THE SCHEDULE
Saturday, Oct. 14                 Montana State Billings at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
                                       Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                       Live Webcast        Live stats
 

SEATTLE – They've been playing multiple volleyball matches a week ever since the season started – and have been traveling a lot of miles to play them.
 
This week, the Seattle Pacific Falcons get a chance to catch their breath a bit.
 
For the second week in a row, SPU gets to stay home, and there's just one match on the calendar instead of two. That will be Saturday against Montana State Billings at 2:00 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion.
 
The Falcons (13-3, 7-1 GNAC) are coming off a split, falling to Western Washington last Thursday, but roaring back to sweep Simon Fraser on Saturday. The Yellowjackets (3-15, 1-7 GNAC) came up huge at home against Western Washington last Saturday, defeating the Vikings in a five-setter.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
All GNAC matches home and away will have free live Webcasts on YouTube, and free live stats. Greg Sexton will call the action for all home matches. The appropriate links for this week's match is at the top of this story.
 
STILL IN FIRST PLACE …
Even with the split last week, Seattle Pacific not only remained atop the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings, its lead actually got a bit bigger.
 
The Falcons came into Saturday's match against Simon Fraser with a half-game lead on Western Washington (SPU was 6-1; WWU 5-1) and 1½ ahead of Central (4-2).
 
Seattle Pacific won, going to 7-1. Central won and Western lost, leaving both of them at 5-2, and 1½ games behind the Falcons.
 
… AND STILL RANKED, TOO
For the second week in a row, SPU is in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's national top 25. The Falcons are No. 22, one spot down from last week.
 
As has been the case all season, the West Region is well represented, with six in the top 25: No. 12 Cal State San Bernardino, No. 16 Central Washington, No. 17 Cal Poly Pomona, No. 18 Chaminade, No. 22 SPU and No. 23 Cal State Los Angeles. Receiving votes are Point Loma Nazarene (No. 32 overall) and Biola (tie No. 37).
 
Wayne State of Nebraska remains No. 1 with 43 of the 47 first-place votes and 1,171 points. Concordia-St. Paul is No. 2 with two firsts and 1,122; Tampa got the other two first-place votes and is No. 3 with 1,082.





SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- If the Falcons win on Saturday, they will reach the midpoint of the GNAC schedule all alone atop the standings for the first time since 2011.
--The Falcons are 3-1 at home this season, 20-5 since 2021 when things got back to normal after the 2020 pandemic shutdown.
-- Of this season's 16 matches, so far, 11 have ended in sweeps. Of those, eight have gone SPU's way (including a stretch of four straight during their 11-match winning streak),and three have gone the other way.
--In last Saturday's match against Simon Fraser, the Falcons won the opening set for the first time since a 3-0 victory against Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 21. They dropped four in a row after that (but came to win the match three times).
-- They are now 8-0 when winning Set 1 (15-0 dating back to last season), and 5-3 when opponent wins it.
-- On the block, SPU was at opposite ends of the spectrum in last week's matches. Against Western Washington on Thursday, the team a season-low six total blocks (no solos). The previous low was eight at Point Loma Nazarene on Sept. 1.
-- Then on Saturday against Simon Fraser, the Falcons had a season-high 24 total (two solos). The previous high was 23 (three solos) against Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 21.
-- Seattle Pacific is still atop the GNAC blocking list at 2.69 per set. That is now No. 2 in Division II behind Metro State-Denver's 2.71.
-- The .023 hitting by the Red Leafs was the lowest by an SPU opponent this season. It was the second time in the past three matches and the fourth time of the year that the Falcons have kept a team below. 100.
-- Seattle Pacific is still the No. 1 team in the GNAC for lowest opponent's hitting percentage at .148.
-- On the offensive side, SPU hits .223, ranking No. 2 in the conference.
 

