THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Oct. 14                Seattle Pacific at Western Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Oct. 16                 Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser, 4:00 p.m.
                                                West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
SEATTLE – Bellingham. Burnaby. Two distinct locations … two different countries …
 
… and two of the toughest places to win a volleyball match.
 
But that's exactly what the Seattle Pacific Falcons will aim to do this week when they wrap up the first round of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule with trips to Western Washington and Simon Fraser.
 
The Falcons and No. 20-ranked Vikings will serve it up at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday in Carver Gymnasium. On Saturday, it's a trip north of the border into British Columbia to take on Simon Fraser at 4:00 p.m. in West Gym.
 
Seattle Pacific (9-5, 5-2 GNAC) will head up Interstate 5 coming off its first true road victory of the season, a 3-0 sweep of Montana State Billings last Saturday. Combined with other results from around the conference, the Falcons find themselves in sole possession of fourth place, right between second-place Western Washington (9-4, 5-1 GNAC) and fifth-place Simon Fraser (10-4, 4-3 GNAC).
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both matches will have live Webcasts and live stats. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- In 35 matches at Western Washington (first one in 1986, the inaugural year of SPU's program), the Falcons have won six, the Vikings have won 29.
-- Somewhat different story at Simon Fraser. In 20 matches on the Canadian side of the series (first one in 1987), SPU has an 11-9 record.
-- Coach Abbie Wright, who took over the program in 2017, has seen her teams win two out of three in Simon's West Gym. But inside Western's Carver Gymnasium, Wright is still seeking her first 'W', as the Vikings have won all six meetings.
-- Seattle Pacific and Western met six times during last spring's abbreviated schedule. The Vikings won four of those.
-- SPU middle blocker Hannah Hair and WWU outside hitter Calley Heilborn were the biggest weapons for their respective teams in those six spring matches. Hair had 64 kills and 23 blocks. Heilborn recorded 73 kills and 86 digs.
-- Seattle Pacific is the GNAC's No. 1 team in kills per set at 13.34, assists per set at 12.66, and blocks per set at 2.60.
-- The first of the two SPU victories vs. WWU last spring was a four-setter on April 24 in Brougham Pavilion, 25-20, 19-25, 25-17, 25-20. Maddie Batiste led the way with 20 kills.
-- Prior to that, the Falcons had lost 13 straight to the Vikings. Their last previous victory in the series had come on Oct. 24, 2013. It was a four-setter in Carver Gym, and was the 500^th overall win in program history.
-- No such milestone numbers in play this week, but the Falcons are closing in on their 600^th win. Now midway through the program's 36^th season, the overall record is 594-466.
-- SPU has topped .300 hitting in its last two matches: .347 against Western Oregon on Oct. 2, and .381 at Montana State Billings last Saturday.
-- The Falcons have hit .200 or better nine times, and have won eight of those matches. At the other end of that spectrum, their opponents have hit .200 or better five times. Seattle Pacific is 2-3 in those matches.
-- Senior outside hitter Erin Gould's .636 hitting percentage in Saturday's win at Billings (15 kills-1 error-22 attacks) is the highest in the GNAC so far this fall. At No. 2 on the list is sophomore middle blocker Hannah Hair's .632 (14-2-29) in a sweep of St. Cloud State on Sept. 11.
-- Hair is now tied with Alaska Anchorage's Vera Pluharova for the GNAC hitting lead. Both are at .351.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 9-4, 5-1 GNAC (2^nd)
All-time series: WWU leads, 54-28. Current series streak: WWU won 2. Last time: WWU 3, SPU 1 (25-23, 27-25, 23-25, 25-23; May 15, 2021 at Bellingham). Last SPU series win: SPU 3, WWU 0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-22; May 14, 2021 at Seattle). Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Western Washington comes in on a four-match winning streak, having logged four-set road victories at Western Oregon and Saint Martin's last week. Sophomore 6-foot-1 outside hitter Calley Heilborn leads the way on offense with a174 kills, a 3.16 average the ranks No. 6 in the GNAC. Gabby Gunterman, a junior 5-10 outside, is close behind with 158 kills, a 2.87 average. Junior 6-2 middle blocker Olivia Fairchild is the second-best hitter in the conference with her .326 percentage. She is just as effective when she gets her hands on the ball defensively, averaging 1.38 blocks per set (76 total, including a whopping 14 solos) to rank No. 2 in the GNAC. Chloe Roetcisoender, a junior 6-foot middle, also is tough on the block, with 56 total (11 solos) and a 1.02 average to occupy the No. 9 slot on the conference list.
 
