Box score (PDF)
BURNABY, B.C. – The Seattle Pacific Falcons fought back from six points behind in the deciding fifth game, but Simon Fraser regained the advantage and went on to win Thursday night's Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match.
Scores in West Gym were 25-18, 23-25, 23-25, 25-14, 15-13.
Senior outside hitter
Gabby Oddo and junior opposite / outside
Maddie Batiste both had double-doubles for the Falcons (5-10, 2-5 GNAC). For Oddo, it was 16 kills and 13 digs; for Batiste, it was 14 kills and 10 digs.
The Clan (8-7, 4-3 GNAC) sprinted to a 5-1 lead in the fifth game and were up 8-4 at the changeover. They stretched that to 10-4, and the Falcons called their second and final timeout.
SPU came out of that break and put together a 6-0 run. It started with a combined block by Batiste and freshman middle blocker
Delaney Dunham.
Senior libero
Mallie Donohoe then took over the serve. Sophomore outside / middle
Erin Gould and junior middle
Gabi Stegemoller combined on a block, the Clan were called for a double hit, Oddo and Batiste had back-to-back kills, then Batiste and Stegemoller teamed up on a block. Just like that, it was 10-10.
Simon Fraser went back on top, 11-10, only to see Seattle Pacific sophomore
Erin Gould tie it with a kill. The Clan got the next two points for a 13-11 lead, and it eventually was double match point at 14-12. Oddo saved one with a kill for 14-13, but Betsie DeBeer closed it out with a kill – her 18th of the match.
"At the end of the night, they made a couple more plays than us," Falcons coach
Abbie Wright said. "I'm proud of this group for showing a lot of grit when it was really tight, and we showed a lot of grit in that fifth game."
The Falcons were in comeback mode much of the night. In fact, that's how they took the middle two games.
Down 23-22 in Game 2, Seattle Pacific scored the last three points, first on a Simon Fraser attack error, then with two straight Oddo service aces.
SPU trailed by a 22-18 count in Game 3. A four-point surge, with Batiste on the serve for the final three of those, knotted it at 23-22. The Clan went up 23-22, then a crosscourt kill by Oddo, an ace by Donohoe, and a combined block by Stegemoller and freshman setter
Lindsey Lambert won it. That gave the Falcons the lead, two games to one.
But that was the last time Seattle Pacific would be on top. Except for a 1-1 tie, Simon Fraser led for the entirety of Game 4, and was ahead for all of Game 5 aside from ties at 1-1, 10-10, and 11-11.
"When we play as a group and play as a team, that's an art everyone is still learning," Wright said. "When we play our system, we're really good. When we kind of lose sight of what's happening on the other side and just play a little bit individually, that's when we have a hard time."
BY THE NUMBERS
-- This was the third five-gamer of the season for the Falcons. They split the first two, losing to Concordia Irvine, and beating Cal Poly Pomona.
Gould
-- Simon Fraser dropped in a whopping 17 service aces, seven of those by Tamara Clarke. SPU had seven, with
Erin Gould delivering a career-high four.
--The other notable statistical disparity was kills. The Clan had 64, the Falcons had 45.
-- Neither team topped .200 in hitting. Seattle Pacific finished at .140, Simon Fraser at .192.
--
Lindsey Lambert racked up the third 40-assist night of her career, finishing with exactly that many. She racked up a career-high 46 in last Saturday's sweep of Western Oregon, and now has moved past 400 for her career. She has 430.
--
Gabi Stegemoller had a season-high nine total blocks, including one solo.
--
Gabby Oddo and
Maddie Batiste each have 10 double-doubles for the season.
UP NEXT
The Falcons head north again on Saturday, this time to Bellingham to take on national No. 2-ranked
Western Washington. First serve in Carver Gymnasium is at 7:00 p.m. The undefeated Vikings (15-0, 7-0 GNAC) breezed past Saint Martin's on Thursday, 25-14, 25-15, 25-8.
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019
West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
Simon Fraser 3, Seattle Pacific 2
Game scores – 25-18, 23-25, 23-25, 25-14, 15-13.
Service aces – SPU 7 (Gould 4), Simon 17 (Clarke 7).
Kills – SPU 45 (Oddo 16, Batiste 14), Simon 4 (de Beer 18).
Assists – SPU 43 (Lambert 40), Simon 61 (Tays 45).
Digs – SPU 54 (Batiste 16, Oddo 13), Simon 74 (Te 15).
Block assists / solo – SPU 24 / 2 solo (Stegemoller 8 / 1 solo), Simon 12 / 1 solo (Pinkney 3 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 45-24-150—140 (Dunham 7-0-13—538), Simon 64-32-167—192 (Hartmann 10-2-15—533).
Attendance – 423.
Records
Seattle Pacific 5-10, 2-5 GNAC. Simon Fraser 8-7, 4-3 GNAC.
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Western Washington
Saturday, 7:00 p.m.
Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
