THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Sept. 22               Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene, 6:00 p.m. PDT
                                       Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho
                                       Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Sept. 24               Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                       CWU Rec Center / Ellensburg, Wash.
                                       Live Webcast        Live stats

 
SEATTLE – Playing at home was nice while it lasted. But now, the Seattle Pacific Falcons are back on the volleyball road.
 
Having played 10 of its first 12 matches out of town, SPU is heading out again this week for Great Northwest Athletic Conference contests at Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington.
 
The Falcons and Nighthawks will serve it up at 6:00 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday in Nampa,  Idaho. Their Saturday contest against the Wildcats starts at 7:00 p.m.
 
Seattle Pacific came away with a split against the two Alaska schools last week. On Thursday, it was a 3-1 decision against Fairbanks. Then on Saturday, after dropping the first two sets, the Falcons came all the way back to force a fifth before going down, 3-2.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
Both of this week's matches and all remaining GNAC matches will have free live Webcasts and live stats. The Webcasts are available through YouTube. The appropriate links for both the Webcasts and live stats can be found at the top of this page.
 
NOT IN NICHOLSON THIS TIME
Saturday's match against Central Washington will take place inside CWU Recreation Center, located at 400 East University Way.
 
Nicholson Pavilion, the home venue for volleyball and basketball, is undergoing a major renovation, and it is not yet compete. The current expectation is that it will be ready to go in time for most of Central's home basketball games to be played there.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- When the Falcons visit Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, it will be their 13th match of the season, exactly the midpoint of their 26-match schedule.
--These are two of SPU's closest all-time series. Against Northwest Nazarene, the Falcons have a 24-19 lead. Against Central Washington, the Wildcats have a 42-40 edge.
-- The Central series is about as close in sets won as it is in matches won. The Wildcats have a 154-150 edge.
-- The only team SPU has played more than Central Washington is Western Washington. The Falcons and Vikings have tangled 85 times.
-- Heading into the 2019 season, NNU had won 11 straight overall against Seattle Pacific and eight straight in Nampa. Both of those streaks ended when the Falcons prevailed in Nampa, 25-22, 26-24 29-31, 25-11.
-- Among others, that was quite a day for then-freshman (and now senior) setter Lindsey Lambert, who had 39 assists and a then-career high 10 digs.
-- One of Hannah Hair's two career double-doubles came last year against Central Washington. When the teams met in Seattle. Hair had 12 kills and 11 blocks (two solo). That one went four sets.
-- Hair almost did it again in a three-set sweep in Ellensburg, with 14 kills and eight blocks.
-- Twice in her career. sophomore setter Emily Tulino has had a single-match high of 38 assists – and both came last year against Northwest Nazarene: a four-setter in Seattle, and a five-setter in Nampa.
-- Seattle Pacific's longest set last season was the third one against NNU in the season finale on Nov. 20. The Nighthawks saved four set points, finally coming back to win it, 31-29, and went on to take the match in five.
-- SPU already has played as many five-setters this season (four) as it did all of last season.
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS: 10-1, 3-0 GNAC (tie 2^nd)
All-time series: SPU leads, 24-19. Current series streak: NNU won 1. Last time: NNU 3, SPU 2 (23-25, 25-21, 31-29, 18-25, 15-9). Last SPU series win: SPU 3, NNU 1 (25-17, 25-19, 24-26, 25-21; Sept. 16, 2021 at Seattle). Nighthawks on the Web.
Nighthawks in a nutshell: After a very down year in 2021, Northwest Nazarene is back in a winning groove. It comes into this week on an eight-match win streak. The only loss for the Nighthawks was a preseason five-setter against Texas A&M International. Opponents are hitting just .127 against NNU, easily the top mark in the GNAC and No. 30 in NCAA Division II. Part of the reason for that is the Nighthawks average 16.90 digs per set – 2.31 more than the next-highest average in the conference. Junior libero Caroline McMahon, comes up with 4.08 per set, the No. 3 average in the GNAC. Northwest Nazarene is just as solid offensively, ranking No. 1 in the GNAC for kills per set (13.54) and No. 2 in hitting (.266) . Natalie Sullivan, a redshirt senior 6-foot outside hitter, averages 3.87 kills per set, No. 2 in the GNAC, with senior 6-1 middle blocker Olivia Wright in the No. 4 spot at 3.46. Wright also is one of the GNAC's best hitters, with a .387 percentage that ranks No. 3, and one of its best blockers at 1.10 per set (No. 5). Miya Koch, a sophomore 5-10 opposite, hits .318
 
