SEATTLE – Another loud crowd at home. Another nationally ranked opponent on the other side of the net.
 
And another scintillating volleyball victory for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
 
Allison Wilks had a career-high 10 kills and hit .600, Lindsey Lambert racked up 31 assists, and SPU swept past No. 24-ranked Alaska Anchorage on Thursday night in Brougham Pavilion, 3-0.
 
Scores of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest were 25-22, 25-21, 25-22.
 
This was the second time of the season that the Falcons (10-7, 6-4 GNAC) have defeated a top-25 opponent at home. The first one was on Sept. 11 against then-No. 13 St. Cloud State of Minnesota on the final day of the SPU-CWU Invitational. Seattle Pacific also swept that one, 25-13, 25-22, 26-24.
 
"We came out and played really well, and I felt like we were playing with confidence," head coach Abbie Wright said. "It's being able to be confident and just play the match as it is, and not play your emotions – people are really learning how to do that."
 
Thursday's result came just four weeks after the Falcons were swept at Anchorage, 25-20, 25-20, 25-12.
 




The Falcons bolted to a 13-4 lead in the opening set. That included a 7-0 run  with two combined blocks from sophomore middle blocker / outside hitter Wilks and senior outside Erin Gould.
 
But Alaska Anchorage climbed back in, cutting a 22-16 margin to 22-20. A kill by Gould off the Seawolf block and a crosscourt quick kill by Wilks gave SPU quadruple set point at 24-20. UAA closed within 24-22, then sophomore opposite Maddie Pruden clinched it with a kill that was dug long.
 
 

"That kind of sets the tone," Wright said of SPU's quick start. "If you can get certain momentum plays – overpass kills, straight-down blocks, things like that – we had a few of those. Those points are almost worth double to the emotion of the match. We got a couple of those early, and that kind of pushed us forward."
 
The Seawolves built a 5-1 lead early in Set 2. Seattle Pacific answered with a 9-3 scoring run to go up 10-8 – and stayed ahead the rest of the way, gradually extending it to 20-14.
 
Ellen Floyd served back-to-back aces starting off Set 3, and Anchorage stayed in front all the way up to 15-12. The Falcons ran off the next four with a kill by Pruden, a kill by Maddie Batiste, a kill by Hair, and an Austin Ibale service ace for their first lead of the set at 16-15.
 
SPU took command with four straight points to snap an 18-18 tie. The lead grew to 24-19, giving the Falcons five tries at match point. UAA fought off the first three, closing to 24-22, then was called for a double-hit on the next point.
 
STREAK-STOPPING FALCONS
-- The loss for Alaska Anchorage (15-6, 8-1 GNAC) was its first in conference play and halted an eight-match winning streak.
-- The Seawolves had won 14 straight GNAC matches dating back to November 2019 (the 2020 season was canceled).
-- The Falcons became the first team to sweep a conference match from UAA since Central Washington did it on Nov. 8, 2018 – a streak of 29 straight.
-- SPU had not beaten the Seawolves in Brougham Pavilion since a 3-1 win on Oct. 29, 2011 – a stretch of 10 years and 10 matches ago.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Seattle Pacific hit .232 for the match (40 kills-17 errors-99 attacks) and was above .200 in all three sets: .258 in the first, .229 in the second, and .212 in the third. The Falcons had 10 fewer errors than in September's loss at UAA.
-- Anchorage, which hit a high-flying .357 with just four attack errors against the Falcons last month, finished at .152 (39-23-105).
-- Allison Wilks eclipsed her previous career high of eight kills, which she had against Hawaii Pacific on Sept. 11. The 10 she had on Thursday pushed her past 100 for her career, now with 104.
-- In addition to her season-high 31 assists, Lindsey Lambert had three kills and hit .600. All of the kills were well-placed dumps over the net. She also tied her career high with six block assists.
-- Hannah Hair's eight kills moved her past 300 for her career. She has 301.
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific hosts Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday at 3:00 p.m., looking to reverse a 3-1 loss at UAF on Sept. 23. The Nanooks won the first two sets at Montana State Billings on Thursday, but wound up falling in five, 17-25, 23-25, 25-16, 25-14, 15-9.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, (No. 24) Alaska Anchorage 0
 
Game scores – 25-22, 25-21, 25-22.
 
Service aces – UAA 4 (Leauanae 2, Floyd 2), SPU 4 (Batiste 2).
Kills – UAA 29 (Stephens 14), SPU 40 (Wilks 10).
Assists – UAA 36 (Floyd 33), SPU 37 (Lambert 31).
Digs – UAA 33 (Leauanae 13), SPU 35 (Cunningham 12).
Block assists / solo – UAA 20 / 0 solo (Pluharova 9 / 0 solo), SPU 18 / 0 solo (Lambert 6 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – UAA 39-23-105—152 (Stephens 14-4-31—323), SPU 40-17-99—232 (Wilks 10-1-15—600, Lambert 3-0-5—600).
Attendance – 121.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 10-7, 6-4 GNAC.  Alaska Anchorage 15-6, 8-1 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, 3:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.