Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Now, it's a done deal:
 
No one has set up more points in a Seattle Pacific volleyball uniform than Symone Tran.
 
The senior from Portland, Oregon broke the school career record for assists on Saturday night, but the Falcons still came up short of Alaska Fairbanks in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match.
 
Scores in the Patty Center were 25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22.

 

Tran came into the match needing just three assists to tie and four to break the record of 4,009 set by Jenna Von Moos from 2003-06.
 
The equalizer and the record-breaker both came in the middle of the first game – and both led to kills by Gabby Oddo, the first one giving SPU a 10-9 lead, and the second providing a 14-12 advantage.
 
Tran finished the night with 43 assists, and now has 4,049 with two matches left in her career. She and Von Moos are the only two Falcons ever to accumulate more than 4,000 in the 33-year history of the program.
 
"I'm super proud of Symone. It's so cool when results reward a player for all their hard work," Falcons head coach Abbie Wright said. "She was a phenomenal player when we got here (two years ago). We asked her to make some changes, and we've been impressed with her work ethic, her tenacity, and her competitiveness. She's a player who wants to win, and she makes the teammates around her better."
 
 

Sophomore outside hitter Maddie Batiste hammered a career-high 14 kills for SPU (11-14, 9-9 GNAC. That beat her previous career high of 13, set on Aug. 23 against Metro State of Denver in a preseason tournament match.
 
Saturday's match was tied 44 times, and the lead changed hands 14 times.
 
Seattle Pacific led for most of Game 1, and was up 20-19 when Alaska Fairbanks (13-12, 11-7 GNAC) put back-to-back points on the board for a 21-20 edge. A kill by Hailey Gaines tied it up again at 21-21, then the Nanooks tallied the next three to take control.
 
UAF built a 13-7 lead in Game 2 when the Falcons ran off six straight, the last five of those with Oddo on the serve, for a 13-13 tie. Then, down 22-20, SPU scored five of the last six points to take the game, eventually snapping a 23-23 tie on a kill by Batiste and a Nanooks attack error.
 
At 9-9 in Game 3, Fairbanks put three straight on the board and never trailed again, gradually building a 19-14 advantage that never got closer than two.
 
Seattle Pacific was up 15-13 in the fourth game before Fairbanks (13-12, 11-7 GNAC ran off six straight points. The Falcons tied it twice more, the last time at 22-22, but couldn't regain the lead.
 
"Fairbanks sided out really well, and it was hard to get them out of system," Wright said. "We had some really big moments once we buckled down to the game plan. But they're a tough team to beat. They play great defense. They defend the court in a way that it's hard to put the ball away."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
--Gabby Oddo registered a double-double of 12 kills and 11 digs. That was her 12^th in the last 14 matches, her 16^th of the season and 36^th of her career.
--Led by Shaun Crespi's career high of five, SPU came up with an eye-popping 10 solo blocks. Crespi's previous career best was three, achieved in two matches, most recently last Oct. 5 against Northwest Nazarene.
--Crespi also had a block assist (one of just two that the Falcons were credited with), giving her six total blocks for the evening and moving her into No. 3 on the all-time list with 425. Ali Lindberg had occupied the No. 3 spot with the 422 blocks she had from 1991-94.
--Fairbanks had 13 more kills than did the Falcons, 64-51. The Nanooks also out-hit SPU, .222 to .179.
--Redshirt senior opposite Hailey Gaines hit .407 for the nigh (12 kills-1 error-27 attacks), her second .400 match of the season. She hit .429 (4-1-7) at Saint Martin's on Oct. 16.
 
UP NEXT
SPU winds up the season at home next week against Simon Fraser on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and Western Washington next Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018
The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska
 
Alaska Fairbanks 3, Seattle Pacific 1
 
Game scores –25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 25-22.
 
Service aces – SPU 1 (Symone Tran 1), UAF 0.
Kills – SPU 51 (Maddie Batiste 14, Gabby Oddo 12, Hailey Gaines 12), UAF 64 (Kim Wong 19).
Assists – SPU 51 (Tran 43), UAF 61 (Cate Whiting 51).
Digs – SPU 61 (Amanda Ganete 17, Gabby Oddo 11), UAF 70 (Makena Overbey 20).
Block assists / solo – SPU 2 / 10 solo (Shaun Crespi 1 / 5 solo), UAF 6 / 4 solo (Wong 1 / 2 solo, Emily Moorhead 2 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 51-23-156—.179 (Gaines 12-1-27—.407), UAF 64-28-162—.222 (Wong 19-4-29—.517).
Attendance – 525.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 11-14, 9-9 GNAC.  Alaska Fairbanks 13-12, 11-7 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Nov. 8     7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.