THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Oct. 25                Central Washington at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
Saturday, Oct. 27                 Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – For the first time in almost three weeks, the Seattle Pacific Falcons get to play volleyball again on their home court.
 
Coming off four straight matches on the road – three of which went into the win column – SPU will welcome Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene to Brougham Pavilion for a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference showdowns.
 
The Wildcats come in on Thursday, with a 7:00 p.m. first serve. The Nighthawks visit on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
 
During their time away, Seattle Pacific (10-11, 8-6 GNAC) scored a four-game win at Concordia-Portland, then sweeps at Western Oregon and Saint Martin's before dropping a five-gamer at Montana State Billings last Saturday.
 
With the season winding down, the Falcons will play four of their final six at home.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
All GNAC matches, home and away, will feature free live Webcasts and free live stats. The appropriate links for this week's home matches can be found at the top of this page. Maxwell Gun will call the play-by-play for both of this week's contests.
 
TICKET TALK
Admission prices are $7 for adults and $5 for youths, students, and senior citizens. SPU students, faculty, and staff will be admitted free with a valid current identification card.
 
A new ticketing system, which allows online ordering and payment by credit card at Brougham Pavilion ticket windows, is up and operating. Cash will continue to be accepted at the ticket windows, as well.
 
All volleyball seating is in the north grandstands and is general admission.
 
THAT'S 1,000 FOR ODDO – AND A FEW MORE, TOO
As expected, junior outside hitter Gabby Oddo put her 1,000^th career point into the books last week.
 
 

It came late in Game 1 last Saturday afternoon at Montana State Billings when Oddo slammed her second kill of the day. By the time the five-game match was finished, Oddo had 24.5 points for the day: 23 on kills (tying her career high in that category), one on a service ace, and half a point for a block assist. That put her at 1,022,5 for her career.
 
Oddo became the 17^th player in program history to reach 1,000 points. Her current total already has her up to No. 16 on the list, passing the 1,007.5 that Monica Abrahamson tallied from 1998 through 2001.
 
She could move another rung or two this week. Danielle Dettorre is No 15 (1,049 from 1996-99), and Sarah Risser is No. 14 (1,063 from 2007-10).
 
Of the 17 Falcons who have reached 1,000, Oddo is just the fifth to make it by her junior season. The top four on the list – Tosca Lindberg, Alyssa Given, Leilani Kamahoahoa, and Nikki Lowell – all reached a grand before they were seniors.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Seattle Pacific is 5-3 on its homecourt.
-- The Falcons are seeking a season split against both teams.
-- SPU's last victory against Central Washington was a five-gamer in Seattle almost two years ago to the day: Oct. 27, 2016.
-- Last month in Ellensburg, SPU was down 2 games to 1, but had a 20-18 lead in Game 4 before Central ran off four straight to go up, 22-20. The Wildcats then snapped a 23-23 tie with two straight points to clinch the match.
-- Central has won 10 of the last 11 matches between the schools to take a 40-35 all-time series lead.
-- Of those 10 wins, three have gone to the five-game limit.
-- This 76^th series meeting is the most between SPU and any opponent.
-- Northwest Nazarene's 12-match winning streak against the Falcons is the longest of any GNAC opponent.
-- Seattle Pacific's last win against NNU was in five games at Seattle on Sept. 29, 2012.
-- No surprise that it went five games – or that last month's match in Nampa went five games. Of those 12 straight that have gone Northwest Nazarene's way, five have reached a deciding game: twice in Seattle and three times in Nampa.
-- A double-double against both of these schools is included in Gabby Oddo's current run of 10 in a row: 11 kills and 30 digs vs. NNU, 19 kills and 10 digs vs. CWU.
-- Senior middle blocker Shaun Crespi needs just one more block to give her 100 for the season. That would mark the second time in her four years that she has reached triple digits Crespi had 151 (including 17 solos) as a sophomore in 2016.
-- The 99 blocks Crespi has so far this season ranks No. 35 among Division II players, and her average of 1.24 per game ranks 21^st.
-- While Gabby Oddo scored her 1,000^th point last week, redshirt senior. She now has 502.0. Hailey Gaines logged her 500^th
-- SPU ranks No. 16 among the 290 Division II programs at 2.34 blocks per game. As impressive as it is to be in the national top 20, that mark is just No. 4 in the GNAC. With even loftier numbers are Western Washington (1^st GNAC / 4^th NCAA) at 2.67, Central Washington 2^nd / 9^th) at 2.55, and Alaska Anchorage (3^rd / 13^th) at 2.37.
 
