LACEY, Wash. – To get back on the plus side, the Seattle Pacific Falcons kept Saint Martin's on the minus side.
 
Sydney Perry slammed 10 kills, and SPU limited the Saints to negative hitting on Saturday to score a 3-0 sweep of their Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match inside Marcus Pavilion.
 
Scores were 25-18, 25-18, 25-19.
 
The Falcons, who had 38 kills of their own, allowed Saint Martin's (10-12, 3-9 GNAC) to find the floor just 18 times. SPU finished with a .168 hitting mark (38 kills-20 errors-107 attacks). The Saints were at minus -.040 (18-22-101).
 
Prior to Saturday, the lowest an opponent has hit this season Midwestern State's .087 in a four-set Seattle Pacific victory on Sept. 4. The fewest kills were 31 in a homecourt sweep of Western Oregon on Oct. 2.

 

"We were much better at anticipating (on defense) and just being ready to go," said head coach Abbie Wright, whose team polished off a season series sweep of the Saints, having defeated them 3-0 in Brougham Pavilion on Sept. 30.
 
It was an emphatic redemption for the Falcons after Thursday's disappointing 3-0 loss at Western Oregon.
 
"It was just letting them know that we can erase Thursday quickly with some really great play tonight," Wright said. "It's not so much what happens to you, but how you respond and how you bounce back – and I thought we bounced back at a really high level.
 
"We put our foot down and played up to our potential tonight, and that was really exciting to see," Wright added.
 
HERE A RUN, THERE A RUN
After not being able to put together an extended scoring run on Thursday at Western Oregon, the Falcons had no such problem on Saturday.
 
Up 11-10 in the opening set, SPU went on an 11-2 tear to take a commanding 22-12 lead. That included two of junior setter Lindsey Lambert's four service aces.
 
Saint Martin's took a quick 3-0 lead in Set 2. The Falcons responded with a 9-3 run. Then tied at 11-11, Seattle Pacific put four straight on the board, part of another 9-3 burst that produced a 20-14 advantage.
 
The Saints had a pair of two-point leads in the third set, the last of them at 8-6. Tied at 13-13, SPU scored six of the next seven points for a 19-14 lead, and it never got closer than four after that
 
"They were keyed in and ready to play," Wright said. "They just played with a lot of effort and intensity. It's just realizing the amount of concentration and drive that is needed to win at this level."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
 

-- The improved effort on defense showed up in the digs column. SPU and Saint Martin's came into the match at opposite ends of the GNAC for that statistic. The Saints were on top at 17.77 digs per set, the Falcons were on the bottom at 13.07. But on Saturday, it was Seattle Pacific with the edge, 54-46, led by season-highs of 18 from sophomore Lindsay Rosenthal and 16 from senior Maddie Batiste.
-- Along with her team-high 10 kills, sophomore opposite Sydney Perry led SPU with a .389 hitting mark (10 kills-3 errors-18 attacks). Of those 10 kills, one finished off the first set, and one closed out the second.
-- It turns out that Perry was Seattle Pacific's biggest weapon in both matches against Saint Martin's. In the home match on Sept. 30, she tied her career high with 11 kills and hit .417. For the two-match series, Perry wound up with 21 kills and .405 hitting (21-4-42).
--The victory was the second of the season for the Falcons in a true road match and the third overall away from home (one of them on a neutral court).
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons have just one match this coming week, playing host to Montana State Billings on Saturday, Nov. 6, at 2:00 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. That will be the first of three straight matches to close out the home portion of the schedule, followed by Simon Fraser on Nov. 11 and Western Washington on Nov. 13.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Saint Martin's 0
 
Game scores – 25-18, 25-18, 25-19.
 
Service aces – SPU 6 (Lambert 4), STM 4 (Benetti 2).
Kills – SPU 38 (Perry 10), STM 18 (Allen 6).
Assists – SPU 38 (Tulino 22, Lambert 16), STM 16 (Hitchcock 14).
Digs – SPU 54 (Rosenthal 18, Batiste 16), STM 46 (Alos 12).
Block assists / solo – SPU 17 / 0 solo (Wilks 4 / 0 solo), STM 12 / 0 solo (Soha 4 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 38-20-107—168 (Perry 10-3-18—389), STM 18-22-101—minus-.040 (Soha 2-0-6—333).
Attendance – NA.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 12-8, 8-5 GNAC.  Saint Martin's 10-12, 3-9 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Montana State Billings at Seattle Pacific
Saturday Nov. 6     2:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.