Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
SEATTLE – Some nifty Seattle Pacific volleyball numbers were floating around Brougham Pavilion on Saturday afternoon.
 
But at the end of the day, the number that mattered most floated in favor of Western Washington.
 
Gabby Oddo tied the SPU single-match record with 32 kills – the last of which was the 1,000^th of her career – and the Falcons went all the way to a fifth game before the national No. 2-ranked Vikings escaped with the Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory on Senior Day and the final day of the regular season.
 
Scores were 17-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-20, 15-13.
 
The match was the 1,000^th in the history of the Seattle Pacific program, of which 74 have come against arch-rival Western.
 
 

"That was probably the best volleyball we've played all year," SPU head coach Abbie Wright said. "We were consistent, resilient, competitive, fiery – all the characteristics you want to see were shown by us tonight. We passed super-well, it was hard to get us out of system, we had hitters taking risks and just going after it, and we served the heck out of the ball. And defensively, we were all over the place – it was hard for them to put a ball down.
 
"We showed a lot of character and a lot of heart right to the end."
 
Junior outside hitter Oddo's 32 kills equaled the record set by Alyssa Given on Nov. 2, 2006 against – who else? – Western Washington, that one played in Bellingham.
 
Oddo is now just the seventh player in SPU history to tally 1,000 points and 1,000 kills. She topped the 1,000-point mark on Oct. 20 at Montana State Billings.
 
"I was definitely not expecting to get 32 kills. Being the last match of the season, it was pretty magical that it actually happened," Oddo said. "Our defense was getting so many balls up that I was able to get 82 attempts. And Symone (senior setter Tran) and I were just connecting really well tonight."
 

DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN
This was the second straight year the Falcons (11-16, 9-11 GNAC) and Vikings (25-3, 20-0 GNAC) went to the limit in Brougham. And – just like in 2017 – Western rallied from a 13-12 deficit in Game 5 to pull out the win.
 
WWU had an 11-9 lead when Seattle Pacific battled back to tie on a kill b Gabi Stegemoller and a Vikings attack error.
 
Western went back in front, 12-11. A tip over the net by Oddo, which two Vikings got a hand on but ultimately could not dig up, knotted it at 12-12 – and went into the books as her 1,000^th kill. Katie Mansfield followed with a service ace to give SPU a 13-12 lead.
 
Back-to-back kills by Kayleigh Harper gave Western Washington a match point at 14-13. Alison Davenport then sent a serve over that spun toward the sideline. The Falcons kept it off the floor, but were not able to get control if it, securing the win for the Vikings.
 
SPU put together a strong opening game, using a 6-1 run to snap a 4-4 tie and go permanently in front, thanks in part to a 19-5 advantage in kills. That halted a Western streak of 20 straight sets won. The Vikings hadn't dropped one since Oct. 18 at Alaska Anchorage.
 
The Falcons had a 21-19 lead in Game 2 before Western Washington ran off five straight points to take charge and draw even at one game apiece heading into the break.
 
WWU was on the brink of going up 2 games to 1, as it had a 24-22 lead in Game 3. But Seattle Pacific stormed back with four straight points to pull it out: a kill by Oddo, an Oddo service ace, a kill by Maddie Batiste, and block by Gabi Stegemoller.
 
Western blew open Game 4 with a 7-0 run that extended a 17-14 lead all the way to 24-14. The Falcons put together a six-point run of their own to get within 24-20, but that was all.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Oddo was the first Falcon since Alyssa Given's 32-kill performance in 2006 to reach the 30s in a match.
-- Not only did Oddo put the ball on the floor with frequency, she did so with accuracy, hitting .305 for the day (32-7-82).
--Her previous high for kills was 23, which she achieved three times, most recently in the match at Billings on Oct. 20. Oddo also had a career-high 82 attacks, 10 more than her previous best.
--Symone Tran's final career double-double – her 61^st – was impressive: 55 assists and 34 digs, that latter of which was just one short of her career high.
--The Falcons topped Western Washington in almost every statistical category on Saturday: kills (70-49), assists (68-46), service aces (7-5) and digs (117-95).
--In her final match as a Falcon, senior libero Amanda Ganete had a career-high 37 digs. Her previous best was 35. She finished her career with 1,653, solidly in No. 2 on the school's career list.
--Hailey Gaines added 15 kills, and Maddie Batiste had 14.
-- Freshman Erin Gould set a career high with 14 digs. Her previous high was nine.

 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
(No. 2) Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 2
 
Game scores – 17-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-20, 15-13.
 
Service aces – WWU 5 (Alison Davenport 2), SPU 7 (Gabby Oddo 3).
Kills – WWU 49 (Abby Phelps 15, Kayleigh Harper 15), SPU 70 (Gabby Oddo 32, Hailey Gaines 15, Maddie Batiste 14).
Assists – WWU 46 (Brett Boesel 42), SPU 68 (Symone Tran 55).
Digs – WWU 95 (Aubrey Stephens 28), SPU 117 (Amanda Ganete 37, Tran 34, Oddo 18, Erin Gould 14).
Block assists / solo – WWU 18 / 3 solo (Harper 8 / 2 solo), SPU 8 / 2 solo (Gabi Stegemoller 3 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – WWU 49-26-201—114 (Harper 15-1-36—389), SPU 70-43-221—122 (Oddo 32-7-82—305).
Attendance – 241.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 11-16, 9-11 GNAC.  Western Washington 25-3, 20-0 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Season complete.