BILLINGS, Mont. – The Seattle Pacific Falcons not only won their final road volleyball match of the season on Saturday …
 
… they did it with an emphatic exclamation point.
 
Maddie Pruden had 12 kills and four block assists, and SPU served up a team-record 19 aces as it roared back from a first-set loss to beat Montana State Billings in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match, 3-1.
 
Scores in Alterowitz Gymnasium were 23-25, 25-15, 25-6, 25-12.
 
Sarah Brachvogel and Ashley Antoniak added 11 kills apiece for SPU.
 
The Falcons (12-12, 10-6 GNAC) are back at .500 for the first time since the opening day of the season when they split their first two matches at the Concordia St. Paul-St. Cloud State Invitational. They also are assured of a winning record in conference play with two regular-season matches left, having won their last three in a row, all on the road.
 
 

"Every match in the last few has been a good mental challenge," head coach Jason Rhine said. "We just talked about how every match has to feel like a playoff march – that's how we're treating it. And it's great mental practice for us to be in those scenarios and continue to work through them, whether it's going well or whether there are some things that need to be fixed."

The 19 service aces breaks the old record of 18, which was set on Oct. 21, 1993 against then-Eastern Montana (the former name of today's MSU Billings). Senior setter Lindsey Lambert had six of those aces on Saturday, and Allison Wilks had a career-high five.
 
"We served really aggressively. That's something we've been good at, but maybe we've gotten a little more consistent on our serves," Rhine said. "We just got in a groove and served aggressively, and that made it hard for Billings to side-out."
 
NEVER AHEAD IN SET1, NEVER BEHIND THEREAFTER
SPU trailed for the entire first set, at times by as many as five, not even getting into a tie.
 
But after that, the Falcons never trailed again for the rest of the afternoon. The second set was tied at 1-1 when they ran off four points in a row for a 5-1 lead, and Montana State Billings (7-18, 0-16 GNAC) didn't came closer than three, the last time at 10-7.
 
Returning from of the five-minute break following the second set, Seattle Pacific put the first 10 points on the board to start the third. The Yellowjackets got a couple points back to make it 10-2, but the Falcons then ran off another seven in a row.

The six points allowed in Set 3 was the first time the Falcons limited an opponent to single digits in a regular set since Sept. 11, 2015 at home in the GNAC / Pacific West Crossover tournament. On that day, they defeated Biola, 23-25, 25-9, 25-22, 25-23. (That does not include deciding fifth sets, which are played to 15 instead of 25 and in which it is not unusual for one team to finish with fewer than 10 points.)
 
The fourth set was tied at 1-1 when SPU rang up four in a row for a 5-1 lead, then stretched it out to 10-2. This one never got closer than eight, and the Falcons ran off the last four points of the match.
 
"What I told them between (the second and third) sets was that I thought they were still capable of more," Rhine said. "You have to respect the opponent and the game and themselves and play their hearts out, beginning to end. I don't know if that's why the score was what it was, but we came out and played some of our better volleyball and put a lot of pressure on their side."

BY THE NUMBERS
-- SPU finished the day with a .203 hitting mark (49 kills-19 errors-148 attacks) – noteworthy, given that it hit just .047 (11-9-43) in the first set. During the 25-6 third-set rout, the Falcons were at .407 (13-2-27).
-- Defensively, the Falcons limited Billings to .016 hitting (26-24-125). That was the lowest mark by any opponent this fall (.083 by Winona State on Aug. 26) and the third sub-.100 mark.
 

--Sarah Brachvogel, playing for the first time since a 3-0 sweep of Billings in Seattle on Oct. 8, hit .476 for the day (11-1-21). She had four of Seattle Pacific's 19 aces. "It was fun to see Sarah get on the court and have some success," coach Jason Rhine said. "Some of her shots were shots that we knew would work well against the defensive system that Billings runs. It was fun to be able to make that change and get her some confidence in getting back out there."
--  Middle blocker Hannah Hair had another error-free afternoon, going 6-0-13—462. She also had four blocks, including a solo. That was her second straight no-errors match and her fifth of the season.
--Lindsey Lambert was just one ace away from her career high. That was the most by a Falcon in any match this season. "Some of her serves were scary to us on the sideline, how low and flat and fast they were coming," Rhine said. "That definitely disrupted (MSUB's) serve receive. It was fun to see her get complete confidence in her serve and go hard."
-- Ashley Antoniak and sophomore setter Emily Tulino both double-doubled. Antoniak had 11 digs to go along with her 11 kills. Tulino had 18 assists and 13 digs. Tulino now has 10 for the season and Antoniak has four.

UP NEXT
The Falcons wind up the regular season at home this coming week against Simon Fraser and Western Washington. The Red Leafs are in town on Thursday, Nov. 10, at 7:00 p.m. The Vikings visit on Senior Day Saturday, Nov. 12, at 2:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Montana State Billings 1
 
Game scores – 23-25, 25-15, 25-6, 25-12.
 
Service aces – SPU 19 (Lambert 6), MSUB 4 (Funk 2).
Kills – SPU 49 (Pruden 12, Antoniak 12, Brachvogel 12), MSUB 26 (Havekost 10).
Assists – SPU 39 (Tulino 18, Lambert 16), MSUB 23 (Hashbarger 12).
Digs – SPU 61 (Cunningham 17, Tulino 13, Antoniak 11), MSUB 61 (Hashbarger 16).
Block assists / solo – SPU 16 / 1 solo (Wilks 4 / 0 solo, Pruden 4 / 0 solo, Hair 3 / 1 solo), MSUB 10 / 0 solo (Langston 3 / 0 solo, Fa'ali'I 3 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 49-19-148—203 (Brachvogel 11-1-21—476, Hair 6-0-13—462), MSUB 26-24-125—016 (Havekost 10-6-40—100).
Attendance – 75.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 12-12, 10-6 GNAC.
Montana State Billings 7-18, 0-16 GNAC.
 
Next match
Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Nov. 10     7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.