ELLENSBURG, Wash. – On Wednesday, the Seattle Pacific Falcons found out they are very much in the mix for a postseason volleyball berth.
 
On Thursday, they made a most impressive case for staying in the mix – and picked up the program's 600th all-time victory in the process.
 
Hannah Hair delivered an eye-catching performance of 14 kills, .591 hitting, and eight block assists, and SPU led for the entirety of the first set, the latter stages of the second, and all but one point of the third on the way to a stunning sweep at Central Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest on Thursday night.
 
Scores in Nicholson Pavilion were 25-15, 25-22, 26-24.
 
Heading into this final weekend of the regular season, Seattle Pacific (15-9, 11-6 GNAC) is in the No. 9 spot in this week's NCAA West Region rankings. Central Washington (15-8, 11-6 GNAC) are No. 4.
 
The final rankings, which include the GNAC, California Collegiate Athletic Association, and Pacific West Conference, will be determined after this weekend when the GNAC and Pac West conclude their schedules and the CCAA wraps up its conference tournament.
 
The top eight teams on that final list will advance to the NCAA West Regionals, set for Dec. 2-4 on the home court of whoever finishes No. 1 (currently Cal State San Bernardino).

 

"We knew it was a big match, really pivotal for us," Hair said. "We did a really great job of using that stress to our benefit and seeing that pressure and using it in the best way possible to boost us tonight. We've maybe had struggles in the past of coming out big and coming out hard, but tonight, that was just not an issue for us."
  
The Falcons don't have a say in actually determining those regional rankings – that is done by athletic department officials from different schools in each of the three conferences.
 
But they have plenty to say about their play on the court – and they spoke loud and clear on Thursday.

"It was just confidence. They were excited to play, they're in sync right now and really learning how to trust each other and get excited about things that we're capable of doing and being confident," head coach Abbie Wright said. "That was a big part of it. It was a lot of different things, but I'm proud it came together at the right time.
 
Except for the middle portion of Set 2, Seattle Pacific was in command all night.
 
 

That started with a 9-0 run to open the match, with sophomore Allison Wilks on the serve for the last eight of those points. It was their own offensive production that accounted for seven of the nine Falcon points: three kills by Hair, one each by Wilks (that on the opening point) and Maddie Batiste, and two combined blocks by Hair and Sydney Perry. The other two points came off CWU attack errors.

"Allison got us off to a great start – she went after it," Wright said. "We need to be aggressive in serve receive and be aggressive in serving and just be in attack mode for both of them. She went back there and did that and set the tone for the night, for sure."
 
As would be expected, the Wildcats got untracked and eventually narrowed the gap, but never closer than six points, the last time at 20-14. SPU put the next four on the board, then closed out the set on a Hair kill.
 
The Falcons scored the first four points of Set 2. They were still up 6-4 when Central Washington started an 8-1 run to take a 12-7 lead. Seattle Pacific climbed back in, forging ahead at 19-18 and 20-19. Tied at 22-22, SPU logged the last three points on a Wilks kill, a combined block by Hair and Batiste, and another combined block by Hair and Perry.
 
More of the same in the third: a 4-0 SPU lead, and this one kept growing, all the way to 21-12 and 23-15.
 
That's when CWU sophomore Tia Andaya took over the serve, and suddenly, it swung toward the Wildcats, as they ran off seven straight points to get within 23-22. A kill by Erin Gould gave Seattle Pacific double match point at 24-22.
 
Central wasn't done, knotting it at 24-24. Perry and Batiste combined on a block for another match point at 25-24. Hair then finished it off with a quick kill that the Wildcats had no chance of keeping in play.

 

"We had a little hiccup in the third, but those moments are needed to have confidence that we can pull through in those tight moments," Wright said.
 
The 600^th victory came in Seattle Pacific's 36^th season of play, as the program started in 1986. The most recent century milestone was No. 500 on Oct. 24, 2013, in a 3-1 victory at Western Washington. The all-time record is now 600-470 (.561).
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Hannah Hair's .591 hitting percentage (14 kills-1 error-22 attacks) was her third-highest of the season, exceeded only by her .727 (8-0-11) at home against Western Oregon on Oct. 2 and her .632 (14-2-19) at home against St. Cloud State of Minnesota on Sept. 11.
-- The Falcons had a solid hitting night as a team at .247 (38 kills-16 errors-89 attacks). That included .286 in the first set, .214 in the second, and .242 in the third. They limited Central Washington to .069 (32-25-101)
-- Hair's eight blocks put her past 100 for the season (now 106) and moved her to 196 for her career.
-- The Falcons now have won five straight against Central Washington.
-- Sophomore outside hitter / opposite Sydney Perry had a career-high eight block assists. Her previous best was six – also against Central Washington, on Sept. 18 in Brougham Pavilion.
 
UP NEXT
The regular season concludes on Saturday at Northwest Nazarene, with the first serve at noon Pacific time. The Nighthawks (6-19, 3-14 GNAC) are coming off a 3-2 loss to Montana State Billings on Thursday, 18-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-25, 15-9. Seattle Pacific defeated NNU by a 3-1 margin on Sept. 16 in Seattle.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021
Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Central Washington 0
 
Game scores – 25-15, 25-22, 26-24
 
Service aces – SPU 5 (Gould 2), CWU 6 (Andaya 3).
Kills – SPU 38 (Hair 14), CWU 32 (Kaufman 10)
Assists – SPU 36 (Lambert 18, Tulino 14), CWU 30 (Andaya 15).
Digs – SPU 39 (Rosenthal 7), CWU 30 (Stires 11).
Block assists / solo – SPU 22 / 0 solo (Hair 8 / 0 solo, Perry 8 / 0 solo), CWU 4 / 3 solo (Shymanski 2 / 2 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 38-16-89—247 (Hair 14-1-22—591), CWU 32-25-101—069 (Andaya 4-0-15—267)
Attendance – 402.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 15-9, 11-6 GNAC.
Central Washington 15-8, 11-6 GNAC.
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene
Saturday, Noon PST.
Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho