GOLDEN, Colo. – The plane ride home got a little more enjoyable for the Seattle Pacific volleyball team on Saturday.
 
After dropping their first three matches at the season-opening Oredigger Classic, the Falcons snagged a 'W' in their final one, putting a 3-1 victory against Midwestern State into the books to conclude their weekend inside Lockridge Arena at Colorado School of Mines.
 
Scores were 25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 25-21.
 
After falling to No. 12-ranked Mines in three sets and to Colorado Christian in five on Friday, SPU tangled with 10^th-ranked Colorado Mesa on Saturday morning, but went down in a sweep, 27-25, 25-14, 25-17.
 
That brought the Falcons to the finale against Midwestern State of Texas, and they got it done with a team hitting mark of .221 and 14 points on the block.
 
 

"One thing I'm really proud of is our stamina – it didn't feel like we were on our fourth match today," head coach Abbie Wright said. "I thought we actually looked pretty fresh. We had some kids who hadn't seen the floor in quite awhile coming in and making some big plays. We had to fight back in that fourth game, and that was a really good team effort.
 
"People coming off the bench (and contributing) shows the real determination and selflessness of our team."
 
Colorado Mesa 3, SPU 0
(27-25, 25-14, 25-17)
The Mavericks had a 20-12 lead in the opening set, but the Falcons climbed back into it. They used a 6-0 run, with senior Erin Gould on the serve for the last five of those points, to turn a 23-18 deficit into a set-point opportunity at 24-23. Mesa fought that one off and gained set points at 25-24 and 26-25, converting on the second one.
 
Colorado Mesa had two big surges to take command of the second set. Midway through the third, they strung together five straight points for a 15-11 lead..
 
None of the Falcons reached double-digit kills, and Seattle Pacific struggled on hitting, finishing at .000.
 
"We expected a challenge this morning, and I thought our team hung in there and had some really good opportunities in the first set and battled back," Wright said. "We're learning how to read the game at a faster pace against some of these veteran teams."
 
SPU 3, Midwestern State 1
(25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 25-21)
The Falcons had a pair of big runs in the opening set, and Lindsey Lambert was on the serve both times. The first one was 5-0 to help Seattle Pacific climb out of a 7-3 hole, and the second was 6-0 to turn a 15-13 deficit into a 19-15 lead. Freshman Emiliy Tulino helped close out that set with two service aces sandwiched around a Midwestern State attack error.
 
Twice during the second set, Seattle Pacific was up by six, at 6-0 and 13-7. But the Mustangs scored 18 of the final 25 points, including a stretch of seven straight to level it at one set apiece.
 
 

SPU never trailed and was never tied in Set 3 after scoring the first three points. Midwestern State led for most of Set 4 all the way up to 21-19, then saw the Falcons run off the final six points of the match, with Tulino on the serve for the final five. Outside hitter / opposite Sarah Brachvogel factored into two of those, teaming with outside / middle blocker Allison Wilks on a block for 22-21, then slamming a kill for 23-21.
 
On Seattle Pacific's first try at match point, up 24-21, Tulino sealed it with a service ace.
 
Hannah Hair had nine kills and nine blocks, including a solo. Wilks put together a career-best performance on the attack with an error-free .700 hitting effort (7 kills-10 attacks). Senior outside hitter Maddie Batiste led with 10 kills.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
 

-- Hannah Hair finished the weekend with 21 total blocks in 15 sets. That's an average of 1.4 per set, and in just those first four matches, she already has nearly a quarter of the 90 that she had during last spring's abbreviated 18-match schedule.
-- Hair also totaled 35 kills in the tournament, pushing her past 200 for her career. She now has 205.
-- SPU's two true freshman played in all 15 sets. Setter Emily Tulino finished with 84 assists, and libero Abby Cunningham came up with 44 digs.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons co-host the SPU-CWU Invitational on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Brougham Pavilion. Simon Fraser, Biola, Hawaii Pacific, and St. Cloud State of Minnesota will be taking part.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Oredigger Classic
Saturday, Sept. 4, 2021
Lockridge Arena / Golden, Colo.
 
(No. 10) Colorado Mesa 3, Seattle Pacific 0
 
Game scores – 27-25, 25-14, 25-17.
 
Service aces – SPU 2 (Antoniak 1, Lambert 1), Mesa 10 (Duis 4).
Kills – SPU 24 (Batiste 8), Mesa 41 (Donais 10, Eiken 10).
Assists – SPU 24 (Tulino 11, Lambert 10), Mesa 41 (Stokes 39).
Digs – SPU 15 (Cunningham 4, Lambert 4), Mesa 23 (Duis 7).
Block assists / solo – SPU 12 / 1 solo (Hair 3 / 1 solo), Mesa 10 / 0 solo (Eiken 3 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 24-19-66—076 (Hair 6-1-15—333, Perry 4-2-6—333), Mesa 41-12-70—414 (Donais 10-2-15—533).
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 0-3, Colorado Mesa 2-1.
 
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Midwestern State 0
 
Game scores – 25-20, 20-25, 25-21, 25-21.
 
Service aces – SPU 4 (Tulino 3), MW 7 (Lefforge 3).
Kills – SPU 48 (Batiste 10), MW 47 (Lefforge 10, Bourne 10).
Assists – SPU 46 (Tulino 27, Lambert 14), MW 40 (Roach 20).
Digs – Spu 48 (Cunningham 14), MW 456 (Bourne 12).
Block assists / solo – SPU 26 / 1 solo (Hair 8 / 1 solo), MW 18 / 1 solo (Leforge 8 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 48-21-122—221 (Wilks 7-0-10—700, Hair 9-2-18—389), MW 47-35-148—087 (Lefforge 11-2-24—375).
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 1-3, Midwestern State 0-4.
 
 
Next match
SPU-CWU Invitational Tournament
Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 9-11
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
Matches at 7:00 p.m. (Thursday), 1:00 p.m. (Friday), and 11:00 a.m. / 1:00 p.m. / 6:00 p.m. / 8:00 p.m. (Saturday).