SEATTLE – A couple weeks ago, the Seattle Pacific Falcons found a way to take care of their volleyball business on the road.
 
Having done so, they knew it was imperative that they find a way to do the same during three straight matches at home.
 
They did.
 
Hannah Hair had a second straight error-free match, and the foursome of Hair, Ashley Antoniak, Erin Smith, and Allison Wilks combined for 31 kills and a .394 hitting percentage on Saturday afternoon as the Falcons swept past Montana State Billings, 3-0.
 
Scores of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest in Brougham Pavilion were 25-15, 25-22, 25-20.
 
SPU (8-9, 6-3 GNAC) now has won five in a row. It started with those road victories at Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington, and now includes the homecourt W's against Western Oregon (3-1), Saint Martin's (3-0), and Billings (3-0).
 
"It was nice to win at home and the girls got to spend some time on campus and in their own beds for a change," head coach Jason Rhine said. "It was a long wait for this one (the Falcons hadn't played since last Saturday), but it was fun to come out and play well."
 
Their 6-3 GNAC record is the team's best at the halfway point of the conference schedule since 2011. That team also was 6-3.
 




ON TARGET, AND THEN SOME
For the second match in a row, Seattle Pacific finished above the .300 hitting mark, coming in at .321 (44 kills-10 errors-106 attacks). It tied for the fewest errors in a match this season. In last Saturday's sweep of Saint Martin's, the Falcons hit .323 (40-18-93).

On Saturday, Hair went 10-0-15—667; Wilks was 5-1-10—400, Smith was 7-1-16—375, and Antoniak was 9-1-30—267. The team hit .520 in the first set (15-2-25) and .320 in the second (17-40-40) before cooling off to .195 in the third (12-4-41).

 

"We had a good game plan against their defense, and the girls did a good job of taking advantage of some of the match-ups that they had and just scoring quickly, so that was exciting to watch," Rhine said
 
The Falcons were down 11-10 in the first set when the put four straight points on the board to take the lead. Montana State Billings (7-10, 0-9 GNAC) got one back, then SPU racked up another four in a row for a 19-12 advantage. The Yellowjackets never got closer than six and Seattle Pacific wound up hitting a stratospheric .520 in that set (15 kills-2 errors-25 attacks).
 
The teams traded mini-runs in Set 2. Billings got the first three points, then the Falcons climbed back in, eventually going in front, 12-9. But every time the seemed poised to pull away, the Jackets had an answer, coming within one on seven occasions, the last time at 23-22. Finally, a combined block by Hair and Maddie Pruden, and a kill by Antoniak that deflected off an MSUB blocker all the way to the back wall put the set in Seattle Pacific's hands
 
SPU led for the entirety of Set 3. On three occasions, it was ahead by as many as five, at 15-10, 17-12, and 19-14. The Yellowjackets got as close as 20-19 before the Falcons notched five of the final six points.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- As solid as they were with their own hitting, the Falcons were just as effective defensively, limiting Billings to just .062 (30-24-97).
-- Now with five straight in the book, SPU is on its longest winning streak early last season when it won six in a row.
-- The Falcons got 12 points on blocks. Hannah Hair and Erin Smith each had six block assists; Allison Wilks had five. Wilks now has 25 in her last five matches. Smith's total was a career-high, beating her previous best of five, which she reached three times, most recently at Simon Fraser on Sept. 10.
-- Sarah Brachvogel had eight kills, pushing her past 200 for her career, now with 203.
-- SPU now has three sweeps for the year.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons visit No 9-ranked Alaska Anchorage on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time, then are at Alaska Fairbanks next Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Pacific.
 
"Fairbanks' defense is very strong, so we have to kind of hang with them and keep working to score, even late in rallies," Rhine said. "Anchorage's offense has been quite hot for most of the conference season, so we have to try to find ways to slow them down and some of their stronger players."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Montana State Billings 0
 
Game scores – 25-15, 25-22, 25-20.
 
Service aces – MSUB 5 (Spoja 3), SPU 6 (Wilks 2).
Kills – MSUB 30 (Havekost 9, Schwartz 9), SPU 44 (Hair 10).
Assists – MSUB 30 (Hashbarger 26), SPU 42 (Lambert 19, Tulino 17).
Digs – MSUB 42 (Funk 12), SPU 40 (Cunningham 8, Antoniak 8).
Block assists / solo – MSUB 6 / 1 solo (Hayden 2 / 0 solo, Spoja 1 / 1 solo), SPU 22 / 1 solo (Hair 6 / 0 solo, Smith 6 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – MSUB 30-24-97—062 (Spoja 3-1-6—333), SPU 44-10-106—321 (Hair 10-0-15—667).
Attendance – 204
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 8-9, 6-3 GNAC.
Montana State Billings 7-10, 0-9 GNAC.
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Anchorage
Thursday, Oct. 13     8:00 p.m. PDT
Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska