SEATTLE – They've been playing some good stretches of volleyball, but it just hasn't added up to three sets on the same night for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
 
On Thursday night, it did add up in their favor.
 
 

Ashley Antoniak recorded a career-high 17 kills, and Lindsey Lambert earned the 2000th assist of her career as SPU earned its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory of the season, 3-1 against Alaska Fairbanks.
 
Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 27-25, 15-25, 25-20, 25-23.
 
"It was closer than we would have liked at times, at the end of sets, but we did a good job of winning some of those close ones and staying aggressive to the very end," said head coach Jason Rhine, who now has his first GNAC coaching victory.
 
Sarah Brachvogel added 12 kills for SPU (3-8, 1-2 GNAC). Senior setter Lambert finished with 22 assists for the match, giving her 2,012.
 
Junior middle blocker Hannah Hair had seven kills – the last of two of them to secure the win – and six blocks, one of which was a combined effort with Brachvogel to close out the first set.

 

"Hannah did a great job of not just blocking and adjusting to what the Fairbanks players were doing, but she also drew a lot of attention. She got some kills for us at key moments and just opened up a lot of holes, especially for Ashley," Rhine said. "Ashley did a great job of taking advantage of that and finishing a lot of balls."
 
Except for a couple of early ties, SPU led for the entirety of the fourth set, including a late 19-14 advantage and an even later one of 22-20. But Alaska Fairbanks (11-4, 1-2 GNAC) put three straight points on the board, with two kills and one block, to take a 23-22 lead.
 
The Falcons responded. A kill by junior opposite Maddie Pruden tied it at 23-23. A kill by Hair gave Seattle Pacific match point at 24-23.
 
UAF called a timeout. With junior middle blocker Allison Wilks still on the serve, the Nanooks had an overpass on their service return, which Hair went up and hammered. But they dug it up, keeping it in play. Emily Tulino set Hair again, and this time, she slammed it toward the left side, off a Fairbanks player and toward the stands for point No. 25.
 
"We did a good job of finishing the match. It was great for our players to see their hard work turn into a win," Rhine said.
 




Seattle Pacific got off to a solid start, building an 18-12 lead in the opening set. The Nanooks came to life, going on an 8-1 run tor a 20-19 lead. SPU eventually gained double-set point at 24-22, but Fairbanks saved both of them, then saved another one at 25-24.
 
Finally, the Falcons closed it out on a kill by Wilks and the aforementioned Hair-Brachvogel block.
 
The Nanooks ran off the first four points of Set 2, never trailed, and were never tied, aa SPU wasn't able to come any closer than three. But the Falcons reversed that and then some at the outset of the third. They rang up the first eight points, the last seven of them with Wilks on the serve: two kills by Hair, one by Pruden, a Wilks service ace, and three Alaska Fairbanks attack errors.
 
The margin got as close as one at 17-16, but SPU kept a grip on the lead to go in front, two sets to one.
 
"I was really impressed with how we bounced back from Set 2," Rhine said. "We didn't play great and they played their best set, and that kind of combined for the lopsided score. That can be tough mentally to come back from. Then we started Set 3 on an 8-0 run, and I excited to see how we came back. We stayed aggressive, we served well, we played defense, and we found some ways to transition to what we know are strengths of ours and keep calm in that situation."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Ashley Antoniak first set her previous career high of 12 kills in a season-opening sweep of No. 15 Winona State on Aug. 26, then matched it in the dramatic come-from-behind five-set victory against Biola on Sept. 2.
-- Not only did Antoniak find the court frequently, she found it accurately, hitting .429 for the match (17 kills-2 errors on a career-high 35 attacks).
-- Prior to Lindsey Lambert reaching the 2,000-assist career milestone on Thursday night, the last Falcon to do that was Symone Tran, who got there during the early part of her junior season in 2017. She went on to finish with a school-record total of 4,149 by the time she concluded her career in 2018.
-- Karli Nielson and Rilee White had 14 kills apiece for Alaska Fairbanks.
-- When the home opener has been against a GNAC opponent, Seattle Pacific now has a 5-3 record in those matches.
 

-- Allison Wilks is just two kills away from 200 for her career. She had four on Thursday, putting her at 198.
-- SPU finally picked up another first-set win. The only previous one was in the 3-0 sweep of Winona State in season opener.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons will play host to No. 14-ranked Alaska Anchorage on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. The Seawolves scored a 3-0 road sweep of Montana State Billings on Thursday, 25-16, 25-17, 25-17.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Alaska Fairbanks 1
 
Game scores – 27-25, 15-25, 25-20, 25-23.
 
Service aces – UAF 5 (White 2), SPU 7 (Tulino 2, Lambert 2).
Kills – UAF 51 (Nielson 14, White 14), SPU 52 (Antoniak 17, Brachvogel 12).
Assists – UAF 49 (Smith 22, Overn 20), SPU 49 (Lambert 22, Tulino 20).
Digs – UAF 50 (Long 14), SPU 49 (Cunningham 14).
Block assists / solo – UAF 30 / 0 solo (Head 9 / 0 solo), SPU 18 / 0 solo (Hair 6  0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – UAF 51-24-141—191 (White 14-4-31—323), SPU 52-25-141—191 (Antoniak 17-2-35—429).
Attendance – 104.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 3-8, 1-2 GNAC.  Alaska Fairbanks 11-4, 1-2 GNAC.
 
Next match
Alaska Anchorage at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, 2:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.