THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Sept. 6                Seattle Pacific at Western Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Sept. 8                 Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser, 7:00 p.m.
                                                West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – Nothing quite like an arch-rival match to get things started.
 
That's precisely how the Seattle Pacific Falcons will begin the Great Northwest Athletic Conference portion of their 2018 volleyball schedule.
 
SPU plays its first GNAC match of the season on Thursday when it heads north to Bellingham to face No. 12-ranked and unanimous preseason favorite Western Washington. First serve on the Vikings' iconic sport court in Carver Gymnasium is at 7:00 p.m.
 
The first week of conference play concludes on Saturday when the Falcons cross the border into Canada for a contest against Simon Fraser, also at 7:00 p.m. in West Gym.
 
Seattle Pacific is coming off a 2-5 preseason slate that concluded at the D2 West Region Showcase last weekend in Fresno, California.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
All GNAC matches, home and away, will feature free live Webcasts and free live stats. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this page.
 
FALCONS TABBED FOR 6^TH IN GNAC
With the start of conference play now at hand, SPU has been picked by coaches for a sixth-place finish.
 
The Falcons received 72 points in voting by the 11 conference coaches.

Last year, SPU was voted eighth and wound up sixth in the final standings.
 
Defending champion Western Washington received all 11 first-place votes and the maximum 121 points (11 points for each vote). The Vikings went 27-4 overall, 19-1 in GNAC play and advanced all the way to the NCAA West Region championship match (the Sweet 16 of the Division II national tournament).
 
Central Washington was second in the voting with 106 points, the only other team to receive more than 100. Simon Fraser was picked third with 91 points.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcons are 8-9 all-time in GNAC-opening matches. That includes a 5-6 mark on the road.
-- Last year's opener was at home and ended in a four-game loss to Concordia-Portland.
-- The most recent road opener was in 2016 when SPU fell in five games at Alaska Fairbanks.
-- A 3-0 sweep of Saint Martin's in 2014 was the last time the Falcons won their GNAC opener, part of a 3-0 start to in conference play that season.
-- The last road-opening win was 3-1 at Simon Fraser in 2012.
-- In 2017, the Falcons went 6-4 in GNAC road matches, part of an 11-7 overall mark away from Seattle and a 7-5 record in true road matches.
-- The last time Seattle Pacific beat Western Washington was 3-1 in Bellingham on Oct. 24, 2013. That victory was the 500^th in program history, but the Vikings have won the last eight matches between them.
-- Western swept last year's match in Bellingham, but the two teams went to Game 5 in Seattle four weeks later. The Falcons took a 13-12 lead before WWU scored the last three points for the win. Abby Phelps, an All-American and the 2018 GNAC Preseason Player of the Year, had kills on the tying point and the match clincher.
-- Phelps had 19 kills in that match and 33 in the two matches combined against SPU. Michaela Hall, another returner, had 21 combined.
-- Falcons outside hitter Gabby Oddo had 30 kills in the two matches combined. Middle blocker Gabi Stegemoller had 20, with 15 of those in the five-gamer at Seattle.
-- SPU has won three of the last four matches against Simon Fraser, including both last year.
-- Once again, Seattle Pacific will have to contend with Clan stars Tessa May (23 kills in the two matches combined) and Betsie deBeer (24).
-- In last week's four D2 West Region Showcase matches in California, Oddo led the Falcons with 32 kills. Her 11 in Saturday's finale against UC San Diego was the team's only double-digit performance.
--Senior setter Symone Tran is two double-doubles away from 50 for her career. She had one last week, with 27 assists and 10 digs against UC San Diego. And, she is just 26 digs away from her 1,000^th.
-- Coach Abbie Wright is 0-2 against Western Washington and 2-0 against Simon Fraser.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 5-3, 0-0 GNAC
All-time series: WWU leads, 46-26. Current series streak: WWU won 8. Last time: WWU 3, SPU 2 (21-25, 25-20, 25-21, 15-25, 15-13; Nov. 9, 2017 at Seattle). Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: After a 1-3 start when they faced four nationally ranked teams in two days in Florida, Western bounced back with four straight wins in the top pod of last week's D2 West Region Showcase. Playing against last year's Nos. 1 and 2 finishers from the CCAA and the Pacific West, the Vikings stated with a five-game victory against No. 9 Cal State San Bernardino. They then swept defending Pac West champion Azusa Pacific, beat the CCAA's Sonoma State in four, and swept the Pac West's Biola. Abby Phelps, a 5-foot-10 senior outside hitter, had 65 kills in the four matches, with 21 of those (along with 25 digs) against San Bernardino. She double-doubled in all four matches and has 120 kills for the season, the only GNAC player in triple digits through the first two weekends. Senior 6-3 middle blocker Kayleigh Harper slammed 52 kills. In addition, she is the conference leader in blocks with 45 total (nine solo), and an average of 1.50 per game.
 