-- Falcons setters keep racking up the double-doubles. Emily Tulino had her eighth of the year on Saturday, pushing her career total to 23. Sophia Chambers, a freshman, now has seven.
  -- Tulino needs just two more digs to reach 500 for her career.
-- Sarah Brachvogel recorded her 400th career kill and 200th dig last week.
-- Hannah Hair needs just three more blocks to reach 400. With 397, she is No. 7 on SPU's all-time list.
-- Hair is still the leading individual blocker in the GNAC and D2 at 1.56.
-- Also atop the GNAC lists are Allison Wilks for hitting at .421 and Sarah Brachvogel for kills per set at 3.35.
-- Coach Jason Rhine is 2-0 against Montana State Billings.
 
SCOUTING THE MONTANA STATE BILLINGS YELLOWJACKETS: 3-15,1-7 GNAC (10th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 35-13.  Current series streak: SPU won 4.  Last time: SPU 3, MSUB 1 (23-25, 25-15, 25-6, 25-12; Nov. 5, 2022 at Billings).  Last MSUB series win: MSUB 3, SPU 1 (25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 25-19; Nov. 14, 2019 at Seattle).  Yellowjackets on the Web.
Yellowjackets in a nutshell: MSUB is riding high after knocking off Western Washington last Saturday, 3-2 (16-25, 26-24, 25-21, 22-25, 15-13). That was just its second victory against the Vikings in 34 all-time matches, and its first since 2014. It also helped the Yellowjackets snap an overall 14-match losing streak. Julia Gordon, a freshman 6-foot-1 middle blocker, leads Billings in kills with 146 (2.61 per set). Senior 6-1 middle Paiten Langston is close behind with 136, and she is the team's leading hitter at .240. She also is by far and away MSUB's top blocker with 61, an 0.87 per-set average that ranks No. 14 in the conference. Her total includes 13 solos. Christine Fink, a junior 5-4 libero, has come up with 404 digs, and her average of 5.77 per set leads the GNAC.
 
THAT'S SOME KIND OF SERVING
 

The Falcons bolted to a 12-0 lead in the opening set against Simon Fraser last Saturday. After getting sideout and the first point of the match, senior middle blocker Allison Wilks took over the serve, and SPU put the next 11 points on the board. Of those 11, three of them were service aces (she finished the day with five; SPU had 11).
 
"Ali is someone who is capable of going back and putting a lot of serves in there," head coach Jason Rhine said. "The defense took advantage of some opportunities to transition and keep scoring points and put some points on the board."
 
Wilks had another 5-0 run at the outset of the third, as the Falcons took a 6-1 lead. For the season, she has put 91.7 percent of her serves into play (22 aces, 23 errors on 277 attempts).
 
 

With an even loftier total is freshman setter Sophia Chambers. Typically the second of Seattle Pacific's six servers in the rotation, Chambers has put 95.3 percent of her serves into play, with nine aces and 11 errors. Fellow setter Emily Tulino, has 21 aces and an .884 in-play percentage. Tulino had the ball for a 6-0 second-set run in the Simon Fraser match, with three of those points coming on aces.
 
The 11 total aces on Saturday' pushed SPU past 100 for the season, now with 103. The team's in-play percentage is .899.

 
THAT'S SOME KIND OF HITTING
When Allison Wilks came through with a .700 hitting performance against Simon Fraser, it was her second-highest mark of the season, and her second in the .700 neighborhood. Wilks hit .750 (against Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 21.
 
Both of those efforts were of the error-free variety: 3 kills-0 errors-4 attacks vs. NNU; 7-0-10 vs. Simon. Wilks has five no-errors matches this season and 18 for her career.
 
Along with her two .700-plus contests this fall, she has two in the .400s, four in the .500s, and two in the .600s.
 
On percentage alone, Wilks would rank No. 12 in NCAA Division II at .421. But to be included in those rankings, a player has to average 3.33 attacks per set. Wilks averages 3.21.
 
IT WAS A SET THAT SET A RECORD
In last Saturday's match against Simon Fraser, the second set went all the way to 34-32 before Seattle Pacific finally prevailed.
 
That turned out to be the longest set the Falcons have ever played since the 25-point scoring era began jn 2008. The previous long set was 33-31, won by Ashland, in a 2009 preseason non-conference match. SPU won a 32-30 set at then-No. 22 Central Washington on Oct. 27, 2012.
 
