LACEY, Wash. – Nothing lasts forever.
 
Not even long winning streaks.
 
The Seattle Pacific Falcons got a painful reminder of that Tuesday afternoon on the volleyball court.
 
After winning the first two games of their doubleheader opener at Saint Martin's, SPU saw the Saints come storming back to pull out a five-game victory in Marcus Pavilion.
 
Scores were 17-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-12.
 
The Falcons had won 36 in a row against the Saints, a streak that began in 2002. The last time the Saints had prevailed was in a five-gamer on Oct, 20, 2001, in Lacey.
 
Tuesday's second one was another five-gamer, but this one went the other way, as Seattle Pacific twice came from a game down to win 19-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-18, 15-9.
 
"We're just trying to figure out how to play in rhythm and capitalize on our strengths," Falcons head coach Abbie Wright said. "Saint Martin's was doing some good things. They're improving, and they looked solid today. They did a great job of playing great defense, and it was hard for us to put a ball away.
 
"It was just kind of settling into all scenarios of the game," Wright added. "We were up, we were down, we were tied. It's just with this young team getting them to mentally understand what each situation requires."
 




MATCH 1: Saint Martin's 3, SPU 2
The Falcons sprinted out of the blocks, scoring the first three points of the match, then later tacking on 10 in a row to go from 7-3 to 17-3 ahead. Saint Martin's eventually got on track, twice getting within five before SPU finished it off with the last three points.
 
Seattle Pacific trailed for much of Game 2, and was down 14-11. But a closing run of 14-5 gave the Falcons a two-game lead at the five-minute break.
 
Saint Martin's maintained the upper hand most of the way after that. The third game was tied at 3-3 when the Saints ran off six points in a row, never letting Seattle Pacific closer than five. The Falcons had a pair of one-point leads in Game 4, the second of those at 19-18. The Saints got the next three points and never trailed again.
 
SPU quickly fell into a 5-1 hole in the deciding fifth game. But it rallied, getting back into ties at 7-7 and 8-8. Saint Martin's put the next four points on the board, and eventually built a lead of five match points at 14-9.
 
The Falcons fought off three of those, with a solo block by Maddie Pruden to make it 14-10, a kill by Lindsay Rosenthal that took an SPU bounce off the cord for 14-11, and a service ace by Maddie Batiste for 14-12. But an attack error on the next point clinched the match for Saint Martin's.
 
"I never felt we were in a rhythm even when we were winning," Wright said. "So it wasn't surprising that when we were losing, we just couldn't get any traction. Some lucky things went our way, and we didn't really understand how to keep withing our system when the game was that close."
 
Freshman middle blocker Hannah Hair slammed 17 kills and hit .519, with just three errors on 27 attacks. She also had a hand in six blocks, as did fellow freshman middle Erin Smith. Senior outside hitter Batiste added 16 kills.
 
MATCH 2: SPU 3, Saint Martin's 2
The Saints snapped a 12-12 tie with three straight points in the opener and led it the rest of the way. But the second game was all Falcons, as they never trailed. Up 16-15, SPU scored seven of the next eight points for a comfortable 23-16 lead.
 
Saint Martin's had a fast start and a fast finish to Game 3, ringing up the first five points, then putting the last six on the board to snap a 19-19 tie. Seattle Pacific never trailed and was never tied in the fourth game.
 
The Falcons got the early jump in the deciding fifth, going up 5-1. Saint Martin's never got closer than two, and freshman Lindsay Rosenthal clinched it with a service ace.
 
The turnaround between matches was just 30 minutes, and Wright said that was actually a good thing.
 
"It was good for us not to think too much and just go out and play disciplined," she said. "We were kind of a step behind in the first match. In the second match, we started to figure out how to play a step ahead."
 
Pruden had 14 kills and was one of four Falcons in double figures. Junior outside hitter Erin Gould added 12, Hair had 11 along with another four block assists, and sophomore opposite Ashley Antoniak recorded her first collegiate double-double, logging 10 kills and 18 digs.

BY THE NUMBERS
 

-- Lindsey Lambert had assist-dig double-doubles in both matches: 32 assists, 14 digs in the first one, 31 assists, 11 digs in the second.
-- Lambert's assist total of 63 puts her at 986 for her career. She has 110 this season.
-- For the two matches combined, Hannah Hair hit .339 (28 kills-9 errors-56 attacks).
-- Hair's .519 hitting in the first match (17-3-27) was the first in that range since Delaney Dunham hit .579 (12-1-19) at Alaska Fairbanks on Nov. 21, 2019.
-- Erin Gould's 12 kills topped her previous career high of 11, set in 2019 against Hawaii Hilo
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons don't return to competition until Friday, March 19, with a single match at Northwest University. First serve is at 5:00 p.m. The home opener is on Saturday the 20^th when Alaska Anchorage comes to town for a doubleheader. The first match begins at 1:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.
 
MATCH 1
Saint Martin's 3, Seattle Pacific 2
 
Game scores – 17-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-12.
 
Service aces – SPU 9 (Dawson 3), STM 9 (Carter 3).
Kills – SPU 53 (Hair 17, Batiste 16), STM 60 (Carter 13, Coon 13).
Assists – SPU 43 (Lambert 32), STM 50 (Hitchcock 24).
Digs – SPU 57 (Dawson 17, Lambert 14), STM 58 (Carter 12).
Block assists / solo – SPU 18 / 3 solo (Smith 5 / 1 solo, Hair 4 / 2 solo), STM 10 / 1 solo (M. Gooding 3 / 0 solo, Brenner 2 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 53-25-144—.201 (Hair 17-3-27—.519), STM 60-29-156—.199 (M. Gooding 9-2-20—.350).  
 
 
MATCH 2
Seattle Pacific 3, Saint Martin's 2
 
Game scores – 19-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-18, 15-9.
 
Service aces – SPU 8 (Rosenthal 4), STM 5 (Carter 2).
Kills – SPU 61 (Pruden 13, Gould 12, Hair 11, Antoniak 10), STM 43 (Coon 13).
Assists – SPU 54 (Lambert 31, Ibale 19), STM 39 (Hitchcock 19).
Digs – SPU 80 (Rosenthal 20, Antoniak 18, Batiste 16, Lambert 11), STM 73 (Bennett 23).
Block assists / solo – SPU 14 / 0 solo (Pruden 5 / 0 solo), STM 12 / 0 solo (E. Gooding 4 / 0 solo).
Hitting – SPU 61-27-171—.199 (Pruden 13-1-25—.480), STM 43-20-151—.152 (Duvall 5-0-11—.455).
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 3-1, Saint Martin's 1-1
 
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Northwest University
Friday, March 19     5:00 p.m.
Kristi Brodin Pavilion / Kirkland, Wash.