THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Sept. 23                         Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks, 8:00 p.m. PDT
                                                The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Sept. 25                          Seattle Pacific at Alaska Anchorage, 3:00 p.m. PDT
                                                Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
SEATTLE – For the past two weeks, the Seattle Pacific Falcons have enjoyed considerable volleyball success at home.
 
This week, they'll get to see if they keep that going on the road.
 
Riding a six-match winning streak, with the last five of those in the friendly surroundings of Brougham Pavilion, SPU heads out for its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference road trip of the season. Up first is a visit to Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday, with the first serve at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time.
 
Then, it's Alaska Anchorage on Saturday. That one gets started at 3:00 p.m. Pacific.
 
All three teams – the Falcons, Nanooks, and Seawolves – are 2-0 in GNAC play.
 
Seattle Pacific (6-3, 2-0 GNAC) won its last four preseason tournament matches prior to starting conference play last week at home against Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington. The Falcons came out strong in both matches and went on to post four-set victories. The six-match win streak ties for the longest in coach Abbie Wright's five-year tenure, achieved previously in 2019.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both matches will have live Webcasts and live stats. The appropriate links can be found at the top of this story.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- This will be the second time the Falcons have headed out of town this season. They opened their schedule in Colorado on Sept. 3-4, winning one of their four matches at the Oredigger Classic in Golden.
-- In 2019, their last full season, SPU went 9-9 away from Seattle, including 7-5 in true road matches (2-4 on neutral courts). That included a four-set victory at Alaska Fairbanks and a three-set loss at Alaska Anchorage to wind up the season.
-- During last spring's abbreviated schedule, the Falcons were 4-4 on the road, although the only venues they visited were Northwest University in Kirkland (twice), Saint Martin's (once for a doubleheader), and Western Washington (twice).
-- That spring schedule included a home doubleheader against Alaska Anchorage. The Seawolves swept the first match, 25-18, 25-20, 25-19. But in the nightcap, SPU came back twice from one set down to force a fifth and forged a 12-11 lead. But Anchorage came back to win it, 16-14.
 

-- Falcons head coach Abbie Wright, now in her fifth season, has pushed her overall record above .500 at 56-54, and has leveled her GNAC record at 31-31.
-- Wright's teams are  2-4 against Fairbanks and 1-7 against Anchorage. The lone victory against the Seawolves was a five-setter at UAA on Nov. 1, 2018.
--SPU topped the .200 hitting mark in both matches last week (.284 vs. Northwest Nazarene, and .281 vs. Central Washington). That makes it four in a row, and six out of nine this season above .200.
-- Hannah Hair, who hit an error-free .500 against NNU (9 kills-0 errors-18 attacks) and .526 against Central (12-2-19) added 56 points to her season hitting percentage in just those two matches, going from .275 to .331.
-- Seattle Pacific and Alaska Fairbanks are the top blocking teams in the GNAC. The Falcons average 2.76 blocks per set; the Nanooks are close behind at 2.68. On the NCAA Division II national list, those marks rank No. 5 and No. 7.
-- Anchorage and SPU are Nos. 2 and 3 on the GNAC list for kills per set: 12.59 for the Seawolves, 12.55 for the Falcons.
-- Those same two teams are 1-2 on the service aces list: 2.24 for Anchorage, with a whopping total 114 through 51 sets, and 66 for the falcons (1.94 per set).
-- Thanks to some solid serving against NNU and Central, the Falcons are now above water on their serving for the season, with 66 aces and 58 errors.
-- Leading the conference is true freshman Emily Tulino at 0.59 per set. She has 20 altogether. .
 
SCOUTING THE ALASKA FAIRBANKS NANOOKS: 9-5, 2-0 GNAC (tie 1^st)
All-time series: SPU leads, 39-16. Current series streak: SPU won 1. Last time: SPU 3, UAF 1 (25-21, 26-24, 23-25, 25-21; Nov. 21, 2019 at Fairbanks. Last UAF series win: UAF 3, SPU 0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-22; Sept. 21, 2019 at Seattle). Nanooks on the Web.
Nanooks in a nutshell: Fairbanks comes in on a five-match winning streak, including three-set road sweeps at Western Oregon and Saint Martin's last week to start the conference schedule. The Nanooks have a pair of big offensive threats in senior 6-foot-1 outside hitter AveRee Reynolds and senior 5-10 outside Lahra Weber. Reynolds has 148 kills, an average of 2.85 per set, and Weber has 128 (2.51), along with a team-high 20 service aces. Another solid performer at the net is junior 6-foot-1 middle blocker Sophie Schilling with 101 kills and team-leading mark of .295 hitting and 60 blocks (with five solos). Emily Moorhead, a 5-11 senor middle, is close behind with 56, and Reynolds has 50.
 
