BELLINGHAM, Wash. – All night long, the Seattle Pacific Falcons gave themselves a chance:

A two-point lead late in the first set. Double-set point in the second. A five-point advantage midway through the third.
 
Every time, though, the 20th-ranked Western Washington Vikings had an answer.
 
 

Maddie Batiste had 12 kills and 13 digs, and Erin Gould added 11 kills, but WWU came up with just enough at just the right moments to score a sweep of Thursday's volleyball match between the Great Northwest Athletic Conference rivals.
 
Scores in Carver Gymnasium were 25-22, 27-25, 25-22.
 
"I think it was about key plays in big moments," Falcons head coach Abbie Wright said. "I thought Western did a better job of that tonight. We performed well for most of the match. We just had some key breakdowns when it counted, and Western made key plays when it counted. That was the difference."
 
Although the match wound up as a sweep, the Falcons (9-6, 5-3 GNAC) and Vikings (10-4, 6-1 GNAC) were never separated by more than five points – and that was in the middle of Set 3, when SPU built a 16-11 lead. The match was tied 29 times, and the lead changed hands 12 times.

 

"Both sides were hitting pretty well, and both were passing well," Wright said. "We both executed and had good stats. We just had a tough time finishing."
 
Seattle Pacific had a 20-18 lead late in the opening set when Western Washington went on a 5-0 run to go up 23-20. The Falcons got within 23-21 and 24-22 before Gabby Gunterman closed it out with one of her team-leading 11 kills.
 
Back-to-back kills by Gould and Batiste snapped a 10-10 tie in Set 2, and SPU stayed in front all the way up to 24-22 and serving for the set. The Vikings put the next three points on the board to gain a set point of their own at 25-24. Gould saved that one with a kill off a WWU blocker for 25-25.
 
But from there, an Olivia Fairchild kill, and a service ace by Calley Heilborn closed it out for Western.
 
Seattle Pacific used a 9-4 scoring run in the third set to turn a 7-7 tie into a 16-11 lead. The Vikings responded with the next five points to forge a 16-16 tie, and eventually took a 21-19 lead. The Falcons tied it at 21-21, and again at 22-22 before WWU wrapped it up with the final three points.
 
"It's just confidence – you have to have confidence all the way through. That's what separates good from great teams," Wright said. "I think we're a good team right now. I don't think we're great yet – but the key word is 'yet.' We're going to get there. It just takes some of these hard losses along the way."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The match featured two of the top blocking teams in all of NCAA Division II – the No. 4 Falcons at 2.60 per set and the No. 5 Vikings at 2.55. But Western Washington had a decisive edge on Thursday, getting 11 points off the block to SPU's three.
-- Seattle Pacific hit .202 for the night, including .250 in the first set and .279 in the second. Western Washington, however, which finished at .255, was even better: .333 in the first and .303 in the second. Both teams tailed off in the third: .075 for the Falcons, .100 for the Vikings.
--SPU finished with nine more kills than Western, 48-39. But WWU made 11 fewer errors.
--Maddie Batiste's double-double was her second of the season and 21^st of her career. Her .375 hitting mark was her second-highest of the year, coming on the heels of a .385 performance in last Saturday's sweep at Montana State Billings.
-- Batiste also moved past 900 career points, now with 907.5.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons head across the border into British Columbia on Saturday to fake on Simon Fraser. The first serve in West Gym is at 4:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021
Carver Gymnasium  / Bellingham, Wash.
 
(No. 20) Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 0
 
Game scores – 25-22, 27-25, 25-22.
 
Service aces – SPU 5 (Tulino 2), WWU 4 (Heilborn 2).
Kills – SPU 48 (Batiste 12, Gould 11), WWU 39 (Gunterman 11).
Assists – SPU 48 (Tulino 22, Lambert 20), WWU 38 (Holland 34).
Digs – SPU 44 (Cunningham 15, Batiste 13), WWU 36 (Woodruff 9).
Block assists / solo – SPU 4 / 1 solo (Wilks 2 / 0 solo), WWU 20 / 1 solo (Roetcisoender and Fairchild both 5 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 48-24-119—202 (Batiste 12-3-24—375), WWU 39-13-102—255 (Fairchild 10-2-19—421).
Attendance – 636.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 9-6, 5-3 GNAC.  Western Washington 10-4, 6-12 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser
Saturday, 4:00 p.m.
West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.