SEATTLE – This one might have been over a lot sooner than it was. But the Seattle Pacific Falcons wouldn't let that happen.
 
Instead, they stormed back and took Saturday's Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match as far as they could.
 
Having dropped the first two sets against No. 14-ranked Alaska Anchorage, SPU won the next two, forced a deciding Set 5, then nearly climbed all the way out of a 10-2 hole in that one before the Seawolves finally prevailed on Saturday afternoon in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Scores were 25-21, 25-17, 16-25, 24-26, 15-12.
 
Senior opposite Ashley Antoniak recorded a double-double of 14 kills and 10 digs, and sophomore setter Emily Tulino also logged a double-double, hers with 30 assists and 10 digs. Maddie Pruden added another 14 kills.
 
But all of those solid performances for the Falcons (3-9, 1-3 GNAC) ultimately weren't quite enough to pull one out against Anchorage (14-1, 4-0 GNAC).

 

"I think in Sets 3 and 4 was some of the best volleyball we've played this year," head coach Jason Rhine said. "There have been some other good stretches, as well, but I thought we did a good job of adjusting to what they were doing and playing aggressive. … Our team just responded well after kind of a rough Set 2. They just believe they belong out there, and we're confident in the way they know how to play volleyball."
 
Tulino, whose total of 30 assists was a season high, saw some of that confidence from her spot on the court.

"It's a big area of growth that we saw in this match, especially in the fifth set," she said. "We talk about how can we be confident and stay aggressive in those moments when it's really tight and you have to make big plays."
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FAST START IN FIFTH FOR UAA
The Seawolves scored the first two points of the fifth and ultimately were never tied and never trailed. Up 4-2, they ran off six straight points, with two kills, two blocks, plus a ball handling error and an attack error by SPU.
 
That commanding 10-2 advantage might have seemed like enough. It was still an eight-point bulge at 13-5 when the Falcons started getting back into it. A quick kill by junior middle blocker Hannah Hair made it 13-6 and turned the serve over to sophomore libero Abigail Cunningham.
 
A pair of UAA attack errors narrowed it to 13-8. Then back-to-back kills by Pruden and junior outside hitter / opposite Sydney Perry brought it to 13-10. Cunningham's next serve was called out, but Rhine challenged it. A video review confirmed the call, and the Seawolves now had quadruple-match point at 14-10.
 
An Anchorage service error kept the Falcons alive at 14-11, then a combined block by Pruden and Allison Wilks made it 14-12. But a kill by Leilani Elder put the clinching point in UAA's column.

 

"We definitely played a lot sharper (after the first two sets)," Tulino said. "The first two were pretty frantic and we struggled a little bit trying to figure out how to pick up on what they were doing and their tendencies. The third and fourth sets, we just realized that we can dig their hits and play well against this team. We played a little calmer and made better plays."
 
The opening set was tied eight times, the last one at 19-19 after SPU rang up three straight points. Then the Seawolves responded with three in a row on the way to finishing it. Alaska Anchorage led for most of Set 2. Seattle Pacific was still within striking distance at 13-11 before the Seawolves took command with a 5-1 burst.
 
Needing the third to stay alive, the Falcons took a 7-4 lead and gradually stretched it out to as many as seven points at 16-9.

They never trailed in the fourth, building a 13-6 advantage, and eventually had triple-set point at 24-21. The Seawolves saved all three of them, tying it at 24-24. A quick kill by Hair gave SPU a fourth try at set point, and Antoniak converted it with a kill off an Anchorage blocker.

The Falcons stepped up their defensive performance considerably in the third and fourth sets, digging up numerous balls that appeared destined for kills. Of their 70 digs for the match, 42 came in those two sets (18 in the third, 24 in the fourth).

"Defensively, I felt like we really started to figure some things out and extend some rallies in Sets 3, 4, and 5, and slow down some of their go-to options," Rhine said. "That was a big adjustment. And I think because of that in the first two sets, that made us hesitant on offense, and we didn't necessarily take some of our best swings. Those things came together in the second half of the match."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Senior outside hitter Sarah Brachvogel had 10 kills to join Ashley Antoniak and Maddie Pruden in double figures.
-- SPU finished at .193 hitting for the day (60 kills-28 errors-166 attacks). That included .342 in Set 3 (15-2-38) and .318 in Set 4 (19-5-44), but also included minus-.095 in Set 5 (6-8-210.
-- Anchorage hit .225 (53-19-151).
-- Seawolves star Eve Stephens, the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year, recorded 20 kills on 44 swings, and hit .341. She had 12 of those kills through the first two sets.
-- Led by Abigail Cunningham's 21 digs, Seattle Pacific's total of 70 was a season high – and by a considerable margin. The previous high was 58 in a five-setter against Cal State San Bernardino on Sept. 1.
-- The Seawolves got 15 points off blocks. The Falcons had just five points on blocks.
-- This was SPU's sixth nationally ranked opponent of the season.
-- Saturday's five-setter was the fourth of the season for the Falcons, matching last year's total.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons are back on the road next week, visiting Northwest Nazarene on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time and Central Washington next Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
 
 
(No. 14) Alaska Anchorage 3, Seattle Pacific 2
 
Game scores – 25-21, 25-17, 16-25, 24-26, 15-12.
 
Service aces – UAA 5 (Stephens 3), SPU 9 (Wilks 2, Antoniak 2)
Kills – UAA 53 (Stephens 20), SPU 60 (Antoniak 14, Pruden 14, Brachvogel 10).
Assists – UAA 48 (Floyd 41), SPU 45 (Tulino 30, Lambert 23).
Digs – UAA 61 (Leauanae 17), SPU 70 (Cunningham 21, Wilks 11, Antoniak 10, Tulino 10).
Block assists / solo – UAA 28 / 1 solo (Elder 8 / 0 solo), SPU 10 / 0 solo (Hair 3 / 0 solo, Pruden 3 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – UAA 53-19-151—225 (Blue 7-0-14—500, Stephens 20-4-44—341), SPU 60-28-166—193 (Hair 8-3-17—205).
Attendance – 121.
 

Records
Seattle Pacific 3-9, 1-3 GNAC.  Alaska Anchorage 14-1, 4-0 GNAC.
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene
Thursday, Sept. 22     6:00 p.m. PST
Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho