ST. PAUL, Minn. – How's that for a start?
 
 

Ashley Antoniak recorded her second double-double, this one with 12 kills and 12 digs, and Sarah Brachvogel slammed a career-high 11 kills on Friday morning as Seattle Pacific opened its 2022 volleyball schedule with a three-set sweep of No. 15-ranked Winona State at the Concordia St. Paul-St. Cloud State Invitational.
 
Scores inside Concordia's Gangelhoff Center were 25-23, 25-14, 25-21.
 
Antoniak hit a solid .360 with just three errors on 25 attacks. The 12 kills were a career high, beating her previous best of 10 against Saint Martin's during the abbreviated 2021 spring season.
 
 

Brachvogel was in double-digit kills for the first time in her career. Her previous best was nine against Western Washington in the final match of the 2021 spring schedule. She also had three block assists, tying her career high.
 
The Falcons wound up with a split of their two matches against nationally ranked teams. On Friday evening, they stayed within range of No. 6 Concordia St. Paul before the Golden Bears pulled away for the sweep, 25-23, 25-18, 25-20.
 
"I was excited to see us out on the court and playing some matches that counted and to see the way the team responded, first having to take care of the first match, and then to play against a really good team in Concordia St. Paul," Jason Rhine said after his first two contests as SPU's new head coach. "We battled really well in that scenario."
 
Falcons 3, Winona State 0
Seattle Pacific was slow out of the blocks as Winona State scored the first five points of the match, two of them on service aces. But the Falcons climbed back in, beginning with a 5-0 run to go from 10-6 behind to 11-10 ahead. The teams continued to trade scoring surges until Seattle Pacific rang up four in a row to turn an 18-16 deficit into a 20-18 lead.
 
That advantage eventually grew to quadruple set point at 24-20. Winona State saved three of them before Antoniak closed it out on a kill.
 
SPU took command of Set 2 with a 10-point scoring run, the last nine of those with Brachvogel on the serve. That produced a 14-6 lead, and the Warriors never came closer than seven.
 
The Falcons trailed just once in the third set, that on the initial point. Up 7-5, they put five straight on the board, the last two with back-to-back service aces by Allison Wilks. The lead grew all the way to 22-15 before Winona stormed back with five straight, getting within 22-20.
 
At 23-21, Brachvogel set up match point with a kill that tipped out off a Warriors player. Maddie Pruden then clinched it with a well-placed tip from the right side.
 
Brachvogel, Wilks, and Abigail Cunningham each wound up with three of Seattle Pacific's 10 service aces.
 
 

"At times, both sides struggled to attack the ball, but I thought we really came out with our game plan of serving aggressively and getting a team out of system," Rhine said. "Winona had a hard time keeping up with our transition game, and I thought that part of our game plan went really well and made a difference in the match. They really clamped down on our middles, so Ashley and Brach got some openings, and I was excited to see them take advantage of that, put some kills down and take care of it for us."



 
Concordia St. Paul 3, Falcons 0
With Cunningham on the serve, SPU bolted to a 6-0 lead to start the match, eventually stretching it to a seven-point advantage at 9-2.
 
But the nine-time NCAA Division II champion Golden Bears gradually climbed back in, finally tying it at 13-13 in the opening set. The Falcons had one more lead after that, at 14-13, before Concordia St. Paul rang up five straight for an 18-14 advantage. SPU eventually came back to tie it at 21, 22, and 23, then the Bears got the final two points on a kill by Katie Mattson and a tip by Jasmine Mulvihill.
 
After a quiet match against Winona State with just one kill on seven attacks, junior middle blocker Hannah Hair had seven with just one error on 13 swings against Concordia (.462). Junior opposite Maddie Pruden had the exact same numbers. Junior middle blocker Erin Smith had an error-free match of four kills on seven attacks (.571).

Concordia took a 5-1 lead to start Set 2 and stayed ahead for the entirety, Seattle Pacific got as close as 7-6, and the hosts responded with a 4-0 run.
 
SPU built a 6-2 lead at the start of the third set, thanks in part to back-to-back serving aces by senior setter Lindsey Lambert. The Bears tallied five straight for a 7-6 lead. Then, tied at 14-14, Concordia went ahead to stay with four in  row.
 
St. Paul had a decided edge offensively with 50 kills, allowing the Falcons just 29. The Bears hit .303 for the match, including .325 in the first set (19 kills-6 errors-40 attacks) and .412 in the second (19-5-34) before cooling down to .171 in the third (12-6-35). SPU finished at .160 (29-13-100.
  
"I thought our team had a really fun time battling," Rhine said. "There were times when it was really back and forth. Both teams were setting out really well. It was a fun battle and a lot of high-level volleyball on both sides."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Maddie Pruden had 12 kills for the day, pushing her past 300 for her career. She now has 305.
-- Hannah Hair is now just five kills away from her career 400^th.
-- The victory against Winona State pushed SPU's record to 21-16 in season openers.
-- Ashley Antoniak had a .273 hitting percentage for the two matches combined (16 kills-4 error-44 attacks).
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific concludes its first preseason tournament with two matches on Saturday at St. Cloud State. First up is the host Huskies at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time, followed by Minnesota Duluth at 1:30 p.m.
 
 
NCAA VOLLEYBALL
Concordia St. Paul-St. Cloud State Invitational
Friday, Aug. 26, 2022
Gangelhoff Center / St. Paul, Minn.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, (No. 15) Winona State 0
 
Game scores – 25-23, 25-14, 25-21.
 
Service aces – Winona 6 (Pagel 3), SPU 10 (Brachvogel 3, Cunningham 3, Wilks 3).
Kills – Winona 29 (Paulson 7, Pagel 7), SPU 32 (Antoniak 12, Brachvogel 11).
Assists – Winona 25 (Knutsen 19), SPU 32 (Lambert 13, Tulino 13).
Digs – Winona 42 (Vaughn 9), SPU 54 (Cunningham 17, Antoniak 12).
Block assists / solo – Winona 20 / 1 solo (Joerger 9 / 1 solo), SPU 8 / 0 solo (Wilks 4 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – Winona 29-20-108—083 (Pagel 7-3-15—267), SPU 32-17-105—143 (Antoniak 12-3-25—360, Brachvogel 11-2-28—321).
Attendance – 91.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 1-0  Winona State 0-1.
 
 
(No. 6) Concordia St. Paul 3, Seattle Pacific 0
 
Game scores – 25-23, 25-18, 25-20.
 
Service aces – SPU 6 (Lambert 2), CSP 8 (Sieling 2, Mulvihill 2).
Kills – SPU 29 (Hair 7, Pruden 7), CSP 50 (Mulvihill 18).
Assists – SPU 27 (Tulino 15), CSP 48 (Starkey 42).
Digs – SPU 36 (Lambert 13, Cunningham 11), CSP 45 (Mulvihill 10).
Block assists / solo – SPU 10 / 2 solo (Wilks 4 / 1 solo), CSP 10 / 0 solo (Brady 3 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – CPU 29-134-100—160 (Smith 4-0-7—571, Hair 7-1-13—462, Pruden 7-1-13—462), CSP 50-17-109—303 (Mattson 9-2-18—389, Mulvihill 18-5-35—371).
Attendance – 174.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 1-1.  Concordia St. Paul 2-0.
 
Next matches
Seattle Pacific at St. Cloud State
Saturday, 10:00 a.m. PDT
 
Seattle Pacific vs. Minnesota Duluth
Saturday, 1:30 p.m. PDT
Both at Hallenback Hall / St. Cloud, Minn.