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 16-5, 10-4 GNAC (tie 2^nd)
All-time series: CWU leads, 40-35. Current series streak: CWU won 3. Last time: CWU 3, SPU 1 (25-16, 28-26, 19-25, 25-23; Sept. 29 at Ellensburg, Wash.). Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central had a rough stretch recently, dropping three in a row, but bounced back last week with home victories against Concordia-Portland and Western Oregon. Whether it's offense or defense, this is one of the toughest teams in the conference. The Wildcats average the most kills per game (14.53), the most digs per game (19.73), and rank No. 2 in hitting (.238) and blocking (2.55). In fact, three Central players average a block a game: 5-foot-11 sophomore middle Julia Mellander (1.26), 6-2 junior outside hitter Bridgette Webb (1.19), and 6-0 senior middle Sarah Joffs (1.01). Senior 6-foot outside hitter Madison Weg is close at 0.97, On offense, 5-10 senior outside Shelby Mauritson has a team-leading 284 kills (3.79 average), and 6-1 sophomore outside Makala Swart has 281 (3.75). All six of Central's leading attackers are hitting .200 or better, and Webb is at .386, the second-best mark in the GNAC. The Wildcats had three players in double-digit kills when they beat SPU on Sept 29 in Ellensburg, with Weg's 17 (to go along with seven block assists), Mauritson's 13, and Swart's 10.  
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS: 5-16, 5-9 GNAC (tie 8^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 20-17. Current series streak: NNU won 12. Last time: NNU 3, SPU 2 (25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-13; Sept. 27 at Nampa, Idaho). Nighthawks on the Web.
Nighthawks in a nutshell: Northwest Nazarene snapped a five-match losing streak last Saturday with a home sweep of Concordia-Portland. Setting the pace on offense for the Nighthawks is 6-foot sophomore outside hitter Abbey Blum with 240 kills, a 3.08 per-game average that is tied for 10^th-best in the conference. She had a productive day against the Falcons last month in Nampa with 16 kills and .344 hitting. Junior 5-9 outside Kayla Sale had an even bigger day with 16 kills and 19 digs. Senior 5-10 outside hitter Cami Heninger has recorded 189 kills (2.39 per game) and has delivered 26 of NNU's 80 service aces. Tayler Markland leads the team in hitting with a .297 percentage that ranks No. 7 in the GNAC. The 6-1 freshman middle blocker certainly was accurate against SPU last time with 13 kills and a .417 percentage. Markland is by far and away the leading blocker for the Nighthawks with 58.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
It's now a nice, round number of 10 for Gabby Oddo – 10 straight double-doubles, that is. Oddo racked up two more last week, giving her 14 for the season and 34 for her career. Senior setter Symone Tran also added another one.
 
Maddie Batiste (1 season / 1 career)
13K-13D vs. Metro State, Aug. 25
 
Shaun Crespi (0 season / 1 career)
 
Gabby Oddo (14 season / 34 career)
19K-12D vs. Fresno Pacific, Aug. 24
13K-17D vs. Metro State, Aug. 25
11K-16D vs. UC San Diego, Sept. 1
15K-11D at Simon Fraser, Sept. 8
12K-11D vs. Saint Martin's, Sept. 18
15K-16D vs. Montana State Billings, Sept. 20
11K-30D at Northwest Nazarene, Sept. 27
19K-10D at Central Washington, Sept. 29
19K-10D vs. Alaska Fairbanks, Oct. 4
14K-12D vs. Alaska Anchorage, Oct. 6
15K-16D at Concordia-Portland, Oct. 11
13K-11D at Western Oregon, Oct. 13
10K-12D at Saint Martin's, Oct. 16
23K-10D at Montana State Billings, Oct. 20
 
