THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov.8                  Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
Saturday, Nov. 10                Western Washington at Seattle Pacific, 4:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – The curtain comes down on the 2018 volleyball season this week – but not before a ceremonious moment or two
 
Seattle Pacific will wind up the calendar at home, welcoming Simon Fraser and Western Washington to Brougham Pavilion for a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference matches.
 
The Falcons and Clan will swing into action on Thursday at 7:00 p.m., and the No. 2-ranked Vikings come to town on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.
 
The match on Saturday will be a doubly-special one. First up will be Senior Day, with a pre-match celebration honoring Shaun Crespi, Hailey Gaines, Amanda Ganete, and Symone Tran.
 
During the five-minute break between Games 2 and 3, it will be recognized that Saturday's match is the 1,000^th in the history of the program since SPU began playing volleyball in 1986.
 
Seattle Pacific (11-14, 9-9 GNAC) is coming off a split of last week's matches in Alaska. The Falcons won a five-gamer in Anchorage, beating the Seawolves for the first time since 2012. On Saturday, they dropped a four-gamer to Fairbanks.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
All GNAC matches, home and away, will feature free live Webcasts and free live stats. Maxwell Gun will be on the play-by-play for this week's contests in Brougham Pavilion. The appropriate links for this week's home matches can be found at the top of this page.
 
TICKET TALK
Volleyball ticket 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 running. Cash will continue to be accepted at the ticket windows, as well.
 
All volleyball seating is in the north grandstands and is general admission.
 
SALUTE TO THE SENIORS
Prior to the first serve against Western Washington on Saturday afternoon, middle blocker Shaun Crespi, opposite Hailey Gaines, libero Amanda Ganete, and setter Symone Tran will be honored during a brief Senior Day ceremony.
 
 

Crespi recently moved into SPU's all-time top five for total blocks, and enters this week in the No. 3 spot with 425. She started last week at No. 5 with 415, picked up four at Anchorage to tie Nikki Lowell for the No. 4 spot at 419, then had six – including a career-high five solos – at Fairbanks on Saturday to climb into No. 3. Crespi ranks No. 6 on the GNAC's all-time list for total blocks and No. 7 for blocks per game (1.19).
 
 

Gaines joined SPU this season after playing three years at Concordia Irvine, where she completed her psychology major and marketing minor degrees. She recently scored her 500^th career point, and heads into the final weekend of play with the second-highest kill and block totals for the Falcons (242 and 78, respectively).
 
 

Ganete will wrap up her career as one of the best liberos in SPU history. She is leading the Falcons in digs for the third year in a row. Her 25 digs at Alaska Anchorage last Thursday gave her 1,582 for her career, moving her up to No. 2 on the all-time Falcon list in that category. She is now No. 13 on the GNAC's all-time list.
 
 

Tran has been the steady presence – and now a records-setting presence – at setter for all four years. Tran racks up assists in bunches, and now has the most of any Falcon player in history, coming into the final week of her career with 4,049. But Tran also comes up with her share of digs, as she has recorded 14 assist-dig double-doubles this year and 59 for her career.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- SPU going for a season sweep of Simon Fraser, and looking for a split against Western Washington.
-- If the Falcons do beat the Clan, that will mark two straight years of winning both matches against their Canadian neighbors.
-- When the teams played on Sept. 8 in Burnaby, B.C., Symone Tran logged her milestone 50^th career double-double, this one with 45 assists and 10 digs.
-- The Falcons dropped the opening game in that one, but then came back to win the next three.
-- That is one of just two occasions this season when they lost Game 1, but still won the match. The other one was in the season-opener when Fresno Pacific took Game 1 by a 26-24 score before SPU took the next three.
-- Seattle Pacific had six fewer kills than Simon Fraser (57-51), but also had 12 fewer attack errors (34-22).
-- Western Washington has nine straight wins against the Falcons. SPU's last victory was a four-gamer in Bellingham on  Oct. 24, 2013. That was the 500^th win in program history.
-- Last year's home match against Western Washington was a 2-hour, 11-minute battle that went to five games. SPU took the first one, Western got the next two, then SPU rolled to a 25-15 win in Game 4, setting up the deciding game. The Vikings built an 11-7 lead, but the Falcons stormed back for leads of 12-11 and 13-12 before WWU's Abby Phelps factored into the final three points – two kills and a combined block – to take the match.
-- When the teams met in Bellingham on Sept. 6, Western Washington went the entire first game and into the middle of the second game before making an attack error. The Vikings had 21 kills when an attempt finally missed, going into the net. For the match, they had 51 kills and just 10 errors on 147 swings. SPU actually wound up with one more kill (52) but made 20 more errors (30) on 166 attacks.
-- Coach Abbie Wright is 3-0 against Simon Fraser and 0-3 against Western Washington.
-- After last Thursday's win at Alaska Anchorage, Wright now has coaching wins against seven other 10 GNAC schools. Western Washington is one of the three against which she is still seeking her first, the others being Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene.
 
