THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Oct. 28                Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon, 7:00 p.m.
                                                New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Oct. 30                 Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, 5:15 p.m.
                                                Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
SEATTLE – For the third time this season, the Seattle Pacific Falcons will take a volleyball winning streak onto the road with them.
 
Coming off a five-set victory against No. 24-ranked Alaska Anchorage and a come-from-behind triumph against Alaska Fairbanks, the Falcons head south twice this week, with a day back home in between.
 
On Thursday, SPU visits Western Oregon in Monmouth, with the first serve at 7:00 p.m. Then on Saturday, the team is off to Lacey for a match against Saint Martin's, slated for a 5:15 p.m. start.
 
Seattle Pacific brings an 11-7 overall mark and a 7-4 Great Northwest Athletic Conference record into the week.
 
Earlier this season, the Falcons had a six-match winning streak heading up to Alaska. Earlier this month, they had put three straight into the 'W' column before taking off for Western Washington and Simon Fraser.
 
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?
-- These will be the first opportunities for SPU to complete season series sweeps. It beat both Saint Martin's and Western Oregon in three sets in September.
-- The third set against Saint Martin's on Sept. 23 was a 30-pointer,with the Falcons finally pulling it out, 30-28. The Saints had three tries at set point – 24-23, 26-25, and 27-26. The Falcons had three opportunities at match point, 25-24, 28-27, and 29-28, finally converting on the third when a Saint Martin's attack bounced off the antenna.
-- That was SPU's first 30-pointer since Sept. 14, 2019 against Chaminade.
-- The Falcons have been in 10 matches that ended in three-set sweeps this fall, going 6-4.
--They have played in three that have gone the five-set distance, winning two.
-- Last Saturday's five-setter against Alaska Fairbanks was the first time this season Seattle Pacific has come back to win after dropping the first set.
-- The road has been a tough place all season for the Falcons, as they are just 2-7 away from Brougham Pavilion.
-- SPU has been solid on the block all season, and last Saturday against Fairbanks was its best yet, with 33 totals blocks (including one solo).
-- The Falcons recorded four double-doubles vs. UAF last Saturday: 18 kills-10 digs for Maddie Batiste, 12 kills-14 digs for Erin Gould, 11 kills-10 blocks for Hannah Hair, and 12 assists-14 digs for Austin Ibale. That was half as many double-doubles as they had recorded for the first 16 matches of the season, when eight went into the book.
-- Hannah Hair ranks No. 3 in GNAC hitting (.319) and No. 3 in blocking (1.37 per set).
-- Freshman setter Emily Tulino and junior Lindsey Lambert have been splitting time as the primary setter in coach Abbie Wright's 6-2 system. But when Tulino missed last week with an injury, Lambert saw much more action. She had 71 assists in the two matches combined and tied her career-high for block assists with six in the Anchorage match. For the week, between her 71 assists, five kills, two service aces, and seven total blocks, Lambert had a hand in 85 of SPU's points (40 of 75 vs. Anchorage, 45 of 105 vs. Fairbanks.
-- Seattle Pacific's 11-7 record matches exactly the record it had during last spring's abbreviated season.
-- Coach Abbie Wright's teams are 9-0 against Western Oregon and 8-1 against Saint Martin's.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN OREGON WOLVES: 2-15, 0-10 GNAC (10th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 36-18. Current series streak: SPU won 9. Last time: SPU 3, WOU 0 (25-17, 25-15, 26-24; Oct. 2, 2021 at Seattle). Last WOU series win: WOU 3, SPU 1 (25-19, 25-18, 20-25, 25-22; Oct. 22, 2016 at Monmouth). Wolves on the Web.
Wolves in a nutshell: After a 2-2 start to the season, Western Oregon has lost 13 straight, the last four of which have been sweeps. But the Wolves also have had four matches to go the five-set distance WOU is now under the guidance of Traci Stephenson, who was named interim head coach in early October. Leading the way on offense is sophomore 5-foot-11 outside hitter Isabel Hurliman, who has 192 kills (3.00 per set, ranking No. 7 in the GNAC). She also is tied with junior 5-7 setter Aubrey Stanton for the team lead in service aces with 22. Freshman 5-9 outside Bailee Hartsook has hammered 134 kills, a 2.73 per-set average. She had a team-high eight kills against SPU earlier this month. Makenzie York, a 6-foot sophomore middle blocker / opposite, and Bella MacLellan, a freshman 6-0 middle, are the leaders on the block with 46 and 38, respectively.
 
