Box score (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – How many times can one team come back from the brink of defeat?
 
For the Seattle Pacific volleyball team, the answer was crystal clear on Saturday afternoon:
 
As many times as it takes.
 
Having dropped the first two games of their Great Northwest Athletic Conference match against Central Washington, the Falcons battled back to force a decisive Game 5.
 
Then, they staved off match points at 14-12, 14-13, 15-14, and 16-15 to stun the Wildcats in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Scores were 20-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22, 18-16.
 
 

"One of our team values is to have grit, and I think we're figuring out what that means," coach Abbie Wright said after logging her first win against Central in six tries. "As a team, we played really well, and that's a testament to it being a team sport and all 16 people contribute to. We were resilient, we came back, and I'm really proud of them for that."
 
SPU (9-11, 6-6 GNAC) now has won four straight matches. The Falcons' last victory against the Wildcats was a five-gamer at home in 2016.
 
"It was just trusting our process and remembering our system and remembering our scouting report," Wright said, "and not getting carried away in the emotional highs and lows of the match."
 
Junior opposite / outside hitter Maddie Batiste hammered 18 kills onto Iron Coaching Court to lead the Falcons. Senior outside Gabby Oddo notched her second straight double-double and 12^th of the year, this one with 17 kills and a season-high 22 digs.
 
Senior libero Mallie Donohoe came up with a career-high 29 digs, and freshman setter Lindsey Lambert tied her career high with 47 assists, and set a career-high with 24 digs for her second straight double-double.
 




SAVING MATCH PONT – TIMES FOUR
The deciding fifth game went much like the rest of the afternoon – that is to say, back and forth. It was tied four times early on. Central Washington (12-8, 7-5 GNAC) edged ahead by two, and was still up two at the changeover, 8-6.
 
Seattle Pacific pulled even at 9-9, and then it was a series of two-point swings: The Wildcats went up 11-9, SPU tied it at 11-11, then Central went up 13-11.
 
Up 14-12 and serving for the match, a CWU player was called for a double-hit. Now with SPU serving and needing another point to stay alive, Batiste got it with a kill from backcourt for 14-14.
 
A service error put the Wildcats on top, 15-14. Oddo got it back with a kill. Another service error gave Central a 16-15 lead. Gabi Stegemoller saved that match point with a kill.
 
 

Then at 16-16, Central Washington's Makala Swart, who already had 20 kills, went for No. 21 – but two Falcon freshmen had other ideas, as Lambert and Delaney Dunham combined on a block. That made it 17-16 and gave Seattle Pacific its first try at match point.
 
Following a Central timeout, another freshman – this time, it was Paige Dawson – sent a sinking serve over the net that dropped in for a match-clinching ace.
 
ALWAYS WITHIN RANGE
Even though preseason GNAC co-favorite Central Washington won the first two games, Seattle Pacific was never out of either one. The Falcons had a 14-12 lead in the opener, then saw the Wildcats go on an 8-2 run to take control at 22-16.
 
The second game was back and fourth throughout out with 16 ties and nine lead changes. SPU had a game point in that one at 24-23, but Central put the last three on the board  to take a two-game lead.
 
Down 18-17 in Game 3, the Falcons put together a 5-1 surge to go up 22-19. The Wildcats got within 23-21, then a kill by Batiste and combined block by Dunham and Erin Gould clinched it and kept SPU alive.
 
The Falcons were cruising in Game 4, up 21-12 before Central Washington staged a big comeback, closing all the way to 23-21 and 24-22. A CWU bad set put the clinching point on the Falcons' side of the board and forced Game 5.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The last time SPU came back to win after dropping the first two games was Sept. 21, 2017 at Alaska Fairbanks.
--The Falcons topped 60 kills for the second time in the past three matches. On Saturday, they had 62 on the way to hitting .146 (62-31 errors-213 attacks).
-- Along with Maddie Batiste's 18 kills and Gabby Oddo's 17, Gabi Stegemoller finished with 10 to go along with five block assists.
-- Batiste served up three aces for the second straight day, matching the career high she set against Northwest Nazarene on Thursday.
-- Once again, Delaney Dunham delivered an effective performance with eight kills, .353 hitting, and a career-high nine block assists..
-- Along with her assist-dig double-double, Lindsey Lambert had a career-high six block assists and seven total blocks. The 24 digs she had beat her previous career 18 from the four-game win at Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 28.  The 47 assists matched what she had in last Saturday's four-game win at Montana State Billings.
-- Mallie Donohoe's previous career high for digs was 25 in the Sept. 28 NNU match..
 
UP NEXT
SPU takes to the road next week. Up first is a stop in Monmouth on Thursday to face Western Oregon at 7:00 p.m. Then it a trip to Concordia-Portland next Saturday, Nov. 2, at 2:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Central Washington 2
 
Game scores – 20-25, 24-26, 25-21, 25-22, 18-16.
 
Service aces – CWU 4 (Aihara 2), SPU 7 (Batiste 3).
Kills – CWU 69 (Swart 20), SPU 62 (Batiste 18, Oddo 17, Stegemoller 10).
Assists – CWU 66 (Aihara 37), SPU 58 (Lambert 47).
Digs – CWU 107 (Morgan 25), SPU 97 (Donohoe 29, Lambert 24, Oddo 22)
Block assists / solo – CWU 16 / 1 solo (Mellander 6 / 0 solo), SPU 28 / 1 solo (Dunham 9 / 0 solo, Lambert 6 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – CWU 69-35-220—.155 (Swart 20-6-57—.246), SPU 62-31-213—.146 (Dunham 8-2-17—.353).
Attendance – 261.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 9-11, 6-6 GNAC.  Central Washington 12-8, 7-5 GNAC.
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon
Thursday, Oct. 31   7:00 p.m.
New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.