Symone Tran (12 season / 57 career)
38 AST-19D vs. Fresno State, Aug. 24
39 AST-20D vs. Metro State, Aug. 25
27 AST-10D vs. UC San Diego, Sept.1
43 AST-21D at Western Washington, Sept. 6
45 AST-10D at Simon Fraser, Sept. 8
34 AST-13D vs. Concordia-Portland, Sept. 15
54 AST-17D vs. Montana State Billings, Sept. 20
42 AST-10D at Central Washington, Sept. 29
43 AST-10D vs. Alaska Fairbanks, Oct. 4
45 AST-14D vs. Alaska Anchorage, Oct. 6
46 AST-17D at Concordia-Portland, Oct. 11
52 AST-12D at Montana State Billings, Oct. 20
 
AT LAST, HER NUMBER GETS CALLED
Junior outside hitter Taylor Alicuben has been eager to see some in-match action all season. That opportunity finally came last Tuesday at Saint Martin's.
 
With the Falcons up 24-15 in Game 1, coach Abbie Wright subbed in Alicuben as the Falcons regained the serve.
 
Alicuben put the ball into play, and SPU converted the game point on a combined block by Gabi Stegemoller and Hailey Gaines.
 
THAT WASN'T THEIR ONLY BIG BLOCK
Stegemo

ller came into that Saint Martin's match needing three more blocks to post the 100^th of her career. By the end of the night, she had those three, then added five more on Saturday at Montana State Billings. She now has 105 for her career.

 

Gaines was even better than that in the Billings match. She eight block assists, which gave her a new career high in that department. Her previous best was six, which Gaines achieved twice, most recently at Central Washington on Sept. 29.
 
WATCHING THE RECORD BOOK
 

With her 86 assists last week, including 52 in Saturday's five-gamer at Montana State Billings, Symone Tran is now just 123 away from setting a new school career record. Tran begins this week with 3,887. She needs to average just a bit more than 20 per match in the remaining six matches to take down Jenna Von Moos' career standard of 4,009.
 
 

Senior libero Amanda Ganete is coming very close to moving out of her No. 4 spot on the career digs list. She had 37 last week, increasing her total to 1,526. Torii Mount is No. 3 with 1,552 from 2005-08, and Brianna Leenders is No. 2 with 1,570 from 2011-14.

 

Senior middle Shaun Crespi is a mere three blocks away from joining SPU's top 5. She starts the week with 409. Gaylene MacDonald had 412 from 1987-88, and just ahead of her are Nikki Lowell (419 from 2010-13) and Ali Lindberg (422 from 1991-94).
 


AROUND THE WEST
Depending how this week's matches go, Western Washington could wrap up the GNAC championship and automatic NCAA berth by Saturday night. The Vikings (19-3, 14-0 GNAC), riding an overall 19-match winning streak, are four matches ahead of Alaska Anchorage (17-5, 10-4) and Central Washington (16-5, 10-4) with six to play. They own the tiebreaker on both schools, having swept the season series from both.
 
It's another showdown week among the top teams in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, all of them in the South Division. Cal State Los Angeles (20-1, 12-1) visits Cal Poly Pomona (19-3, 12-2) on Friday, then travels to Cal State San Bernardino (20-2, 13-1) on Saturday.
 
Biola has edged ahead of Azusa Pacific in the Pacific West Conference – and there's a showdown between them this week that could settle things. The Eagles (18-5, 14-2) visit the Cougars (17-6, 13-2) on Tuesday in Azusa. As a second-year D2 member, Biola is not yet eligible for the national tournament, But APU, along with Chaminade (17-4 overall), Hawaii Hilo (15-5) and Point Loma (15-7) are all part of the conversation.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons take their final road trip of the season next week when they head north to Alaska. The first stop will be Anchorage next Thursday, Nov. 1, followed by a visit to Fairbanks on Saturday the 3^rd. Both matches begin at 8:00 p.m. PDT. Seattle Pacific will be seeking a bit of redemption, having dropped five-gamers to both teams earlier this month in Seattle.
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                     GNAC       Overall
Western Washington       14-0     19-3
Alaska Anchorage         10-4     17-5
Central Washington       10-4     16-5
Alaska Fairbanks          8-6     10-11
Seattle Pacific           8-6     10-11
Simon Fraser              7-7     10-10
Concordia-Portland        6-8      9-11
Montana State Billings    5-9     11-12
Northwest Nazarene        5-9      5-16
Western Oregon            3-11     6-15
Saint Martin's            1-13     3-17