SEATTLE – Don't think about it.
Just. Go. Play.
In a nutshell, that was
Abbie Wright's coaching advice to her Seattle Pacific volleyball team heading into the fourth set of Saturday's match against cross-state rival Central Washington. The Wildcats had the momentum, having come back from the brink of defeat to snag the third set and keep the contest going.
But by the end of the afternoon in Brougham Pavilion, the Falcons had a four-set victory.
Hannah Hair and
Maddie Batiste each hammered 12 kills, and Hair came up with a career-high 11 blocks as SPU put its sixth straight victory into the books, defeating Central, 25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22.
The last two of those W's came on this opening weekend of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule. It's the first time since 2014 that the Falcons (6-3 overall) have started 2-0 in GNAC play.
But sealing the deal on Saturday meant putting the third set behind them after Central (5-3, 1-1 GNAC) ran off eight straight points to take it and keep the match going.
Abbie Wright
"I told them, 'If you play tentative, you probably will lose. If you play aggressive, you could still lose, but you also have a shot at winning,'" Wright said of her comments in the huddle between the third and fourth sets.
"When we go into over-analyzation and over-thinking mode, we don't play loose," Wright added. "Central is a good team – they're going to get their points and big plays. It's just having a short memory toward the end of the match and doing what we can to put pressure on them."
Hair's 12 kills came on a .526 hitting percentage in Saturday's match, as she had just two errors on 19 attacks. Her 11 total blocks included two solos, and exceeded her previous career high of 10, set last spring in the second half match of a doubleheader against Central.
"Everything she touched today was gold," Wright said. "As long as the set was high enough, she was pretty dynamic. She has worked super-hard. She's really humble and is a great teammate. I'm really happy she's getting some statistical rewards for her efforts right now."
The Falcons continued their recent trend of coming out strong to start the match. Last weekend, it was 25-13 against St. Cloud State in the opening set. On Thursday, it was 25-17 against Northwest Nazarene. And on Saturday, it was 25-17 against Central after building a lead as large as 23-12.
Seattle Pacific used a 6-0 run in the second set to turn a 9-6 deficit into a 12-9 lead. It stayed in front until the Wildcats ran off three straight points to climb into a 23-23 tie, finally closing it out on a kill by Hair and a crosscourt kill by
Erin Smith.
The Falcons were on the brink of polishing off a three-set sweep, up 23-17 in the third. But Central Washington rang up those eight points in a row, the last seven with sophomore Tia Andaya on the serve. That surge included three service ace and three Wildcats blocks.
SPU took a 14-8 lead in the fourth, then saw the Wildcats come back again, this time taking leads of 20-18 and 21-20. Tied at 21-21, back-to-back blocks by Hair – the first one teaming up with
Allison Wilks, the second with
Sydney Perry – put the Falcons up 23-21.
Central closed within 23-22. A crosscourt kill by Perry gave the Falcons their first try at match point. On
Emily Tulino's serve, the Wildcats were called for a double-hit on the reception, clinching it for SPU.
BY THE NUMBERS
-- SPU hit .281 as a team, with 53 kills and 21 errors on 114 swings. That total included .429 in the first set (16-4-28) and .300 in the third (14-5-20).
--
Maddie Batiste's 12 kills gave her back-to-back double-digit matches for the second time this season. She had 17 against Northwest Nazarene on Thursday.
-- The 31 total blocks for the Falcons, which netted 17 points, was a season high. Along with Hair's 11,
Allison Wilks and
Sydney Perry each had a career-high six.
-- The six-match winning streak matches coach
Abbie Wright's high during her five years at the helm. It happened previously in 2019.
UP NEXT
The Falcons take their first GNAC road trip of the year when they head to Alaska this coming week. First stop is
Fairbanks on Thursday, Sept. 23 at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time, followed by a visit to
Anchorage on Saturday the 25
th at 3:00 p.m. Pacific.
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
Seattle Pacific 3, Central Washington 1
Game scores – 25-17, 25-23, 23-25, 25-22.
Service aces – CWU 13 (Andaya 4), SPU 7 (Tulino 5).
Kills – CWU 46 (Kaufman 16), SPU 53 (Batiste 12, Hair 12).
Assists – CWU 42 (Andaya 21), SPU 48 (Tulino 28, Lambert 14).
Digs – CWU 36 (Stires 10), SPU 39 (Cunningham 11).
Block assists / solo – CWU 12 / 1 solo (Daoud-Hebert 4 / 0 solo), SPU 28 / 3 solo (Hair 9 / 2 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – CWU 46-27-122—156 (Daoud-Hebert 4-1-7—429), SPU 53-21-114—281 (Hair 5-2-19—526).
Attendance – 105
Records
Seattle Pacific 6-3, 2-0 GNAC. Central Washington 5-3, 1-1 GNAC.
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks
Thursday, Sept. 23 8:00 p.m. PDT
The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska
