Box score (PDF)
 
MONMOUTH, Ore. – The winning streak is alive at five.
 
Maddie Batiste had 11 kills, and Seattle Pacific came from 23-21 down in Game 3 by scoring the last four points to close out a sweep of Western Oregon in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match on Thursday night.
 
Scores in the New P.E. Building were 25-23, 25-18, 25-23
 
The Falcons (10-11, 7-6 GNAC) won their fifth consecutive match. The last time they strung together that many was last September through the early portion of the conference schedule.
 
They also climbed back above the .500 mark in GNAC play for the first time since last Nov. 1, when they were 9-8 after a five-game win at Alaska Anchorage.

"We pulled through in some tight moments," SPU head coach Abbie Wright said. "Even at times when we had a lead, I thought we sustained really well and just found a way to win. Our girls are just gaining some confidence in each other and themselves, and they're just playing with some grit and some heart."
 
 
 

Junior opposite / outside hitter Batiste was the only Seattle Pacific player in double digits on Thursday. She also came up with nine digs, and delivered three of the team's 12 service aces. Freshman Paige Dawson sent four aces across the net.
 
Senior outside hitter Gabby Oddo added eight kills for the Falcons. Junior middle blocker Gabi Stegemoller had five and factored into another six points on blocks.
 
ANOTHER MATCH, ANOTHER LATE COMEBACK
Down 20-17 in the third game, the Falcons climbed back within one on three occasions: 20-19, 21-20, and 22-21. The Wolves (3-17, 1-12 GNAC) answered each time.
 
At 23-21, SPU freshman middle blocker Delaney Dunham played a ball off the net and somehow knocked it over. Then it was the Wolves' turn to try playing it off the net, and they were not able to get it back. That made it 23-22 and gave the serve to Oddo.
 
Dunham and senior outside hitter Jaeden Hooker combined on a block to tie it at 23-23. Oddo then slapped a free ball over from backcourt, and it deflected off a WOU player, giving the Falcons match point at 24-23. A Oddo service ace clinched it.
 
Seattle Pacific used a 9-2 run to snap a 12-12 tie and take a 21-14 lead in Game 1. Western Oregon climbed back in, getting within 23-20. The Falcons gained a game point at 24-20, but the Wolves put three straight on the board. Finally, Stegemoller clinched it with a kill.
 
A 6-2 spurt put SPU in control of Game 2 at 16-10. Another run, this one a five-pointer, pushed it out to 21-11.

"We just got some blocks at the right time and came up clutch at the right time," Wright said. "It's finding a way when things aren't going perfectly. For a lot of the match, we were trying to find our rhythm. We pulled it together in tight moments."
  
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The Falcons swept the Western Oregon home-and-home series for the third straight year.
-- Seattle Pacific got eight points on blocks – and half of those came on their final eight points of Game 3. First, it was Gabi Stegemoller and freshman setter Lindsey Lambert twice in a row to trim a 20-17 deficit to 20-19. Western Oregon got the next point on a block, then Stegemoller and Lambert were at it again, making it 21-20. Then came the Jaeden Hooker-Delaney Dunham combo for the 23-23 tie.
-- Of SPU's 75 points for the night, 25 of those were the result of serving: 12 Falcons aces, 13 Wolves errors.
--The Falcons hit .237 for the match (35 kills-12 errors-97 attacks). That included a .297 performance (15-4-37) in Game 3. Western Oregon hit .245 (38-13-102), and started off hot at .371 in the opening game. In fact, the Wolves had 12 kills before their first attack error.
-- Mallie Donohoe led Seattle Pacific with 19 digs.
-- Gabby Oddo came up with nine digs, putting her at 986 for her career.
-- Dunham had an error-free hitting match with five kills on 10 attacks for a .500 percentage. That's the second time this season she has had a match with multiple kills and no errors.
 
UP NEXT
SPU concludes its Oregon trip with a visit to Concordia-Portland on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. It'll be going for a season split, as the Cavaliers won a four-gamer on Oct. 3 in Seattle, 25-20, 25-16, 21-25, 25-15. Concordia swept Saint Martin's on Thursday, 25-14, 25-21, 25-23.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019
New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Western Oregon 0
 
Game scores – 25-23, 25-18, 25-23.
 
Service aces – SPU 12 (Dawson 4), WOU 5 (Stanton 4).
Kills – SPU 35 (Batiste 11), WOU 38 (DiCarli 10, L. Smith 10).
Assists – SPU 30 (Lambert 28), WOU 34 (Stanton 28).
Digs – SPU 46 (Donohoe 19), WOU 48 (Speer 18).
Block assists / solo – SPU 16 / 0 solo (Stegemoller 6 / 0 solo), WOU 8 / 3 solo (Crisp 3 / 2 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 35-12-97—237 (Dunham 5-0-10—.500, Stegemoller 5-1-11—.455), WOU 38-13-102—.245 (Crisp 5-1-10—.400, L. Smith 10-5-24—.208)
Attendance – 138.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 10-11, 7-6 GNAC.  Western Oregon 3-17, 1-12 GNAC.
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Concordia-Portland
Saturday, 2:00 p.m.
LCEF Court / Portland, Ore.