THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov. 21               Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks, 8:00 p.m. PDT
                                                The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Nov. 23                Seattle Pacific at Alaska Anchorage, 8:00 p.m. PDT
                                                Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 

        Weekly release, with complete updated stats (PDF)

SEATTLE – First serve was just 11 weeks ago.
 
Final point is just a few days away.
 
The Seattle Pacific Falcons will conclude the 2019 volleyball season this week when they head to Alaska for their last two Great Northwest Athletic Conference matches.
 
On Thursday, SPU will visit Alaska Fairbanks, which has been residing in the top half of the standings all season. Then on Saturday, it's off to Alaska Anchorage, a perennial NCAA Tournament qualifier which solidified its chances of making the tournament with last week's victories at Western Washington in five games and at Simon Fraser in four. Both matches begin at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time.
 
Seattle Pacific is coming off a split of its final home matches of the fall, scoring a four-game win against Saint Martin's, but falling in four to Montana State Billings.
 
As the team brings down the curtain on the season, five seniors – Taylor Alicuben, Mallie Donohoe, Jaeden Hooker, Katie Mansfield, and Gabby Oddo – will do likewise on their collegiate careers.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Free live Webcasts and live stats will be available for this week's matches. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 




SO WHAT"S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- As is always the case on the GNAC schedule, the teams that close the season against each other also opened the season against each other. Fairbanks and Anchorage both were in Seattle in the middle of September, and both left town with three-game sweeps.
--The Falcons are 6-4 in true road matches and 8-8 overall away from home, which in includes 2-4 on neutral courts during preseason tournaments.
--SPU is looking for a split of both season series. So far, it has earned splits against Concordia-Portland and Montana State Billings – and in each case, the road team was the winner.
--  Alaska Anchorage had five straight years of series sweeps against Seattle Pacific – until last year.
-- That's when the Falcons won in Anchorage for the first time since November 2012, scoring a five-game decision, 25-15, 15-25, 25-15, 18-25, 15-11. Prior to that, they had lost 11 straight to the Seawolves. Gabby Oddo had 18 kills that night.
-- SPU will try to keep Alaska Fairbanks from securing a second straight season sweep.
-- Although the Falcons rank No. 3 in the GNAC in service aces per game (1.83, just behind Northwest Nazarene's 1.84), they have the second highest total of 179 (right ahead of NNU's 178). And, they're plus-21 on aces over errors (179 / 158).
-- Junior opposite / outside hitter Maddie Batiste has a slight lead on senior outside Gabby Oddo for total kills heading into the week. Batiste has 352 / 3.59 per game for No. 2 in the GNAC, and Oddo is at 345 / 3.52 for No. 4.
-- Last week, those two were dead-even on points at 356.5 apiece. For now, Oddo has moved ahead with 403.5 after earning 47 last week on kills, aces, and blocks. Her total is No. 3 in the conference. Batiste tallied 38, and is No. 4 with 394.5.
--SPU has three players who have a chance to wind up playing in every game this season. The team has played 98, and so have Oddo, Batiste, and sophomore outside hitter / middle blocker Erin Gould. Senior libero Mallie Donohoe has been in 97 of 98, and freshman setter Lindsey Lambert has been in 95.
--Lambert needs just 28 assists this week to surpass the 832 that current school record holder Symone Tran had as a freshman. Tran picked up the pace considerably as a sophomore, junior, and senior, winding up with 4,149.
-- Coach Abbie Wright is 1-4 against both Anchorage and Fairbanks.
 
SCOUTING REPORT
ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS: 14-12, 11-7 GNAC (5^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 38-16. Current series streak: UAF won 4. Last time: UAF 3, SPU 0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-22; Sept. 21 at Seattle). Nanooks on the Web.
Nanooks in a nutshell: After a four-match skid in late October, Alaska Fairbanks has won five of its last seven, including a sweep at Simon Fraser last Thursday before getting swept at Western Washington on Saturday. Senior  6-foot middle blocker Kim Wong remains one of the toughest players in the GNAC at the net. She ranks No. 5 in hitting percentage at .282 with 234 kills, and is No. 7 in blocking with 102 total, an average of 1.05 per game. Emily Moorhead, a junior 5-11 middle, is right behind Wong in blocking with 89 (1.01 per game. Junior 5-foot-10 outside hitter Lahra Weber is the conference's top server with 51 aces.  Sophomore 5-7 libero Makena Overbey came up with 20 digs when the Nanooks and SPU met in September, and she ranks No. 9 in the GNAC for digs at 3.91 per game. Alaska Fairbanks is one of four conference teams averaging more than two blocks per game, sitting at 2.27.
 