SCOUTING THE ALASKA ANCHORAGE SEAWOLVES:  9-5, 2-0 GNAC (tie 1^st)
All-time series: UAA leads, 30-29. Current series streak: UAA won 4. Last time: UAA 3, SPU 2 (25-17, 21-25, 25-14, 10-25, 16-14; March 20, 2021 at Seattle). Last SPU series win: SPU 3, UAA 2 (25-15, 15-25, 25-15, 18-25, 15-11; Nov. 1, 2018 at Anchorage). Seawolves on the Web.
Seawolves in a nutshell: Alaska Anchorage had to come from a set down twice in its GNAC opener at Saint Martin's last week, finally pulling out in the fifth, 15-9, by scoring the last seven points of the match. The Seawolves then swept Western Oregon. Junior 6-foot-1 right-side hitter Eve Stephens was voted the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year, and she certainly is delivering. Stephens has a conference-leading 191 kills, 43 more than the next-highest total, and her 3.75 kills per set average is No. 2 on the list. She's also hitting a solid .259, has served up 24 aces and tallied 43 blocks. Sophomore 5-10 outside / right side Lisa Jaunet has 130 kills. Senior 6-2 middle blocker / right side Vera Pluharova is as solid as ever with 97 kills, .333 hitting, and 47 total blocks with seven solos. Setter Ellen Floyd, a junior, comes into the week with 500 assists and a team-high161 digs.
 
GETTING NOTICED NATIONALLY
For the first time in nine years, Seattle Pacific is included on the weekly national rankings produced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
 
No, the Falcons aren't among the top 25 teams. But they are listed in the group of "Others receiving votes." SPU got five points this week, along with fellow West Region school Azusa Pacific, thereby tying for No. 45 on the list.
 
The last time SPU was mentioned in the weekly national poll was Sept. 3, 2012, when it received 14 points and was at No. 33. The Falcons also received votes in that year's preseason poll, collecting 24 points from a national panel of coaches and tying for No. 30.
 
Of note in this week's poll, GNAC rival Western Washington is No. 15, and Simon Fraser is No. 22. Other West Region schools in the top 25 are No. 12 Cal State San Bernardino, No. 24 Cal Poly Pomona, and No. 25 Chaminade. Joining SPU in receiving votes are Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks with 12 and two, respectively.
 
NEW MEMBERS FOR DOUBLE-DOUBLE CLUB
SPU's list of players who have achieved double-doubles nearly doubled in size last week, going from three names on the list to five.
 
 

Senior outside hitter Erin Gould made it on Thursday against Northwest Nazarene, with career-highs of 15 kills and 21 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Hannah Hair joined her on Saturday with 12 kills and a career high 11 blocks.

 

In addition, senior outside hitter Maddie Batiste recorded the 20th double-double of her career, coming up with 17 kills and 15 digs last Thursday against Northwest Nazarene.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Heading into the second week of the conference schedule, four GNAC schools – Seattle Pacific, Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks, and Western Washington – went unbeaten through the first week. SPU, Anchorage, and Fairbanks all won twice; Western won its only match, beating travel partner Simon Fraser. (When travel partners play, it is their only match of the week.) At least one of those teams will fall this week when the Falcons visit the Alaska schools.
 
In the California Collegiate Athletic Association, four teams — Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State San Bernardino, and Cal State San Marcos — all won their first two conference matches. Pomona still has a perfect overall record of 9-0. San Francisco State is 8-1, dropping a five-setter at San Marcos. This week, San Marcos has two big road matches, visiting Pomona on Friday and San Bernardino on Saturday.
 
Azusa Pacific and Point Loma Nazarene both went 2-0 to start Pacific West Conference play. The best overall record belongs to Chaminade at 11-3, currently the only West Region school with double digit wins. Concordia Irvine and Biola, both of whom won their only conference match last week, play on Friday at Biola.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for the latest news, notes, and results from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons are back home in Brougham Pavilion next week to take on Saint Martin's and Western Oregon. The Saints are in town on Thursday, Sept. 30, at 7:00 p.m. The Wolves come in on Saturday. Oct. 2, at 2:00 p.m.