ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Once they found their stride, the Seattle Pacific Falcons gave Minnesota Duluth a run for it in their final volleyball match at the Concordia St. Paul-St. Cloud State Invitational.
 
They just didn't have enough left to overtake the Bulldogs.
 
Junior middle blocker Hannah Hair had a season-high 13 kills and hit .550, and Sarah Brachvogel added 11 kills, but in spite of taking the third set to stay alive, SPU ultimately dropped a four-set decision to Duluth inside Hallenback Hall at St. Cloud State University.
 
Scores were 25-18, 26-24, 23-25, 25-17.
 
That marked the end of a tough day for the Falcons (1-3). After splitting a pair of matches on Friday at Concordia, including a three-set sweep of No. 15-ranked Winona State, they could not get things going on Saturday morning against host St. Cloud, and were swept away, 25-11, 25-14, 25-15.
 
Minnesota Duluth 3, Seattle Pacific 1
Duluth bolted to a 6-1 lead to start the match and never let the Falcons come closer than three points, the last time at 11-8. The Bulldogs responded with five straight points to put it out of reach.
 
Seattle Pacific was on the brink of leveling that match at one set apiece, building a 24-22 in Set 2. But a service error, two attack errors gave Minnesota Duluth a set point, and the Bulldogs converted it with a kill on their first opportunity.
 
Needing the third set to keep the match going, the Falcons were ahead for nearly all of it. Again, they had a 24-22 lead. Duluth saved the first set point, but Seattle Pacific closed it out on a kill by Allison Wilks.
 
But the fourth set was all Bulldogs. They snapped a 2-2 tie with six straight points, never letting the Falcons closer than four, the last time at 10-6.
 
St. Cloud State 3, Seattle Pacific 0
When the teams met last year at SPU inside a packed Brougham Pavilion, it was all Falcons.
 
Different story this time the host Huskies were in command.
 
St. Cloud State scored the first four points before Seattle Pacific got untracked, tying it at 6, 7, 8, and 9. The Huskies had a 13-10 lead when they proceeded to run off 11 straight points for a 24-10 lead.
 
The Falcons were right there with St. Cloud through the middle of the second set, as well. Matter of fact, they had a 13-11. But the Huskies scored the next seven points, gave up on one on an attack error, then got the next seven to polish off a 14-1 outburst.
 
Up 12-11 in the third, St. Cloud put up six of the next seven points, effectively putting it out of reach.
 
The Falcons finished with just 21 kills for the match, led by Maddie Pruden's six, and hit just .057 (21-16 errors-87 attacks). The Huskies had 38 kills, 15 of those by Kenzie Foley.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Hannah Hair had 17 kills for the pushing her past 400 for her career. She now has 412.
-- SPU had its best hitting performance of the weekend in the Minnesota Duluth match, finishing at .266 (54 kills-17 errors-139 attacks).
 
UP NEXT
After playing three nationally ranked teams this weekend in Minnesota, that Falcons will come up against two more next weekend in California at the Cal State Los Angeles Invitational. They'll take on No. 7 Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday, Sept. 1, at 7:30 p.m., and No. 25 Chaminade next Saturday, Sept. 3, at noon. In between, SPU will faced two teams receiving votes in the national poll: Biola on Friday, Sept. 2, at noon, and host CSULA on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
 

NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Concordia St. Paul-St. Cloud State Invitational
Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022
Hallenback Hall / St. Cloud, Minn.
 
(No. 9) St. Cloud State 3, Seattle Pacific 0
 
Game scores – 25-11, 25-14, 25-15.
 
Service aces – SPU 1 (Wilks 1), SCS 10 (Foley 3).
Kills – SPU 212 (Pruden 6), SCS 38 (Foley 15).
Assists – SPU 21 (Tulino 12), SCS 31 (Bernan 27).
Digs – SPU 30 (Tulino 9), SCS 42 (Kurschner 11).
Block assists / solo – SPU 6 / 1 solo (Hair 3 / 0 solo), SCS 14 / 1 solo (Foley 5 / 0 solo, Rossi 5 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SU 21-16-87—057 (Perry 4-1-0—300), SCS 38-10-81—346 (Rachel 6-1-10—500, Rossi 9-3-18—333.
Attendance – 314.
 
 
Minnesota Duluth 3, Seattle Pacific 1
 
Game scores – 25-18, 26-24, 23-25, 25-17.
 
Service aces – SPU 2 (Wilks 2, Brachvogel 1), Duluth 10 (Selbitschka 5).
Kills – SPU 54 (Hair 13), Duluth 56 (Paulsen 12, Daak 12).
Assists – SPU 53 (Lambert 25, Tulino 20), Duluth 52 (Gordon 47).
Digs – SPU 53 (Cunningham 25), Duluth 55 (Madison 14).
Block assists / solo – SPU 10 / 0 solo (Perry 4 / 0 solo), Duluth 10 / 1 solo (Daak 5 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 54-17-139—266 (Hair 13-2-20—550), Duluth 56-19-137—270 (Schjenken 11-1-19—526).
Attendance – 167.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 1-3.  Minnesota Duluth 4-0.
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific vs. Cal State San Bernardino
Thursday, Sept. 1 / 7:30 p.m.
Cal State Los Angeles Gymnasium / Los Angeles, Calif.