THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Sept. 26              Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Sept. 28               Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene, Noon PDT
                                                Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
        Weekly release with complete updated stats (PDF)
 
SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons are still seeking their first conference win. They're hoping they can put it into the books on their first conference road trip.
 
After dropping last week's home matches against Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks, SPU will take to the highways and airways for the second week of Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
First stop is Ellensburg for Thursday's contest against Central Washington. The first serve in Nicholson Pavilion is at 7:00 p.m. Then after coming back across the Cascades that night, the Falcons fly off to Idaho for Saturday's match at Northwest Nazarene in Nampa. That one begins at noon PDT.
 
Seattle Pacific (3-7, 0-2 GNAC) will be looking for some better outcomes than it had in sweeps by the Alaska schools in Brougham Pavilion. But their two opponents also figure to be in redemption mode. Central, which is receiving votes in the national poll, was swept in Bellingham by No. 2-ranked Western Washington last Saturday.. Northwest Nazarene, like the Falcons, is still trying to get into the GNAC win column, having lost in four games at both Western and at Simon Fraser.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Free live Webcasts and live stats will be available for all GNAC matches, home and away. The appropriate links for this week's home contests can be found at the top of this story.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Coach Abbie Wright is one win away from her 30th.
-- She is still pursuing her first win against both Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene. This will be her fifth look at both of those teams.
-- All three of SPU's victories this season have come away from home: on neutral courts against Cal State East Bay and Chaminade, and a five-gamer against Cal Poly Pomona on the Broncos' home court.
-- Last year, the Falcons were 6-9 overall away from home: 6-5 in true road matches, and 5-5 in conference road matches.
-- Through the years, the Central Washington series has been the most back-and-forth for SPU. The Wildcats currently lead it, 41-35, have won the last four in a row, and 11 of the last 12.
-- Seattle Pacific's last victory in the series was a five-gamer on Oct. 27, 2016 in Brougham Pavilion, 15-7 in the fifth.
--The last time the Falcons won in Nicholson Pavilion was a five-gamer exactly four years prior to that: Oct. 27, 2012.
-- Northwest Nazarene, with 13 in a row, has the longest current winning streak against Seattle Pacific of any GNAC school.
-- SPU's most recent triumph against NNU was Sept. 29, 2012, in Seattle – back when the school was still known as the Crusaders. That one went to five.
-- In fact, of those 13 straight Northwest Nazarene wins, five have reached a deciding fifth game. That includes last year's contest in Nampa, with the Nighthawks took, 15-13, scoring three of the final four points to snap a 12-12 tie.
-- Outside hitter Jaeden Hooker, now a senior, had a big day in Nampa in 2018 with a career high of 17 kills.
--The NNU-Central road trip was a productive one for Gabby Oddo last season: 11 kills and 30 digs in Nampa, 19 kills and 10 digs in Ellensburg.
-- Central's Makala Swart, a junior 6-1 outside hitter, put up big numbers against the Falcons last fall, totaling 24 kills and 19 digs in the two matches combined (10 kills, 12 digs in Ellensburg).
-- Northwest Nazarene had four players with double-digit kills in the 2018 SPU match at Nampa – and three of those are back in 2019: senior 5-9 outside hitter Kayla Sale (16, plus 19 digs), junior 6-foot outside Abbey Blum (15 kills on .344 hitting), and 6-2 sophomore middle blocker Tayler Markland (13 kills on .417 hitting).
 




SCOUTING REPORT
CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 6-4, 1-1 GNAC (tie 5^th)
All-time series: CWU leads, 41-35. Current series streak: CWU won 4. Last time: CWU 3, SPU 0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-15, Oct. 25, 2018 at Seattle). Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central, selected with Western Washington as the co-favorite in the GNAC preseason poll, certainly had some moments in last week's showdown against the Vikings in Bellingham, but Western eventually won in a sweep. Junior 6-foot-1 outside hitter Makala Swart had a double-double of 14 kills and 10 digs, and hit .243 vs. the Vikings. She averages 3.32 kills per game, tops on the team and No. 7 in the GNAC – and that's playing in just seven of the 10 matches. Leading the way in total kills is a freshman, 5-8 outside hitter Ashley Kaufman, with 113 – the only CWU player in triple digits. Her average of 2.83 per game ranks No. 16 among conference players. The Wildcats have three players who have come up big on the block: 5-11 junior middle Julia Mellander with 51 total (1.27 per game), 5-11 junior outside Diana Fa'amausili with 42 1.03), and 5-11 senior outside Bridgette Webb with 30 (0.75). Fa'amausili also has the top hitting average among the regulars at .268. The Wildcats will be playing at home for the first time this season.
 
NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS: 4-5, 0-2 GNAC (tie 8^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 20-18. Current series streak: NNU won 13. Last time: NNU 3, SPU 0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-20; Oct. 27, 2018 at Seattle). Nighthawks on the Web.
Nighthawks in a nutshell: Northwest Nazarene has gone to the five-game limit three times in its nine matches, and has won two of those. It has three players ranked among the GNAC's top 20 for kills per game: sophomore 6-foot-1 outside hitter Brooke Foster with 3.34 per game / 117 total (No. 6), junior 6-foot outside Abbey Blum with 2.89 per game / 101 total (No. 15), and sophomore 6-foot outside Natalie Sullivan at 2.44 per game  83 total (No. 20). Foster got 14 of her kills in last Thursday's four-game loss at Western Washington. Tayler Markland, a sophomore 6-1 middle blocker, leads the Nighthawks in hitting at .252, and Foster is at .201. There are five player in double-digit blocks, led by junior 5-11 middle Lexi Ward with 28. Markland has 23.