ALASKA ANCHORAGE SEAWOLVES: 20-6, 15-3 GNAC (2^nd)
All-time series: SPU leads, 29-27. Current series streak: UAA won 1. Last time: UAA 3, SPU 0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-11; Sept. 19 at Seattle). Seawolves on the Web.
Seawolves in a nutshell: Anchorage pulled off the improbable last week, beating Western Washington in Bellingham after losing the first two games and then facing match point in Game 4. The Seawolves fought off that match point, ultimately winning it in five, 16-14 in the fifth. Heading into this week, they seem safely locked into a spot in the NCAA West Regionals. Anchorage is the second-best hitting team (.230), the second-best blocking team (2.56 per game) and the best serving team (223 aces) in the GNAC. Kayla McGlathery, a junior 6-foot middle blocker, is one of five .300 hitters in the conference, sitting at exactly .300 to begin the week. Sophomore 6-1 opposite Eve Stephens is atop the GNAC kills list at 3.90 per game.  Freshman libero Maggie Schlueter and senior outside hitter Vanessa Hayes have combined for 99 aces (50 and 49, respectively), and sophomore 5-10 setter Ellen Floyd has delivered another 43. Junior 6-2 middle Vera Pluharova (1.25) and McGlathery (1.10) are Nos. 3 and 5 in average blocks per game.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLES DELIGHTS
Talk about a couple of doubly-impressive double-doubles. On Nov. 9 against Simon Fraser, junior Maddie Batiste had 22 kills and 20 digs – the first 20-20 of her career, and both of which were career highs. Just three night last against Saint Martin's last Tuesday, Batiste did it again, but with the numbers reversed: 20 kills and 22 digs. The latter is now her new career-high number in that stat category. Senior Gabby Oddo has put up three double-doubles in a row heading into the final week of the season.
 
SPU has 37 double-doubles for the year.
 
Taylor Alicuben (1 season / 1 career)
32 AST-10D vs. Hawaii Hilo, Sept. 13
 
Maddie Batiste (15 season / 16 career)
14K-10D vs. Cal State East Bay, Sept. 7
11K-14D vs. Concordia Irvine, Sept. 7
12K-10D vs. Point Loma Nazarene, Sept. 8
13K-13D vs. Cal Poly Pomona, Sept. 12
14K-11D vs. Cal St. Monterey Bay, Sept. 12
20K-15D vs. Hawaii Hilo, Sept. 13
20K-11D vs. Chaminade, Sept. 14
11K-10D vs. Alaska Fairbanks, Sept. 21
16K-12D at Northwest Nazarene, Sept. 28
14K-16D at Simon Fraser, Oct. 10
19K-17D at Montana State Billings, Oct. 19
10K-19D vs. Northwest Nazarene, Oct. 24
20K-15D at Concordia-Portland, Nov. 2
22K-20D vs. Simon Fraser, Nov. 9
20K-22D vs. Saint Martin's, Nov. 12
 
Lindsey Lambert (5 season / 5 career)
39 AST-10D at Northwest Nazarene, Sept. 28
36 AST-10D vs. Northwest Nazarene, Oct. 24
47 AST-24D vs. Central Washington, Oct. 26
51 AST-10D vs. Simon Fraser, Nov. 9
39 AST-16D vs. Saint Martin's, Nov. 12
 
