Box score (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons say they're finding their stride.
 
For the second time in three matches, they found their brooms, too.
 
Gabby Oddo and Maddie Batiste each posted double-doubles on Thursday night, and SPU swept past Northwest Nazarene in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match.
 
Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 25-15, 25-22, 25-22, as the Falcons won their third in a row.
 
Senior outside hitter Oddo put 16 kills onto Iron Coaching Court – getting four of those on Seattle Pacific's final six points of the match – and came up with 13 digs for her 11^th double-double of the season and the 47^th of her career. She hit .289 for the night, with just three errors on 45 attacks.
 
 

Junior opposite / outside Batiste tied her career high with 19 digs, and added 10 kills. And, she delivered a career-high three service aces. That was her 12th double-double of the year and 13th of her career.
 
Although the match went just three games, the Falcons had 80 digs, their second-highest total of the season. They had five players in double-digits, led by Batiste's 19. Senior libero Mallie Donohoe was right behind with 18. Donohoe moved past 800 for her career, now with 806.
 
"I really do feel like our team is trusting each other and getting better at some of those things," Falcons coach Abbie Wright said. "It really has been great to see them hit their stride and see the trust level increase and see the way the communication level is increasing on the court.
 
"That's something we can build on."
 




FAST START, AND THEN A BATTLE
The Falcons were quick out of the blocks, building a 6-2 lead and forced NNU (9-9, 5-6 GNAC) to call an early timeout. But Seattle Pacific kept going, stretching the advantage to six and never letting the Nighthawks get closer than five in gradually pulling away.
 
Different story in the second game. Northwest Nazarene got the first three points, and except for an 8-8 tie, led all the way up to 17-14. The Falcons came to life with a 7-1 run to take a 21-18 lead.
 
Then it was NNU's turn for four points in a row, going up 22-21. But Seattle Pacific got the last four on a kill off the net cord by Jaeden Hooker, crosscourt kills to the sideline by Batiste and Erin Gould, and a Nighthawks attack error.
 
The third game was going much the same way, with Northwest Nazarene taking an 8-2 advantage and stretching it to 19-14. SPU put together a 5-0 run to tie it, with freshman Paige Dawson on the serve for the last four of those points.
 
 

NNU went up 21-19, but the Falcons had the final surge. A tip by Oddo, a kill by Oddo, a combined block by Hooker and Delaney Dunham, and another Oddo kill produced a 23-21 lead. The Nighthawks got one point back on an attack error. Oddo set up match point with another kill, and Hooker converted it with a kill.
 
"We did the scouting report really well in the first game, and we were on the assignments that we needed to be on," Wright said. "NNU is well coached, and I knew they would get back into it. I'm proud of the way we displayed some grit in the second and third games, coming from behind. That was encouraging."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
 

-- Sometimes, one point can either sustain momentum or kill it. Such a point went the Falcons' way in Game 3 in the midst of the 5-0 run that brought them from 19-14 down. It was 19-17 Nighthawks with Paige Dawson serving. The ensuing rally saw a combined 15 attacks, 17 digs, and three instances when the ball was simply pushed over the net to keep it alive. It finally ended when freshman Delaney Dunham got a solo block, giving the point to SPU.
-- SPU hit .243 for the night with 46 kills and just 13 errors on 136 swings. That included .333 in Game 1 (15-3-36), then .200 and .219 in the last two games.
-- Junior middle blocker Gabi Stegemoller hit .444 (9-1-18), and Dunham was at .375 (4-1-8), giving the middles a combined mark of .423.
 

-- Freshman setter Lindsey Lambert recorded her second double-double, registering 36 assists and 10 digs.
-- The last time SPU swept the season series from Northwest Nazarene was in 2010. Prior to winning both of this year's matches (including 3-1 in Nampa on Sept. 28), they had lost 13 straight.


 
UP NEXT
The Falcons are home against Central Washington on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Wildcats won the first meeting, 3-0 in Ellensburg on Sept. 26. Central won at Saint Martin's on Thursday, 25-12, 25-13, 25-16.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Northwest Nazarene 0
 
Game scores – 25-15, 25-22, 25-22.
 
Service aces – NNU 7 (Nelson 3), SPU 6 (Batiste 3).
Kills – NNU 35 (Foster 15), SPU 46 (Oddo 16, Batiste 10).
Assists – NNU 32 (Nelson 29), SPU 42 (Lambert 36).
Digs – NNU 70 (Sale 21), SPU 80 (Batiste 19, Donohoe 18, Gould 14, Oddo 10, Lambert 10).
Block assists / solo – NNU 4 / 0 solo (Markland 2 / 0 solo), SPU 6 / 2 solo (Lambert 1 / 1 solo, Dunham 1 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – NNU 35-17-140—129 (Foster 15-5-46—217), SPU 46-13-136—243 (Stegemoller 9-1-18—444).
Attendance – 117.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 8-11, 5-6 GNAC.  Northwest Nazarene 9-9, 5-6 GNAC.
 
Next match
Central Washington at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, 2:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion  / Seattle, Wash.