Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
 
NAMPA, Idaho – The Seattle Pacific Falcons came up with some big numbers on Thursday night, It was just that the biggest one eluded them.
 
Jaeden Hooker slammed 17 kills and Hailey Gaines added 15 – both career highs – but SPU came up short of Northwest Nazarene in a back-and-forth Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match.
 
Scores in the Johnson Sports Center were 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-13.
 
That halted a five-match winning streak for the Falcons (7-7, 5-2 GNAC). It was their second straight five-gamer, as they pulled one out last Thursday at home against Montana State Billings.
 
 

"NNU just played really well. I think we were trying to keep up for a lot of it," Falcons coach Abbie Wright said. "We didn't get off to a great start, so that kind of hurts when you have moments when you're really playing well, but you're playing catch-up the whole time.
 
"But they earned that win. It's nothing that we gave them."
 
Northwest Nazarene (3-11, 3-4 GNAC) had an 8-5 lead at the changeover in the deciding fifth game. SPU responded with a run of three straight to tie it at 8-8 on a kill by Shaun Crespi and back-to-back kills by Nicole Tchabanov. The Nighthawks took a 9-8 edge, then the Falcons went in front 10-9 on two straight kills by Gabby Oddo.
 
NNU put the next three on the board to make it 12-10. But again, Seattle Pacific responded, knotting it at 12-12 on a kill by Gaines and a Nighthawks attack error. Down 14-12, the Falcons fought off one match point on Hooker's final kill of the night before Northwest Nazarene sealed it on a kill by Abbey Blum.
 
Both teams stepped it up on offense in the fifth, as NNU got 13 of its 15 points and SPU tallied nine of its 13 on kills.
 
SPU was on the verge of falling two games behind when the Nighthawks built a 19-12 lead in Game 2. But the Falcons ran off eight straight points, the last seven of those with Oddo serving, to move in front, 20-19. Aside from one NNU attack error, they won the other seven points: three kills by Gaines, two by Hooker, one by Tchabanov, and a service ace by Oddo. SPU then got three of the last four points to close it out and level the match at 1-1.
 
A 14-5 surge gave Northwest Nazarene a 17-11 lead on the way to taking Game 3. The Falcons took command of Game 4 with six in a row to expand a 16-14 lead to 22-14.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
 

-- The 17 kills by junior outside hitter Hooker exceeded her previous best of 15, set in a four-game win at Simon Fraser on Sept. 8. Gaines' previous high was 14 in a four-gamer at Western Washington on Sept. 6.
-- SPU had four more attacks (199-195) and four fewer errors (24 to NNU's 28). But the Nighthawks wound up with three more kills (68-65). They also had just one more service ace (5-4). "If you look at the numbers, we were right there," Wright said.
-- SPU had four players reach double-digit kills on Thursday, as junior outside hitter Oddo finished with 11 and junior middle blocker Tchabanov recorded a season-high 10. Tchabanov hit a team-leading .450 with just one error on 20 attacks.
-- Senior libero Amanda Ganete came up with 22 digs. She needed just four to climb into Seattle Pacific's all-time top 5 in that category. In fact, by night's end, she was up to No. 4. Ganete came in with 1,376 and first passed No. 5 Tiffany Butac (1,379 from 2003-06). Then, she slipped ahead of No. 4 Leilani Kamehameha, who had 1,397 from 1998 through 2001. Ganete's total is now 1,398.
-- Senior setter Symone Tran set a season high with 59 assists.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons return to action on Saturday in Ellensburg against Central Washington. The first serve is at 3:00 p.m.
 
"It's whoever stays in it mentally the whole time," Wright said. "Their ball control is really good and they're good at reading the game. It's going to be who plays smarter volleyball."

 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018
Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
 
Northwest Nazarene 3, Seattle Pacific 2
 
Game scores – 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 15-13.
 
Service aces – SPU 4 (4 players with 1), NNU 5 (Cami Heninger 2, Megan Nelson 2).
Kills – SPU 65 (Jaeden Hooker 17, Hailey Gaines 15, Gabby Oddo 11, Nicole Tchabanov 10), NNU 68 (Kayla Sale 16).
Assists – SPU 63 (Symone Tran 59), NNU 67 (Nelson 37).
Digs – SPU 90 (Oddo 30, Amanda Ganete 22), NNU 103 (Shayli Siegfried 28).
Block assists / solo – SPU 20 / 4 solo (Shaun Crespi 7 / 0 solo), NNU 4 / 1 solo (3 with 1 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 65-24-199—.206 (Tchabanov 10-1-20—.450), NNU 68-28-195—.205 (Taylor Markland 13-3-24—.417).
Attendance – 345.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 7-7, 5-2 GNAC.  Northwest Nazarene 3-11, 3-4 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Central Washington
Saturday, 3:00 p.m.
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.