 

COACH ABBIE WRIGHT SAYS …
(On Central Washington)
"Our eyework and preparation needs to be pretty systematic. We need to be aware that they are a team that is pretty flexible. They can make plays happen. They're pretty dynamic and pretty athletic. Sometimes, it's hard to put those teams in a box because they can flex and they can adjust as the match goes."
 
(On Northwest Nazarene)
"They had a young roster last year, but they've all been playing together for a year, so I'm sure they're well-oiled and doing fine. They're more veteran than we are."
 
(On the first three weeks of the season)
"It's just figuring out our identity and is day-by day for us. It's getting more confident and learning how to play together."
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
The Falcons got blanked in the double-double department against Alaska Anchorage last Thursday, but put two more into the book on Saturday against Alaska Fairbanks. That gives the team 15 for the season.
 
Taylor Alicuben (1 season / 1 career)
32 AST-10D vs. Hawaii Hilo, Sept. 13
 
Maddie Batiste (8 season / 9 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
 
Gabby Oddo (6 season / 42 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
 
DONOHOE GETTING IT DONE
For the past two seasons, Mallie Donohoe has earned her share of regular playing time. But it was often in a reserve role.
 
 

Not anymore. When the libero is introduced along with the rest of the starters, it's senior Donohoe who is out there in the opposite-colored uniform. And once again, she's earning it.
 
Through the first 10 matches, Donohoe has been on the court for 37 of the 38 games. She already has a team-high 124 digs, almost exactly halfway to last year's total of 251 and her sophomore year total of 264. With 18 matches to go, Donohoe is well within reach of not only passing those totals, but leaving them way behind.
 
Donohoe also has racked up 26 assists and eight service aces. Her single-season highs in those two categories are 32 assists and 21 aces, both as a sophomore in 2017.
 
As someone who came to SPU as an outside hitter, Donohoe also can take a swing at the ball if the opportunity is there. She has one kill on five attacks so far. Last season, she finished with 18 on 147 attacks.
 
PLAYING FAVORITES
While volleyball players aren't generally as well known among the sporting public as athletes from higher-profile sports, they're certainly well known – and very well respected – among other volleyball players.
 
The Falcons are a case in point. Of the 16 players on the squad, nine selected a volleyball player as their favorite (or co-favorite) athlete.
 
By a slim margin, three-time U.S. Olympic team gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings was the favorite of the favorites, with four votes. That left her one vote ahead of former University of Washington star libero Courtney Thompson, herself a two-time indoor Olympian with a bronze in 2016.
 
Other prominent volley players who were mentioned once each were Debbie Green (a setter who was mentioned, appropriately enough, by SPU setter Taylor Alicuben) and Paige Tapp.
 
Only one non-volleyball athlete got more than one vote: Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry, with two.
 
ON TRACK FOR TRIPLE THOUSAND
Heading into this week's matches, senior outside hitter Gabby Oddo is 140 digs away from 1,000 for her career – a noteworthy feat in its own right, especially for an outside hitter.
 
 

If she gets there, it will be even more noteworthy. That would make Oddo just the third player in the 34-year history of the SPU program to make "triple thousand": kills, points, and digs.
 
Oddo already has hit a grand in the first two categories. She has 1,119 kills and 1,262.5 points (kills-aces-blocks). The only other Falcons to have pulled that off are Stephanie Huffman from 1997-2000 (1,135 kills / 1,340 digs / 1,311.5 points) and Leilani Kamahoahoa (1,249 kills / 1,397 digs / 1,461.5 points)..
 
AROUND THE WEST
Conference matches are now in full swing throughout the West Region. In the GNAC, four teams got off to a 2-0 start last week: Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, Montana State Billings, and Western Washington. The Vikings, at 10-0, are the lone undefeated team. Billings had gone just 1-7 in preseason play, but beat Concordia-Portland and Western Oregon in Montana. Among those four 2-and-0s, at least two of them will fall this week. The two Alaskas play on Tuesday in Fairbanks, then both play host to Billings.
 
Cal State San Bernardino, UC San Diego, and Chico State all went 2-0 to begin the California Collegiate Athletic Association schedule. San Bernardino is 9-0 overall, and is that circuit's only team with a perfect record. CSSB and UCSD are top the South Division and clash on Saturday in San Bernardino. Chico leads the North.
 
Chaminade and Biola both came through the first week of Pacific West Conference play at 2-0. Chaminade has the best overall record at 8-2, Azusa Pacific is 7-2, but played just one conference match, sweeping Point Loma Nazarene.
 

UP NEXT
SPU is back in Brougham Pavilion next Thursday and Saturday against the Oregon schools. Concordia-Portland is in town on Thursday, Oct. 3, at 7:00 p.m. Western Oregon visits on Saturday the 5^th at 2:00 p.m.
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                Conference    Overall
Western Washington       2-0      10-0
Alaska Anchorage         2-0       7-3
Alaska Fairbanks         2-0       5-5
Montana State Billings   2-0       4-7
Central Washington       1-1       6-4
Simon Fraser             1-1       5-5
Concordia-Portland       1-1       3-6
Northwest Nazarene       0-2       4-5
Seattle Pacific          0-2       3-7
Western Oregon           0-2       2-7
Saint Martin's           0-2       0-11