THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Sept. 13              Western Oregon at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Sept. 15               Concordia-Portland 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 – They're coming home – and they're bring some momentum with them.
 
On the heels of a come-from-behind road victory at well-regarded Simon Fraser last Saturday night, the Seattle Pacific Falcons are back in town this week to open the Brougham Pavilion portion of their Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball schedule.
 
SPU will welcome the two Oregon schools, with Western Oregon visiting on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and Concordia-Portland coming in on Saturday afternoon at 2:00.
 
It marks the beginning of a four-match homestand, the longest of the season.
 
The Falcons (3-6, 1-1 GNAC) got a split of their first two conference matches, dropping a four-gamer at then-No. 12 Western Washington before coming back to prevail in four against Simon Fraser.
 
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.
 
TICKET TALK
Falcon fans who want to catch the action in person will have some new ticket-purchasing options when the come to Brougham Pavilion.
 
A new ticketing system that goes live this week will allow for credit card payment at the ticket window, as well as the opportunity to purchase tickets online in advance. As always, cash will continue to be accepted for those buying their tickets on site.
 
Ticket prices – all general admission – are $7 for adults and $5 for students, youths, and senior citizens. Children age 2 and under are admitted free. Seattle Pacific students, faculty, and staff are admitted free when they present a valid current identification card.
 
The credit card and online purchasing options will be available for all home events across all sports – volleyball, soccer, basketball, and gymnastics. General admission prices are the same for every sport. The only additional category is $10 reserved seating for men's and women's basketball.
 
TWO MILESTONES IN ONE NIGHT FOR TRAN
Why stop at reaching just one statistical milestone in a match when you can reach two?
 
Reaching two is exactly what senior setter Symone Tran did in last Saturday's victory at Simon Fraser.
 
Tran recorded a season high of 45 assists and also came up with 10 digs. That gave her the 50^th double-double of her career, with five of those – including her current streak of three in a row – coming this season. All 50 of Tran's double-doubles are assist / dig.
 
Her 10 digs in Burnaby pushed Tran past 1,000 for her career. She begins this week with 1,005, having collected 106 of those this year.
 
She has 285 assists so far, putting her at 3,378 for her career. The school record is 4,009, set by Jenna Von Moos from 2003-06.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- This is the second year in a row SPU has started 1-1 in conference play.
-- The Falcons are 3-3 all-time in GNAC home openers.
-- Last September, the Falcons split at home against the Oregon schools to begin the GNAC schedule, falling in four to Concordia, then sweeping Western Oregon.
-- Seattle Pacific already has played twice at home this season, opening the schedule with a split of two matches in the Falcon-Wildcat Invitational: a three-game sweep of Fresno Pacific, and a three-game loss to nationally ranked Cal State San Bernardino.
-- In 2017, the Falcons went 4-6 at home, all against GNAC opponents.
-- Through the first nine matches – that's one-third of the 27-match schedule – Seattle Pacific has gone beyond three games just three times. Of those, two came last week, with the matches at Western Washington and Simon Fraser both extending to four.
-- Junior outside hitter Gabby Oddo had 33 kills in the two Western Oregon matches combined last year. She got 23 of those, tying her career high, in a five-game win at WOU on Nov. 16.
-- A pair of Concordia players who were especially tough on the Falcons the past two years have finished their college careers. In the last four Falcon-Cavalier matches (two in 2017, two in 2016), Lindsey Dorsey slammed a combined 61 kills, and Colby Barnette had 42.
-- SPU is looking to improve its record in opening games. Through nine matches, it has taken Game 1 just twice, and split those two matches (falling to Metro State, sweeping Fresno Pacific). The first one has gone to the opponent seven times, with the Falcons bouncing back to take the match in two of those, the latest of which was last Saturday at Simon Fraser.
--The match-clinching 28-26 fourth game at Simon Fraser was the seventh time a game has gone beyond 25 points this season. SPU is 4-3 in such games. The longest was a 29-27 loss to UC San Diego in Game 2 of the Tritons' sweep on Sept.1 at the D2 West Region Showcase..
--The first 20-kill match of the year is still to come for Seattle Pacific. So far, the top performance has been Gabby Oddo with 19 in the season opener against Fresno Pacific. Last season saw nine efforts of 20-plus kills, with Oddo recording seven of those.
-- Coach Abbie Wright is 1-1 against both Oregon schools.
 
WESTERN OREGON WOLVES: 4-5, 1-1 GNAC (tie 4^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 29-18. Current series streak: SPU won 2. Last time: SPU 3, WOU 2 (25-21, 18-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-11; Nov. 16, 2017 at Monmouth, Ore.). Wolves on the Web.
Wolves in a nutshell: Western Oregon was slow out of the blocks, dropping its first three matches, but has won four of its last six. That includes a split of last week's first two GNAC contests. The Wolves fell to Concordia-Portland in four games, but bounced back for a three-game sweep of Mpntana State Billings. Mariella Vandenkooy, a 6-foot senior opposite, is WOU's leader in kills with 89, an average of 2.70 per game. She's always a challenge for the Falcons, as she had 12 kills in the first match and 17 in the second against them last season. Also tough across the front is 6-foot junior outside hitter Morgan Haskett, with team-leading marks of 35 blocks and a .291 hitting percentage. Also topping 50 kills and 20 blocks are 5-11 sophomore outside Sianna DiCarli (56 and 24), and 6-foot redshirt sophomore middle Sophie Hall (51 and 26).
 
