THE SCHEDULE
Friday, April 23                       Seattle Pacific at Western Washington, 5:00 p.m.
                                                 Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
                                                  Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, April 24                  Western Washington at Seattle Pacific, Noon / 3:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
                                                 Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
SEATTLE – They weren't planning on a weekend away from volleyball action.
 
But since that's what ultimately happened, the Seattle Pacific Falcons are even more primed to get back at it.
 
SPU returns to the court this week with a home-and-home series against Western Washington. On Friday, the Vikings will be the host for a single match that starts at 5:00 p.m. in Carver Gymnasium.
 
Action shifts to Brougham Pavilion on Saturday for a doubleheader. The first match starts at noon; the second one begins 40 minutes after the conclusion of the first.
 
The Falcons (7-3) were supposed to play a doubleheader at Central Washington in Ellensburg last Saturday. But on Friday, those two matches were canceled out of an abundance of caution for health and safety reasons.
 
The three-game WWU series is the first of two between the teams. They'll do it again on May 14-15, the final weekend of the season, albeit with the hosting roles reversed. Seattle Pacific will be home for the Friday single match; Western Washington gets the Saturday doubleheader.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, fans will not be allowed to attend any of this year's matches, home or away. However, they can keep up with all the action online with free live Webcasts and free live stats. Saturday's home doubleheader will have Greg Sexton on the play-by-play call. The appropriate links for all three matches this weekend can be found at the top of this story.

RIGHT FIT ON THE RIGHT SIDE – THAT'S PRUDEN
It's no secret that much of the volleyball spotlight often shines on the outside hitters. After all, they're the ones smashing the ball onto the floor with regularity, often racking up double-digit kills in any given match from the attacking left side of the net.
 
 

But racking up wins means having a solid weapon on the right side of the net, as well – someone who doesn't necessarily see the ball quite as often as her teammates across the court, but knows what to do with it when it comes her way.
 
That weapon for Seattle Pacific is Maddie Pruden.
 
The 6-foot redshirt freshman from Poulsbo, just a short ferry ride across Puget Sound and a subsequent short drive up Bainbridge Island, has played in nine of the 10 matches, with five starts. Her 86 kills / 2.26 per-game average ranks No. 3 on the team, and the per-game average is No. 19 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference
 
Pruden is hitting a solid .309, which is No. 7 on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference list and makes her one of just nine players in the .300s. She has three matches of .400 or better, and posted an eye-popping .667 with an error-free performance of 10 kills on 15 attacks in the second match against Northwest University on Feb. 27.
 
Heading into this week's matches against Western Washington, Pruden has four straight matches of double-digit kills, including 13 on April 10 against Northwest Nazarene that tied her career high.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 3-0
All-time series: WWU leads, 50-26. Current series streak: WWU won 12. Last time: WWU 3, SPU 0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-11; Nov. 7, 2019 at Seattle). Last SPU series win: SPU 3, WWU 1 (27-25, 18-25, 25-22, 25-13; Oct. 24, 2013 at Bellingham). Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Western Washington opened its season last week, winning all three matches at home against Western Oregon, and dropping just one set in the process. Sophomore outside hitter Calley Heilborn played nine of the 10 sets and slammed 36 kills, an average of 4.0 per set that earner this week's GNAC Offensive Player of the Week award. Just as impressive was her hitting accuracy: Heilborn got those 36 kills on 89 attacks, and she had just three errors, for a .371 hitting percentage. In fact, Western comes into this week with three of its regulars hitting in the .300 neighborhood. Junior 6-foot middle blocker Chloe Roetcisoender is at .375, and junior 6-2 middle Olivia Fairchild is at .311. An even more eye-popping stat for Fairchild was the 20 total blocks – six of them solos – in her nine sets, an average of 2.22 per set that made her the Defensive Player of the Week. Roetcisoender got her hands on 12 blocks. Gabby Gunteman, a junior 5-10 outside, has the team's second-highest kill total with 24, and she played in all 10 sets. All that hitting accuracy helped sophomore 5-7 setter Malia Aleaga earn an even 100 assists.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- SPU's last victory in the Western series, on Oct. 24, 2013 in Bellingham, was also the 500^th overall in program history. The Falcons are now up to 581 wins.
-- Of the last four contests in Brougham Pavilion vs. WWU, three of them – in 2016, 2017, and 2018 – have gone to a fifth set.
-- In 2016, Seattle Pacific fought off two match points in the fourth set in order to get to the fifth (which Western won, 15-8). In 2017 and 2018, the Falcons were up 13-12 in the fifth, only to see the Vikings score the final three points both times.
 

