw some of that fire that we were getting out of there with a win," head coach Abbie Wright said.
 
The result snapped a four-match losing streak and gave Seattle Pacific (8-10, 6-5 GNAC) its first season sweep of Concordia (8-10, 5-6 GNAC) since the Cavaliers joined the conference in 2015. Of those four losses, three of them went to five games.
 
The Falcons were on the brink of this one into the book in three straight games, having taken the first two and building leads of 14-8 and 19-15 in the third. But Concordia went on a 9-3 run to take a 24-22 lead. SPU came back to knot it at 24-24, then the Cavs got the last two points on kills by Elyssa Rose and Jessica Wheeler.
 
Concordia ran off the first three points of Game 4, gave one back on a service error, then put seven more in a row on the board for a 10-1 lead.
 
"Once you get a win under you, you play way more confident, Wright said. "They were playing way more loose, and we tensed up a bit."
 
Seattle Pacific climbed back in, running off five straight as part of a 9-1 burst to get within 11-10. The Falcons finally forged in front, 20-19, and the two teams eventually battled to a 23-23 tie.
 
 

"It was just (a matter of) staying on the attack and being resilient," Wright said. "When things are tight, try the risky set, try our game plan, try what we know has been working.
 
"Sometimes, it's easy to forget about how offensive you need to be rather than being reactive and on defense the entire time."
 
The Cavaliers had a game point at 24-23 with a chance to force a deciding fifth. Sophomore middle blocker Gabi Stegemoller saved that one with a kill for SPU. Concordia went up 25-24, but then had an attack error that brought it back to 25-25.
 
Seattle Pacific then had match-point opportunities at 26-25 and 27-26. Tied at 27-27, back-to-back CU attack errors put the final two points on the Falcons' side of the board.
 
"It was anyone's game. We were staying resilient, but Concordia was playing well," Wright said.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The other half of junior outside hitter Gabby Oddo's double-double double was 16 digs, added to her 15 kills. She hit .220 for the night.
-- Senior setter Symone Tran also double-doubled, with 46 assists and 17 digs.
-- Those 46 assists put her at 3,767 for her career, moving her past Shelby Swanson into No. 3 on SPU's all-time list  Swanson had 3,749 from 2011-14. Tran needs just 27 assists on Saturday at Western Oregon to take over the No. 2 spot from Deri Paulson (3,793 from 1986-89).
-- Redshirt senior opposite Hailey Gaines was in double-digit kills for the sixth straight match and seventh in the last eight.
-- Junior defensive / serving specialist Mallie Donohoe tied her career high with 18 digs. She previously had 18 last October against Alaska Anchorage.
-- Senior libero Amanda Ganete led the way with 28 of SPU's season-high 96 digs.
-- Senior middle blocker Shaun Crespi hit a team-leading .348 with nine kills and just one error on 23 swings. That's the sixth time in the past eight matches she has topped .300.
 
UP NEXT
SPU will play the second match of a four-match road swing on Saturday when it visits Western Oregon in Monmouth at 4:00 p.m. The Falcons are looking for a season sweep of the Wolves, having won in three games on Sept. 13 in Seattle. The Wolves dropped a five-gamer to Saint Martin's on Thursday.

 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018
LCEF Court / Portland, Ore.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Concordia-Portland 1
 
Game scores – 25-21, 25-19, 24-26, 29-27.
 
Service aces – SPU 6 (Hailey Gaines 2), CU 8 (Precious Helekahl 3).
Kills – SPU 59 (Gaines 17, Gabby Oddo 15), CU 56 (Jessica Wheeler 16).
Assists – SPU 58 (Symone Tran 46), CU 55 (Emily Zink 29).
Digs – SPU 96 (Amanda Ganete 28, Mallie Donohoe 18, Tran 17, Oddo 16), CU 83 (Callie Wilkins 27).
Block assists / solo – SPU 20 / 3 solo (Shaun Crespi 8 / 1 solo), CU 12 / 1 solo (Elyssa Rose 5 / 0 solo).
Hitting – SPU 59-23-166—.194 (Crespi 9-1-23—.348), CU 56-31-188—.133 (Wheeler 16-6-52—.192).
Attendance – 158.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 8-10, 6-5 GNAC.   Concordia-Portland 8-10, 5-6 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon
Saturday, 4:00 p.m.
New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.