SCOUTING THE SIMON FRASER CLAN: 13-11, 10-8 GNAC (5^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 30-14. Current series streak: SPU won 3. Last time: SPU 3, Simon 1 (20-25, 25-21, 25-18, 28-26; Sept. 8, 2018 at Burnaby, B.C.) Clan on the Web.
Clan in a nutshell: Simon Fraser has hovered around the .500 mark most of the season – sometimes a match or two above it, sometimes a match or two below it. The Clan come into this week on a three-match winning streak, its longest of the season. All of those have been three-game sweeps, including last week at home against the Oregon schools. As expected, 6-foot-3 senior middle blocker Tessa May is setting the pace on offense with her 287 kills, a 3.34 per-game average that ranks No. 6 in the GNAC. She's just as tough when playing defense, as May has a team-high 57 total blocks, including an eye-catching 21 solos. Not far behind May  is 6-foot junior outside hitter Kirsten Pinkney, with 271 kills and a 3.15 average that is 10^th in the conference. The other big weapon is 6-1 junior outside Betsie de Beer, with 241 kills and a 2.84 average for No. 2 on the GNAC list. May had 15 kills and hit .426, and de Beer slammed 13 kills in September when the Falcons came from 25-24 and 26-25 down in the last game to close out a four-game victory.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 23-3, 18-0 GNAC (1^st)
All-time series: WWU leads, 47-26. Current series streak: WWU won 9. Last time: WWU 3, SPU 1 (25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 25-21; Sept. 6, 2018 at Bellingham). Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Western begins the final week of the regular season with 23 straight W's in the book and the GNAC title and automatic NCAA qualifying berth in its pocket. In the last 11 matches, Western has 10 sweeps, including the last five in a row. The Vikings are the best hitting team (.263) and the toughest team to hit against (.145) in the GNAC, and is the top blocking team (2.87 per game). Sparking Western Washington is 5-10 senior outside hitter Abby Phelps with 357 kills and a 4.01 per-game average to rank No. 1 in the GNAC and No. 21 in Division II – and she hits .244. Also putting away their share of balls with their .300-plus hitting percentages are 6-3 junior middle blocker Kayleigh Harper (291 kills, .396 hitting) and 6-1 senior middle Michaela Hall (231 kills, .370 hitting). While most teams are happy to have one player with 100 total blocks, this particular pair provides Western with two: 125 blocks for Harper, 100 for Hall. In the GNAC season opener against SPU on Dec. 6, those three combined for 38 kills, .361 hitting (38-3-97), and 16 total blocks.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Gabby Oddo put two more double-doubles into the book last week in Alaska, giving her 12 such performances in the last 14 matches, including her streak of 10 in a row. Symone Tran did not have any last week, but needs just one in her final two matches this week to reach 60 for her career. The Falcons have 31 double-doubles for the season.
 
Maddie Batiste (1 season / 1 career)
13K-13D vs. Metro State, Aug. 25
 
Shaun Crespi (0 season / 1 career)
 
Gabby Oddo (16 season / 36 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
18K-16D at Alaska Anchorage, Nov. 1
12K-11D at Alaska Fairbanks, Nov. 3
 
Symone Tran (14 season / 59 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
30 AST-18D vs. Central Washington, Oct. 25
36 AST-20D vs. Northwest Nazarene, Oct. 27
 
WRAPPING UP THE RECORD
No more doubt about it. No more wondering if she'll make it:
 
Symone Tran now has set up more points than any player in Seattle Pacific volleyball history.
 