CONCORDIA-PORTLAND CAVALIERS: 5-4, 2-0 GNAC (tie 1^st)
All-time series: SPU leads, 9-4. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 3, CU 0 (26-24, 26-24, 25-21; Nov. 18, 2017 at Portland, Ore.). Cavaliers on the Web.
Cavaliers in a nutshell: Concordia comes into the week on a three-game winning streak that started with a four-game victory against Dominican in the final preseason match. The Cavaliers had two wins to begin GNAC play, downing Western Oregon and Montana State Billings in four games each. Jessica Wheeler, a 5-foot-10 junior outside hitter, is leading the CU attack with 74 kills, an average of 2.31 per game. Senior 5-10 outside Tori Johnson has 61 kills along with 14 total blocks. Setting the pace on the block is 6-1 sophomore middle Elyssa Rose with 24, including four solos. She also has 42 kills, and her .270 hitting percentage is tops on the team. Right behind her in the block department is Katelyn Brandenburg with 23, also with four solos. Freshman 5-10 outside Callie Wilkins leads the GNAC in digs per game with her 5.81 average.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
The Falcons had three double-doubles to begin GNAC play last week. That give them an even 10 for the season.
 
Maddie Batiste (1 season / 1 career)
13K-13D vs. Metro State, Aug. 25
 
Shaun Crespi (0 season / 1 career)
 
Gabby Oddo (4 season / 24 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
 
Symone Tran (5 season / 50 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
 
 

IT'S AN (ALMOST) CLEAN SLATE
Of the eight statistical categories listed on the career high list, junior outside Jaeden Hooker established new ones in five of them last week – all on Saturday at Simon Fraser.
 
Most significantly, Hooker had 15 kills, nearly double her previous best of eight, which she set at home against Fresno Pacific in the season opener on Aug. 24.
 
Hooker attacked 36 times, which was well beyond her previous best of 27, set against Chico State on Aug. 31.
 
She also had four block assists / four total blocks. Previously, Hooker had never come with more than one in any match. Her other PR was three digs, beating her previous best of two.
 
CALL 'EM IRONWOMEN
With the season at the one-third mark, 12 of the 13 Falcons on the roster have seen action – and seven of seen a lot of it.

 

That's how many have played in all 32 sets so far. The group includes seniors Shaun Crespi, Amanda Ganete, and Symone Tran, redshirt senior Hailey Gaines, juniors Gabby Oddo and Mallie Donohoe, and sophomore Gabi Stegemoller.
 
For Tran in particular, that's no surprise, She has missed just three sets in her entire career, that during her 2015 freshman season when an illness kept her on the sidelines for one match.
 
Ganete also has been quite reliable. She played in 93 of 96 sets as a freshman, all 106 as a sophomore, and 101 of 114 last season as a junior.
 
IN 10 YEARS …
When new players come to join the Falcons, one of the questions they're asked on their biographical profile forms is what they hope to be doing in 10 years.
 
Here is what this year's three newbies had to say:
-- Junior setter Taylor Alicuben: Wants to be a physical therapist, living in Seattle or Oregon, and still playing some volleyball on the side.
 
-- Freshman outside hitter Erin Gould: Wants to be helping other people, either through politics or going somewhere that is in need of hands-on help.
 
-- Redshirt senior opposite Hailey Gaines: Wants to be married "and have a career that I'm passionate about."
 
AROUND THE WEST
An opening-week clash of top-run GNAC teams was every bit as good as advertised, as Central Washington pulled out a five-game victory at Alaska Anchorage last Saturday. The host Seawolves stormed back from losing the first two games to force a deciding fifth before Central prevailed, 25-21, 25-20, 23-25, 22-25, 15-9. CWU also won at Alaska Fairbanks, and is one of three teams – along with Concordia-Portland and preseason favorite Western Washington – to win both Week 1 contests. Central and Western clash on Saturday in Ellensburg.
 
Cal State Los Angeles of the California Collegiate Athletic Association is one of just two West Region teams with an overall perfect record. The Golden Eagles climbed to 10-0 with road wins at Cal State East Bay and San Francisco State to begin conference play. So far, the power lies in the South Division, as Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State San Bernardino are both 9-1 overall, 2-0 CCAA. North leader Sonoma State (6-5, 2-0) visits Pomona and San Bernardino this week.
 
Chaminade of the Pacific West Conference West Region's other unbeaten at 8-0. The Silverswords swept home matches from Notre Dame de Namur and Dominican. For the moment, they're in second place in the standing with that 2-0 record, as Azusa Pacific (7-4 overall) is 3-0 in conference play. Hawaii Hilo (6-2 overall) and Point Loma Nazarene (5-4) also won their first two in the Pac West. Azusa hosts Point Loma on Friday and Hilo next Monday.
 
UP NEXT
The four-match homestand stretches into next week for SPU. Saint Martin's comes to Brougham Pavilion on Tuesday, Sept. 18, at 7:00 p.m. Then on Thursday the 20^th, it's a welcome night for the incoming freshmen as the Falcons play host to Montana State Billings. First serve for that one will be at 7:30 p.m.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                           GNAC           Overall
Central Washington           2-0       8-1
Western Washington           2-0       7-3
Concordia-Portland           2-0       5-4
Alaska Anchorage             1-1       7-2
Simon Fraser                 1-1       4-4
Western Oregon               1-1       4-5
Seattle Pacific              1-1       3-6
Northwest Nazarene           1-1       1-8
Montana State Billings       0-2       6-4
Saint Martin's               0-2       2-6
Alaska Fairbanks             0-2       2-7