Gabby Oddo 16 season / 52 career)
17K-11D vs. Concordia Irvine, Sept. 7
14K-14D vs. Point Loma Nazarene, Sept. 8
15K-11D vs. Cal Poly Pomona, Sept. 12
14K-16D vs. Hawaii Hilo, Sept. 13
12K-18D  vs. Chaminade, Sept. 14
12K-13D vs. Alaska Fairbanks, Sept. 21
20K-14D at Northwest Nazarene, Sept. 28
12K-15D vs. Concordia-Portland, Oct. 3
14K-15D vs. Western Oregon, Oct. 5
16K-13D at Simon Fraser, Oct. 10
16K-10D vs. Northwest Nazarene, Oct. 24
17K-22D vs. Central Washington, Oct. 26
16K-13D at Concordia-Portland, Nov. 2
16K-14D vs. Simon Fraser, Nov. 9
16K-14D vs. Saint Martin's, Nov. 12
22K-12D vs. Montana State Billings, Nov. 14
 
ONE MORE SHOT AT MILESTONES
While the five Falcons seniors have hit various milestones during their careers, a few more might be within reach before they leave the court for good.
 
Taylor Alicuben: Needs four digs to reach 200 for her career.
Mallie Donohoe: Needs 18 digs to reach 400 for the season.
Jaeden Hooker: Needs five kills to reach 300 for her career.
Katie Mansfield: Needs 27 digs to reach 100 for the season.
Gabby Oddo: Needs seven service aces to reach 50 for the season. The last Falcon to log 50 was Angie Wodrich with 51 in 2006.
 
TRYING FOR TRIPLE DIGITS
Freshman middle blocker Delaney Dunham would need a couple of monster matches to reach 100 blocks for the season, as she starts the week with 83 (77 block assists / 6 solo), for an average of 0.97 per game in 86 total games.
 
But Dunham still has a chance to push her average up to 1.00 per game. To do that, Dunham will need to average one block in every game the Falcons play this week – plus get three more along the way. For instance, if SPU were to play seven total games (a three-gamer and a four gamer), Dunham would need 10 blocks altogether.
 
Regardless, she will finish her first season as Seattle Pacific's leading blocker since junior middle Gabi Stegemoller has been out since the start of November with an injury.
 
AROUND THE WEST
All of a sudden, it's up for grabs in the GNAC. Alaska Anchorage (20-6, 15-3 GNAC) kept its title hopes alive by winning last Thursday at Western Washington (24-2, 16-2). That leaves the Vikings up by one match with two left. If they were to wind up tied, the tiebreaker and automatic bid to NCAAs would go to the Seawolves, since they beat WWU both times. While UAA is home against the Falcons and Saint Martin's, Western visits Central Washington (17-9, 12-6) on Thursday, and winds up at Northwest Nazarene (13-12, 9-9) on Saturday.
 
Cal State San Bernardino will be the team to beat in this week's California Collegiate Athletic Association tournament. The Coyotes are 24-0 overall and went 17-0 on conference play, winning the South Division over Cal State Los Angeles (18-7, 14-3). Stanislaus State (16-9, 11-7) won the North. San Bernardino is hosting the tournament. And, it is in the driver's seat to host the NCAA West Regionals, as well.
 
Azusa Pacific has clinched at least a share of the Pacific West Conference crown after beating all three Hawaii schools in California last week. The Cougars (24-4, 18-2) have won eight in a row heading into their regular-season finales at home against Concordia Irvine (16-11, 10-9) and Fresno Pacific (6-23, 5-15). Hawaii Hilo (21-7, 16-4), trying to keep alive its bid to make the NCAAs, will be home against Holy Names (2-22, 1-17) and Academy of Art (12-15, 9-10).
 
UP NEXT
With the season after this week, the Falcons will return to action next fall. The GNAC will host the D2 West Region Showcase in 2020. Host schools are based on the final standings. Those will be determined after the holidays..
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                Conference          Overall
Western Washington        16-2        24-2
Alaska Anchorage          15-3        20-6
Central Washington        12-6        17-9
Simon Fraser              12-6        16-10
Alaska Fairbanks          11-7        14-12
Northwest Nazarene         9-9        13-12
Seattle Pacific            9-9        12-14
Concordia-Portland         7-11        9-16
Montana State Billings     5-13        8-20
Western Oregon             2-16        4-21
Saint Martin's             1-17        1-26