BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Seattle Pacific Falcons got off the good start in the first set that they've been looking for – and had a strong finish in the third set, too.
 
But in between, Thursday night's Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball opener belonged to Western Washington.
 
The No. 11-ranked Vikings went on a 14-4 run to finish Set 1, led from start to finish in Set 2, then hung on in a back-and-forth Set 3 to secure a 3-0 victory against the Falcons in Carver Gymnasium. Scores were 25-19, 25-17, 25-23.
 
Junior opposite Maddie Pruden led SPU (2-7, 0-1 GNAC) with eight kills and hit .286 with just two errors on 21 attacks. Senior outside hitter Sarah Brachvogel added five kills and four service aces – all of them coming as part of a 6-0 Falcons scoring run in the third set that turned a 14-11 deficit into a 17 -14 lead.
 
 

"We started off really strong, which is something we've been working on," head coach Jason Rhine said. "I think we put a little surprise pressure on Western, and Western responded well. Then I thought we played a really good third set, just kind of battled point for point, made a couple of runs back and forth and had a chance to get those last couple points. It could have been anybody's game."
 
Thursday's match against the Vikings continued a rugged season-opening stretch for SPU. In their nine matches, the Falcons have played five teams ranked in the national top 25 and four that weren't in the top 25 but were among the leaders receiving votes.
 
"It's been good for us to have these hard teams to play against," Pruden said. "It has been hard, and it has been hard to lose, but I think this is good practice for the rest of the season. We need this in order to be a good team and finish well. I think we started out really well (tonight) and came in aggressive. But Western's a great team, so they were able to be consistent."
 
Olivia Fairchild and Gabby Gunterman had 10 kills apiece for Western Washington (6-3, 1-0 GNAC), which played five national top-25 teams during preseason tournaments.
 
Seattle Pacific came out with one of its best opening stretches of play this season, putting four straight points on the board to turn a 7-6 deficit into a 10-7 lead. That lead grew to 14-10, capped by a Lindsey Lambert service ace.
 
It was still 15-11 for the Falcons when WWU strung together four straight points to tie it at 15-15. Seattle Pacific had one more lead at 16-15, then the Vikings put another four in a row on the board to move in front for good.
 
Western Washington took a 4-1 lead in the second set, and never let SPU get closer than one, the last time at 8-7.
 
The Vikings again took quick control of the third, going up 5-2. But the Falcons battled back, coming from 8-6 behind to 9-8 ahead.
 
 

Western Washington then had a 14-11 lead when Brachvogel got a kill for the point and sideout. She then took over the serve and delivered two straight aces for a 14-14 deadlock. Junior middle blocker Erin Smith got a kill from the right side to put SPU in front, then Brachvogel had two more aces to make it 17-14.
 
The Vikings responded with five straight points for a 19-17 advantage. SPU eventually got within 23-22, then fought off a match point at 24-22 on a Brachvogel kill that a WWU player kept off the floor, but dug it wide.
 
Olivia Fairchild's final kill of the night – her 10^th with no errors on 19 attacks – on Western's next try at match point clinched it.
 
"I thought in Sets 2 and 3, we limited their offense in a good way, both serving and with our blocking and defense," Rhine said. "Our hitting wasn't there in Set 2, then we stepped up and got some bigger swings and ended some more rallies more quickly in Set 3. That kind of allowed us to keep up with their level of offense."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Seattle Pacific had one more attack than did Western Washington (106-105), but the Vikings had 14 more kills (43-29).
-- Western hit .267 for the match (43 kills-15 errors), while SPU hit .094 (29 kills-19 errors).
-- The Falcons had eight total blocks, with junior middle Hannah Hair getting her hands on four of those.
-- Seattle Pacific is now 9-12 all-time in GNAC openers. Of those 21 matches, 14 have been on the road (5-9).
-- SPU was hoping to be the first team to win a match on Western Washington's new volleyball court, which it started using last season. Instead, the Vikings are now 17-0 on that surface
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons return to action on Saturday at Simon Fraser in Burnaby, B.C. The first serve in West Gym is at 5:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022
Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
 
(No.11) Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 0
 
Game scores – 25-19, 25-17, 25-23.
 
Service aces – SPU 5 (Brachvogel 4), WWU 2 (Lologo 1, Gunterman 1).
Kills – SPU 29 (Pruden 8), WWU 43 (Fairchild 10, Gunterman 10).
Assists – SPU 27 (Tulino 13, Lambert 10), WWU 4` (Aleaga 36).
Digs – SPU 40 (Cunningham 13), WWU 48 (Heilborn 14).
Block assists / solo – SPU 8 / 0 solo (Hair 4 / 0 solo), WWU 10 / 0 solo (Fairchild 3 / 0 solo, Gunterman 3 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks)—SPU 29-19-106—094 (Pruden 8-2-21—286), WWU 43-15-105—267 (Fairchild10-0-19—526).
Attendance – 303.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 2-7, 0-1 GNAC.   Western Washington 6-3, 1-0 GNAC.
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser
Saturday, Sept. 10     5:00 p.m.
West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.