SCOUTING THE SIMON FRASER CLAN: 3-3, 0-0 GNAC.
All-time series: SPU leads, 28-14. Current series streak: SPU won 2. Last time: SPU 3, Simon 1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-16, 25-20, Nov. 11, 2017 at Seattle). Clan on the Web.
Clan in a nutshell: Playing in the same D2 West Region Showcase pod as SPU at Fresno Pacific, Simon Fraser split four matches last weekend, and had a chance for more. The Clan beat Fresno in four and swept UC San Diego, but dropped five-gamers to Chico State (after winning the first two games) and Chaminade. Senior 6-foot-3 middle blocker Tessa May and junior 6-1 outside hitter Betsie de Beer logged double-digit kills in three of the four matches, led by de Beer's 22 against Chico State. May is one of the GNAC's leading hitters with her .318 percentage ranking No. 3, while de Beer is at a .255 to sit No. 12 on the list. However, de Beer is No. 4 at 3.23 kills per game, and she is tied with SPU's Gabby Oddo for No. 5 in points per game at 3.77. May ranks 12^th in kills at 2.87 per game, and leads the Clan in total blocks with 16, collecting six of those against Chico State.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
The Falcons put two double-doubles into the book at last weekend's D2 West Region Showcase tournament. Both came in Saturday's tournament finale against UC San Diego, giving SPU seven for the season.
 
Maddie Batiste (1 season / 1 career)
13K-13D vs. Metro State, Aug. 25
 
Shaun Crespi (0 season / 1 career)
 
Gabby Oddo (3 season / 23 career)
19K-12D vs. Fresno Pacific, Aug. 24
13K-17D vs. Metro State, Aug. 25
11K-16D vs. UC San Diego, Sept. 1
 
Symone Tran (3 season / 48 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
 
STEADY GANETE
Although not everything has gone SPU's way through the first two weekends of the season, one consistent factor on the court has been the play of senior libero Amanda Ganete.
 
 

Ganete has been in double-digit digs in all seven matches. She had the most digs in five of those seven, topped the 21 she had in the season-opener against Fresno Pacific on Aug. 24. She tied with Gabby Oddo in the UC San Diego match last Saturday with 16 digs.
 
The only match in which Ganete didn't have the most digs was in a five-game loss to Metro State on Aug. 25 – and in that one, she still came up with 16. (Symone Tran led with 20.).
 
With 101 digs so far this season, Ganete is up to 1,263 for her career. She is closing on a spot among the team's all-time top 5 in that department. Currently in the No. 5 spot is Tiffany Butac, who had 1,379 from 2003-06. The record is 2,316 by Anna Herold from 2008-11.
 
TCHABS IS BACK
 

Junior middle blocker Nicole Tchabanov saw her first action of the season last Saturday when she stepped on to the court late in Game 1 against UC San Diego.
 
The 6-foot-2 Tchabanov was SPU's leading blocker last year with 90, an average of 1.15 per game that ranked No. 6 in the GNAC, just ahead of teammate Shaun Crespi's 1.14. She missed the first six matches this season with an injury.
 
Tchabanov played in two of the three games against the Tritons, and had one block assist.
 
HOOKING ONTO MORE PLAYING TIME
For her first two seasons, getting onto the court was rare for Jaeden Hooker. She didn't play at all in 2016, and saw action in just nine matches totaling a mere 12 games last fall.
 
The 5-foot-9 outside hitter from Phoenix already has gone far beyond that in just the first two weeks of the current season. Hooker has played in six of the seven matches, with three starts, and has been action for 18 of the 24 games.
 
In the season-opening match against Fresno Pacific on Aug. 24 in Brougham Pavilion, Hooker set career highs with eight kills on 23 attacks, and hit a solid .261. Her previous bests were five kills on 15 attacks, both last September at Alaska Fairbanks. She came close to that career high twice last weekend in California, with seven kills against both Fresno Pacific and UC San Diego on Saturday.
 
For the season, Hooker has 33 kills and three block assists. In 2017, she totaled 11 kills and did not have a block.
 
AROUND THE WEST

Conference play begins in all three West Region circuits this week. In the GNAC, Alaska Anchorage and Central Washington both came through preseason play with 6-1 records, solidifying their status as title contenders. They'll clash on Saturday in Anchorage. Western Washington wound up at 5-3, but played five nationally ranked teams, going 2-3 in those matches. There was one surprise at each end of the spectrum. Montana State Billings, which went 9-21 overall last year, is 6-2. Northwest Nazarene, one of the GNAC powers the fast few autumns, went 0-7, although three of those losses were five-gamers.
 
Cal State Los Angeles is the only undefeated team in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, wining all eight of its preseason matches. Cal State San Bernardino, Cal Poly Pomona, Chico State, and Stanislaus State all went 7-1. San Bernardino is on the road at both Stanislaus and Chico this week; Pomona also visits Chico.
 
Chaminade emerged from preseason as the Pacific West Conference's only unbeaten team, finishing 6-0. The next-best record belongs to Hawaii Hilo at 4-2, with Biola at 4-3 and Azusa Pacific at 4-4. None of those teams are on each other's schedule this week.
 
UP NEXT

The Falcons return to Brougham Pavilion next week for their first two GNAC home matches of the season. Western Oregon is in town on Thursday, Sept. 13, at 7:00 p.m., followed by Concordia-Portland on Saturday the 15^th at 2:00 p.m. That will the start of a four-match homestand.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                         GNAC    Overall
Alaska Anchorage           0-0    6-1
Central Washington         0-0    6-1
Montana State Billings     0-0    6-2
Western Washington         0-0    5-3
Simon Fraser               0-0    3-3
Concordia-Portland         0-0    3-4
Western Oregon             0-0    3-4
Saint Martin's             0-0    2-4
Alaska Fairbanks           0-0    2-5
Seattle Pacific            0-0    2-5
Northwest Nazarene         0-0    0-7