Prior to 2008, teams played to 30 points from the advent of rally scoring in 2001, through 2007. During that era, the Falcons had a 40-38 set against Cal State Los Angeles in the 2005 NCAA Tournament (the Golden Eagles won it), and had a 38-36 set (SPU won) against Humboldt State during that same season.
 
COACH JASON RHINE SAYS …

(On beating Simon Fraser after the loss to Western Washington)
"I was really proud of the way the bounced back, even in practice on Friday and during warm-ups today. It was a really positive and forward-looking mentality. They were excited to play again and compete and hopefully put together something a little bit better than Thursday, and I thought they did a great job of that today."
 
(On the fast start and dominant first set vs. Simon)
"That was one of the themes today and one of the adjustments we wanted to make was to really make a statement on how we started the match."
 
(On having a quieter week with just one match)
"It sure is nice, coming off the Alaska travel, and some people are battling a little bit of sickness, and fall midterms are going on. So it's great to have a little bit of time to rest at home for a couple weeks in a row and have only one match. And hopefully, we'll have a chance to work on some stuff that we want to work on as a team."
 
MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
In the making
100th block            Sydney Perry (has 95)
                             Sarah Brachvogel (has 92)
100th dig                Brianna Ingram (has 99)
200th block            Maddie Pruden (has 181)
                              Erin Smith (has 156)
200th dig                Allison Wilks (has 194)
400th block            Hannah Hair (has 397)
500th dig                Emily Tulino (has 498)
600th kill                Maddie Pruden (has 596)
700th kill                Hannah Hair (has 660)
 
Made last week
200th dig                Sarah Brachvogel (has 215)
400th kill                Sarah Brachvogel (has 415)
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Among the 278 volleyball program in NCAA Division II, the Falcons are:
 
--No. 2 in blocking at 2.69 per set (Metro State 2.71)..
--No.9 in total blocks at 153.5 (Indiana of Pennsylvania 202.0).
--No. 46 in lowest opponents percentage at .148 (Grand Valley State .085).
--No. 59 in kills per set at 12.79 (Concordia-St. Paul 15.39).
 
Individually:
--Hannah Hair No. 1 in blocks per set at 1.56.
--Hair No. 3 in total blocks with 86 (105).

Click on this link to see how the Falcons rank within NCAA Division II.  Click on this link to see where other GNAC teams and players stack up nationally.
 
AROUND THE WEST
As the GNAC approaches the regular-season turnaround point, Seattle Pacific (7-1), Central Washington (5-2) and Western Washington (5-2) are all in the title hunt. Lurking close behind are Saint Martin's and Simon Fraser, both 4-3. Central visits the Alaska schools this week; Saint Martin's is on the road at WWU and Simon.
 
The showdown in the California Collegiate Athletic Association between Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona went Bernardino's way, 3-2. Pomona twice came back from a set down to force a fifth, but San Bernardino prevailed, 15-8. That left both of them at 6-2 in conference play, part of a three-way tie for second place with San Francisco State. Cal State Los Angeles continued to roll, extending its winning streak to five and taking over sole possession of first place with a 7-1 record. San Bernardino and San Francisco play a home-and-home series this week.
 
Point Loma Nazarene is in control of the Pacific West Conference after beating both Biola and Azusa Pacific last week. The Sea Lions are 8-0 (11-4 overall) and have won eight straight. Biola is second at 7-2 (11-5), and Chaminade is third at 5-2 (17-2).
 
UP NEXT
The second half of the GNAC schedule starts next week with a rugged road trip to Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene. The Falcons and Wildcats serve it up on Thursday, Oct. 19, at 7:00 p.m. in Ellensburg. As of last Saturday, Central has moved back into the newly-renovated Nicholson Pavilion. The NNU match in Nampa, Idaho, is on Saturday the 21st at noon Pacific time.
 
  
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                      GNAC         Overall
Seattle Pacific           7-1      13-3
Central Washington        5-2       9-4
Western Washington        5-2       5-10
Simon Fraser              4-3       9-6
Saint Martin's            4-3      10-6
Alaska Anchorage          3-4      11-11
Northwest Nazarene        3-4       7-8
Western Oregon            2-5       8-7
Alaska Fairbanks          2-5       9-12
Montana State Billings    1-7       3-15