SCOUTING THE SAINT MARTIN'S SAINTS: 9-11, 2-8 GNAC (tie 8^th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 60-6. Current series streak: SPU won 2. Last time: SPU 3, STM 0 (25-17, 25-18, 30-28; Sept. 30, 2021 at Seattle). Last STM series win: STM 3, SPU 2 (17-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-12; March 2, 2021 at Lacey). Saints on the Web.
Saints in a nutshell: Saint Martin's halted a six-match losing streak last week with a 3-1 non-conference victory against Linfield, and a 3-0 sweep of Western Oregon. Freshman 5-foot-11 outside hitter Tia Allen has started all 20 matches and leads the team in kills with 223, a per-set average of 3.01 that is No. 6 in the GNAC. Allen also is a solid server, topping the Saints with 23 aces. Redshirt senior Emily Gooding, a 5-11 outside hitter,  has 199 kills, an average of 2.69 per set. Saint Martin's is especially tough in the middle. Maddy Gooding, a 6-1 freshman, has a team-high 44 blocks, 6-foot freshman Jennifer Soha has 42, and 6-1 sophomore Gracie Brenner has 37, with 12 solos. The Saints are by far the best in the GNAC at keeping the ball in play, averaging 17.89 digs per set. They have three players – Allen, Kylie Alos, and Giselle Benetti – with more than 200 each.
 
HAIR GETS IT DONE BOTH WAYS
Falcons middle blocker Hannah Hair was named the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after coming up with a combined 14 total blocks in last week's victories against Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks.
 

Hair also had 19 kills in those two matches combined and hit .317.
 
The Defensive award goes along with the Offensive Player of the Week honor she won on Sept. 20 after hitting .500 or better in victories against Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington.
 
Since the GNAC started giving Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week awards in 2012, Hair is just the 11^th player – and the first from Seattle Pacific – to win both in the same season.
 
IBALE STANDS AND DELIVERS
 

Junior setter Austin Ibale has not seen a lot of playing time this season. But when called upon last week when freshman Emily Tulino was sidelined with an injury, she was more than ready to go.
 
In Thursday's sweep of No. 24 Alaska Anchorage, Ibale saw action in all three sets, coming up with six digs, including the 100^th of her career, and one service ace.
 
Then came Saturday's come-from-behind five-set win against Alaska Fairbanks. Ibale recorded her first collegiate double-double with 14 assists and a career-high 12 digs. Her previous career high for digs was nine, which she had twice, most recently last May 15 at Western Washington. Her assist total put her at 199 for her career.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
SPU is ..
-- No. 5 in blocks per set at 2.62.
-- No. 31 in assists per set at 12.49.
-- No. 54 in kills per set at 13.15.
-- No. 36 in total blocks at 170.0.
 
-- Hannah Hair is No. 4 in blocks per set at 1.37.
-- Hair is tied for No. 46 in total blocks with 81.
-- Emily Tulino is No. 43 in aces per set at 0.49.
 
The team rankings are based on the 285 NCAA Division II schools that are playing volleyball this fall.
 
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
With Alaska Anchorage's loss at Seattle Pacific last week, it's all tied up again at the top of the GNAC standings between the Seawolves and Western Washington, both at 9-1, with Simon Fraser right behind at 8-3. A series of key contests in Alaska this week could go a long way toward determining who ultimately finishes first. On Thursday, Simon Fraser is at Anchorage and Western is at Fairbanks. The pairings are flip-flopped on Saturday. WWU and Anchorage also have a make-up match scheduled in Bellingham on Nov. 8.
 
Cal State San Bernardino retains the upper hand in the California Collegiate Athletic Association at 11-0 (16-3 overall) ahead of second-place Cal State Los Angeles (10-2), as they get ready to play on Friday in San Bernardino. Cal Poly Pomona and San Francisco State are tied for third at 9-3, and both are 16-3 overall. Pomona hosts CSULA on Saturday.
 
The Pacific West Conference is now a six-team logjam at the top. For now, it's Azusa Pacific (8-1, 13-4 overall) in first by mere percentage points ahead of Hawaii Hilo (9-2, 12-3 overall). Chaminade is right there at 9-3, then it's Concordia Irvine, Biola, and Point Loma Nazarene all at 8-3. This week's schedule has six contests between those teams, including Hilo at Azusa on Friday.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for news, notes, results,and statistics from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific has just one match next week, welcoming Montana State Billings to Brougham Pavilion on Saturday, Nov. 6, at 2:00 p.m. That will be the start of a three-match homestand.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                Conference          Overall
Western Washington       9-1         13-4
Alaska Anchorage         9-1         16-6
Simon Fraser             8-3         14-4
Seattle Pacific          7-4         11-7
Central Washington       6-5         10-7
Alaska Fairbanks         6-5         13-10
Montana State Billings   4-7          8-12
Saint Martin's           2-8          9-11
Northwest Nazarene       2-9          4-14
Western Oregon           0-10         2-15