SCOUTING SIMON FRASER: 10-4, 4-3 GNAC (5^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 30-17. Current series streak: Simon won 3. Last time: Simon 3, SPU 2 (23-25, 29-27, 25-23, 24-26, 15-11; Nov. 9, 2019 at Seattle). Last SPU series win: SPU 3, Simon 1 (20-25, 25-21, 25-18, 28-26; Sept. 8, 2018 at Burnaby, B.C.). Simon on the Web.
Simon Fraser in a nutshell: Simon posted a pair of three-set sweeps on the road last week at Saint Martin's and Western Oregon. The team got off to an attention-grabbing start in September at the season-opening Seaside Invitational. It swept Pacific West Conference favorite Azusa Pacific in the opener. Then the next day, it took down defending NCAA Division II national champion Cal State San Bernardino, 23-25, 26-24, 25-14, 25-13. That ended the Coyotes' 34-match winning streak. Setting the pace on offense is freshman 6-foot-2 opposite Brooke Dexter, who leads the GNAC with 4.27 kills per set (222 total). Her .309 hitting percentage ranks No. 4 in the GNAC. Making sure Dexter gets ample opportunities is senior setter Julia Tays with a conference-leading average of 10.73 assists. Kalyn Hartmann, a sophomore 6-2 middle, is Simon's top blocker with 41 (0.79 per set).
 
RANK 'EM AND PLAY 'EM
When they play Western Washington on Thursday, it will be the fourth time this season that the Falcons will face a nationally ranked team, as the Vikings will come in at No. 20 on the American Volleyball Coaches Association list.
 
The Falcons opened the schedule with ranked opponents on back-to-back days: Colorado School of Mines on Sept. 3 (No. 12 at the time), and Colorado Mesa on Sept. 4 (No. 10). Both schools won in three-set sweeps.
 
The following weekend in Brougham Pavilion, Seattle Pacific took on then-No 13 St. Cloud State of Minnesota and pulled off a three-set sweep. That was their first victory against a top-25 opponent since a four-set win at No. 8 Western Washington on Oct. 24, 2013.
 
For the record, Colorado Mines is up to No. 6 in this week's poll and received one first-place vote. St. Cloud State is No. 14. Mesa has dropped out of the top 25, but is still receiving votes.
 
BEST VS. THE BEST
A handful of the GNAC's leading players at the net will see each other up close and personal this week.
 
 

On Thursday at Western Washington, it'll be Falcons sophomore 6-1 middle blocker Hannah Hair and Vikings junior 6-2 middle Olivia Fairchild. Hair is tied for the GNAC lead in hitting percentage at .351; Fairchild is No. 3 at .326. They also are 1-2 on the blocking list: 1.45 per set for Hair, 1.38 for Fairchild.
 
 

That match will feature another pair of top-10 middles for hitting and blocking. SPU sophomore Allison Wilks is No. 8 in hitting (.284) and No. 10 on blocks (1.00). Western junior Chloe Roetcisoender is No. 9 in hitting at .281 and No. 9 in blocks at 1.02.
 
Saturday's match at Simon Fraser will find Hair and Brooke Dexter on either side of the net, albeit not directly across from each other. Dexter is an opposite who is No. 4 in GNAC hitting at .309.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
SPU is ..
-- No. 4 in blocks per set at 2.60.
-- No. 18 in assists per set at 12.66.
-- No. 44 in kills per set at 13.34.
-- No. 52 in total blocks at 130.0.
 
-- Hannah Hair is No. 3 in blocks per set at 1.45.
-- Hair is No. 46 in total blocks with 64.
-- Hair is No. 50 in hitting percentage at .351.
-- Emily Tulino is No. 43 in aces per set at 0.50.
 
Click in this link to see a complete look at how the Falcons stack up in Division II. Click on this link for a look at how GNAC teams rank in the national statistics.
 
AROUND THE WEST
The Alaska Anchorage Seawolves (14-5, 7-0) remain as the lone team with a perfect GNAC record, although took a five-set homecourt victory against Central Washington (8-5, 4-3) last Thursday to stay that way. Western Washington (9-4, 5-1) has taken sole possession of second place, and Alaska Fairbanks (13-7, 6-2) is alone in third. Anchorage is home for an intrastate showdown against Fairbanks on Saturday.
 
Cal State San Bernardino (13-3, 8-0 CCAA) is riding a 10-match winning streak to stay a step ahead of Cal Poly Pomona (14-1, 7-1 CCAA) in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Both teams beat San Francisco State last week after the Gators (12-3, 5-3 CCAA) had won 13 of their first 14 matches. Pomona and San Bernardino clash on Wednesday in CPP's gym.
 
Hawaii Hilo and Azusa Pacific are deadlocked atop the Pacific West Conference with 7-1 records (10-2 overall for Hilo, 12-4 for APU). Right behind them at 6-2 are Chaminade (16-4 overall) and Point Loma Nazarene (10-6). Azusa is at Point Loma on Friday.
 
UP NEXT
After three straight on the road, the Falcons return home to Brougham Pavilion next week, beginning the second round of GNAC play by hosting the Alaska schools. Anchorage is in town on Thursday, Oct. 21, at 7:00 p.m., then Fairbanks visits on Saturday the 23^rd at 3:00 p.m. SPU will be looking to turn the tables on both after losing a four-gamer at UAF and getting swept at UAA in September.
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                Conference          Overall
Alaska Anchorage         7-0         14-5
Western Washington       5-1          9-4
Alaska Fairbanks         6-2         13-7
Seattle Pacific          5-2          9-5
Simon Fraser             4-3         10-4
Central Washington       4-3          8-5
Montana State Billings   3-4          7-9
Saint Martin's           1-6          7-9
Northwest Nazarene       0-7          2-12
Western Oregon           0-7          2-12