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 7-4, 2-1 GNAC (tie 4^th).
All-time series: CWU leads, 42-40. Current series streak: SPU won 5. Last time: SPU 3, CWU 0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-24; Nov. 18, 2021 at Ellensburg). Last CWU series win: CWU 3, SPU 0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-12; Sept. 26, 2019 at Ellensburg). Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: After starting GNAC play with a loss at Northwest Nazarene, Central bounced back last week to sweep Western Oregon and then down Saint Martin's, 3-1. The Wildcats were at the same Cal State Los Angeles Invitational preseason tournament as SPU was earlier this month and won three out of four, defeating Biola, CSULA and Chaminade, then going four sets against Cal State San Bernardino. Central is among the GNAC leaders (No. 3 at .255) and blocking (No. 2 at 2.48). The 'Cats have two of the conference's top 10 for kills per set in junior 5-foort-8 outside hitter Ashley Kaufman (No. 6 at 2.98) and junior 5-9 outside hitter / setter Tia Andya (No. 9 at 2.78). Andaya also hits at a .306 clip. Sophomore 6-foot middle Emma Daoud-Hebert has the GNAC's top blocker at 1.44 per set and hits a conference-leading .396. Hannah Stires, a sophomore 5-5 libero, has delivered a team-high 19 service aces and is No. 6 in the GNAC for digs at 3.71 per set.
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COACH JASON RHINE SAYS …
 

(On SPU's scrappy defensive play)
"We've been seeing a lot of that in practice and we've just been waiting to see how much it comes out in games. (Saturday against Anchorage) was a fun time to see some of that extra scrappiness and some of extra rallies fall our way and give us some extra chances. We did a good job of converting on some of those late in the match."
 
(On coming back to make it a five-setter vs. Anchorage)
"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."
 
SHE'S DIGGIN' IT
Last Saturday's match against Alaska Anchorage featured a number of long rallies. Just when it seemed the ball was destined to find the floor, someone on either side of the net managed to keep it in play.
 
 

For SPU, that someone frequently was sophomore libero Abigail Cunningham. She came up with 21 digs in the match, 14 of those in Sets 3 and 4 (six and eight, respectively) as the Falcons fought back to get into a deciding fifth set before Anchorage pulled it out.
 
For the week, Cunningham had 35 digs. She leads the team with 156 (that's 27.5 percent of the team's total of 567) and come into this week ranked No. 5 in the GNAC at 3.80 per set.
 
"She did a pretty great job leading the defense with her tenacity and willingness not to let anything go down," coach Jason Rhine said of Cunningham's effort against the Seawolves. "That kind of sparked some of those rallies."
 
AROUND THE WEST
The GNAC still has three undefeated in conference play through the first two weeks of the season. Alaska Anchorage currently sits alone on top at 4-0 (14-1 overall); Northwest Nazarene (10-1) and Western Washington (7-3) are both 3-0 (they've both had a one-match week of playing their travel partner). Western heads up to Alaska this week for a showdown with Anchorage on Thursday, then facing Fairbanks (12-4 overall, 2-2 GNAC) on Saturday.
 
Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Los Angeles remain perfect in California Collegiate Athletic Association action at 4-0. The Broncos are 10-1 overall; the Golden Eagles are 9-3. A trio of teams – Cal State East Bay (10-2 overall), Stanislaus State (10-2) and Cal State San Bernardino (9-2) are deadlocked behind them at 3-1. Things will get shaken up a bit this week as L.A. hosts both San Bernardino and Pomona, and Stanislaus is home against East Bay.
 
Chaminade and Point Loma Nazarene remain the early-season leaders in the Pacific West Conference. The Silverswords are on top at 4-0 (9-6 overall); the Sea Lions are 3-0 (8-3). Right on their heels are Fresno Pacific (4-1, 5-4 overall), Biola and Concordia Irvine (both 3-1, 6-5). Biola hosts Concordia on Wednesday then visits Point Loma on Friday.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for the latest news, notes, results, and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
SPU is back in Brougham Pavilion next week for visits from Western Oregon and Saint Martin's. The Wolves are in on Thursday, Sept. 29, at 7:00 p.m., followed by the Saints on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 2:00 p.m.
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                      GNAC            Overall
Alaska Anchorage          4-0       14-1
Northwest Nazarene        3-0       10-1
Western Washington        3-0        9-3
Central Washington        2-1        7-4
Simon Fraser              2-1        5-7
Alaska Fairbanks          2-2       12-4
Western Oregon            1-3        5-7
Seattle Pacific           1-3        3-9
Saint Martin's            0-4        9-4
Montana State Billings    0-4        6-5