-- One Falcon who will be especially keen to have a solid weekend is Maddie Batiste. The senior outside hitter has lots of double-digit kills performances during her career, but just two of those have come against the Vikings: 14 as a sophomore in 2018 and 11 in 2019. Both of those were home matches. In the three matches at Western, she did not play as a freshman, had four kills as a sophomore and three as a junior.
-- Getting kills against Western Washington is tough for anyone. In the three matches against Western Oregon, the Wolves hit .058, .021 and .108.
-- Batiste collected her 500^th career dig last Saturday against Northwest Nazarene. She had 17 in that match, lifting her total to 508.
-- Seattle Pacific has kept its opponents below .200 hitting in nine of the 10 matches so far.
-- Sophomore setter Lindsey Lambert's 17 service aces is tied for the fourth-highest total in the GNAC.
-- Western Washington and Olivia Fairchild have taken over the conference lead in blocking after their first three matches. WWU averages 3.70 blocks per set; SPU is No. 2 at 2.38. Fairchild, with her 20 total blocks, averages 2.22 per set. Falcons freshman Hannah Hair is next at 1.46.
 
COACH ABBIE WRIGHT SAYS …
 

(On the strong finishes against Central Washington)
"As we settled in, our serving and defense got better. We were able to see just how aggressive we could be. At the beginning of each match, we started a little bit uptight. It's just seeing how you have to play loose and just settle in and find your style. It's not like there's an exact equation for that, but as the match goes on, it's kind of feeling it out, and we were able to settle in and do some really good things."
 
(On getting contributions from everyone up and down the lineup)
"We have a lot of people who can go into a lot of places and fill in a lot of spots. The ability to give teams different looks will play to our strengths. We have a really deep team. I'm proud of our girls who have stepped into certain roles and who are flexible."
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Ashley Antoniak (1 season / 1 career)
10K-17D at Saint Martin's 2, March 2
 
Maddie Batiste (3 season / 19 career)
13K-12D vs. Alaska Anchorage 2, March 20
16K-14D vs. Central Washington 1, April 3
15K-15D vs. Central Washington 2, April 3
12K-17D vs. Northwest Nazarene, April 10
 
Lindsey Lambert (5 season / 10 career)
33 AST-15D at Saint Martin's 1, March 2
31 AST-11D at Saint Martin's 2, March 2
25 AST-11D vs. Alaska Anchorage 2, March 20
34 AST-12D vs. Central Washington 1, April 3
37 AST-14D vs. Central Washington 2, April 3
 
Lindsay Rosenthal (1 season / 1 career)
12K-13D vs. Northwest Nazarene, April 10
 
MARCH TO A MILESTONE
In the making
100^th dig                  Lindsay Rosenthal (has 92)
200^th block             Gabi Stegemoller (has 193.0)
200^th kill                 Erin Gould (has 174)
300^th dig                 Lindsey Lambert (has 278)
600^th kill                 Maddie Batiste (has 580)
 
Made last week
500^th dig                 Maddie Batiste (has 508)
 
UP NEXT
SPU will welcome Saint Martin's to Brougham Pavilion for a doubleheader next Saturday, May 1. The first match is at 1:00 p.m.; the second will follow 40 minutes after the first concludes.