The record-breaking moment came midway through Game 1 at Alaska Fairbanks last Saturday. With the Falcons up 13-12, senior libero Amanda Ganete easily dug up the ball on serve receive. Tran set it toward junior outside hitter Gabby Oddo, and Oddo softly tipped the ball over the net and onto the floor.
 
That gave Tran the 4,010^th assist of her career, moving her past Jenna Von Moos, who had 4,009 during her four years (2003-06). Just moments earlier, another Oddo kill – this one from the back row – had given Tran her 4,009^th assist to tie the mark.
 
Of course, the match was just getting started, and so was Tran. By night's end, the teams had battled through four close games, and Tran finished with 43 assists. That puts her at 4,049 coming into the final week.
 
Tran sits No. 3 on the all-time GNAC assists list. The only players ahead of her are Central Washington's Kate Reome (4,780 from 2001-04) and Western Washington's Liz Bishop (4,176 from 2000-03). She is No. 18 in the assists-per-game rankings at 9.92.
 
JUST A MATTER OF WHEN ON 1,000^TH KILL
Gabby Oddo picked up 30 kills last week – 18 at Alaska Anchorage, 12 at Alaska Fairbanks to put her at 956 for her career heading into the last week of the season.
 
That leaves her 44 away from becoming just the seventh 1,000-kill, 1,000-point player in Seattle Pacific history. Oddo already has hit a grand on points, coming into this week with 1,072.
 
If she doesn't quite reach 1,000 by the end of Saturday, that mark likely will be well within reach whenever and wherever SPU plays its first preseason tournament in 2019.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
The Falcons are ranked No. 21 in NCAA Division II for block per game, averaging 2.27. That is due in large part to senior Shaun Crespi, whose 1.21 blocks per game rank 26^th nationally. And, she ranks 45^th in total blocks with 115.
 
The other top-50 ranking for SPU is Gabby Oddo's 10.86 attacks per game, which is No. 48 on the list.

Click on this link to see how the Falcons stack up nationally in all categories.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Western Washington is officially the GNAC champion, although that was never much in doubt as the Vikings continued to rack up win after win. That included two sweeps of Central Washington and a pair of four-game victories against Alaska Anchorage. But at 20-5 for Central and 20-6 for Anchorage, both of those schools are likely NCAA invitees, along with automatically-invited WWU.
 
Cal State San Bernardino wrapped up the California Collegiate Athletic Association South Division title. The Coyotes are 23-2 overall and won the South at 16-1 ahead of Cal Poly Pomona (21-4, 14-3) and Cal State Los Angeles (21-4, 13-4). But, sitting at Nos. 2 (Bernardino), 3 (L.A.) and 4 (Pomona) in the West Region last week, they're likely NCAA-bound, regardless of what happens in this week's CCAA Tournament.
 
Azusa Pacific still hasn't clinched the Pacific West crown, but did secure that conference's automatic NCAA berth with three victories in Hawaii last week, including five-gamers at Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade on consecutive nights. The Cougars (22-6, 18-2) are 2½ games up on Hawaii Hilo with just two matches left. Biola (21-6, 17-3) still has a chance to catch Azusa for the regular-season title, but the Eagles are not yet eligible for the NCAA tournament because they are in just their second year as a D2 member.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons will play in the pod with the 5^th- and 6^th-place teams from the CCAA and the Pac West at next year's D2 West Region Showcase. The CCAA will be the host conference next season. Dates, opponents, and match times have yet to be determined. Also still to be finalized is the other preseason tournament in which the Falcons will play.
 

GNAC STANDINGS
                                                       GNAC         Overall
Western Washington        18-0     23-3
Central Washington        14-4     20-5
Alaska Anchorage          13-5     20-6
Alaska Fairbanks          11-7     13-12
Simon Fraser              10-8     13-11
Seattle Pacific            9-9     11-14
Concordia-Portland         7-11    10-14
Montana State Billings     6-12    12-16
Northwest Nazarene         6-12     6-19
Western Oregon             3-15     6-19
Saint Martin's             2-16     4-20