THE SCHEDULE 
Thursday, Oct. 19                Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, 7:00 p.m. 
                                      Nicholson Pavilion / Ellensburg, Wash. 
                                      Live Webcast        Live stats 
 
Saturday, Oct. 21                 Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene, Noon PDT 
                                      Johnson Sports Center / Nampa, Idaho 
                                      Live Webcast        Live stats 
 

SEATTLE – In making it through the gauntlet that is Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball, once isn't enough. 
 
Gotta do it twice. 
 
For the Seattle Pacific Falcons, the second time around starts this week with a rugged road trip. 
 
The No. 22-ranked Falcons will put it all on the line in a big way when they head east to face No. 18 Central Washington on Thursday in Ellensburg, followed by Northwest Nazarene on Saturday in Idaho. The first serve at Central is set for 7:00 p.m. Action in Nampa will begin at noon Pacific time. 
 
SPU, with a 14-3 overall record, polished off the first half of the conference docket last Saturday with a 3-0 sweep of Montana State Billings. 
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE 
All GNAC matches home and away will have free live Webcasts on YouTube, and free live stats. The appropriate links for this week's matches are at the top of this story. 
 
HERE WE GO AGAIN 
It was a month ago in Seattle when the Falcons first tangled with Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington. They started off with a 3-0 sweep of the Nighthawks. 
 
But the match against the Wildcats – as matches against the Wildcats often do – went to the five-set limit. In fact, it went a bit beyond the five-set limit, in a manner of speaking. In the fifth, it was the Falcons who got to 15 points first, but they were only ahead by one, so kept playing. Central fought off that match point to tie it at 15-15, then fought off another one to make it 16-16. 
 
Finally, with a 17-16 lead. Abigail Cunningham dropped in a service ace to wrap up the 3-2 win for SPU. 
 
AT LAST, BACK IN NICHOLSON 
The Falcons will get to play in Central's Nicholson Pavilion for the first time since 2021. The building has been undergoing a major renovation, so last fall's match was played in the Student Union & Recreation Center, which had a deafening, electric atmosphere, with hundreds of fans stretched around the balcony above the court. SPU finally pulled out in five. 
 
Nicholson was able to host a limited number of basketball games last winter even while construction was still ongoing. But this fall, with work still continuing, the Wildcats played their first four GNAC matches back in the Student Rec Center. They finally returned to the main gym on Oct. 7 with a 3-1 win against Northwest Nazarene. 
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK? 
-- The last time the Falcons were alone at the top of the table heading into the second half of the GNAC schedule was in 2011. 
-- SPU has a 10-2 record away from Seattle: 5-1 in true road matches, and 5-1 on neutral courts. 
-- Last Saturday's 3-0 sweep against Montana State Billings was Seattle Pacific's ninth of the season. They've been on the other end of two sweeps. 
-- SPU forced the Yellowjackets into minus-.073 hitting. That's the first time they've kept an opponent negative since last Oct. 30, when they limited Saint Martin's to minus-.040 in a 3-0 victory. 
-- Saturday was the second match in a row and the fifth time this season Seattle Pacific has kept an opponent below .100. 
-- For the season, SPU's opponents are now hitting .140, the lowest percentage in the GNAC. RIght behind, at .159, is Central Washington. 
-- The Falcons and Wildcats are also 1-2 in offensive hitting, albeit in reverse order: Central is No. 1 at .242, Seattle Pacific is No. 2 at .221. 
-- But wait, there's more: SPU is No. 1 in blocks at 2.67 per set, just ahead of Central at 2.63. 
-- Falcons senior Hannah Hair averages a Division II-leading 1.59 blocks per set (92 total, including 22 solos) and CWU junior Emma Daoud-Hebert is next on the list at 1.48 (86 total / 9 solo). 
-- In the September match, Hair had eight blocks (one solo) and Daoud-Hebert hat five. 
-- But Wildcats setter Tia Andaya topped both of them with 10 (three solo). That was part of her triple-double of 46 assists,15 digs, and 10 blocks. 
-- Hair collected her 400th career block last Saturday. She comes into the week with 403, No. 7 on SPU's all-time career list. The next rung up that particular ladder is Gaylene MacDonald with 412 from 1987-88. 
-- Senior outside hitter Sarah Brachvogel continues to top the GNAC in kills per set at 3.33. 
-- With her fifth error-free match of the season (4-0-7--.571 vs. MSUB), senior middle blocker Allison Wilks boosted her season hitting percentage to .426. 
-- SPU has won 16 straight matches when taking the first set: 9-0 this season, 7-0 last season. 
-- Junior setter Emily Tulino came up with her 500th career dig in the Billings match. She had eight altogether, putting her at 506. 
-- Coach Jason Rhine is 3-0 against Central Washington and 2-1 against Northwest Nazarene. 
 
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 12-5, 6-3 GNAC (tie 2nd) 
All-time series: SPU leads, 43-42.  Current series streak: SPU won 8.  Last time: SPU 3, CWU 2 (12-25, 25-23, 25-16, 14-25, 18-16; Sept. 23 at Seattle).  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: Central Washington split its matches in Alaska last week, coming from 9-0 and 17-4 down in the third set to polish off a 3-0 sweep at Anchorage, but then dropping a 3-1 decision at Fairbanks. Junior 6-foot middle blocker Emma Daoud-Hebert is one of the best in the business. She has 101 kills, a .310 hitting percentage, and 86 total blocks for a 1.48 per-set average that ranks No. 2 in the country. Sophomore 6-2 outside hitter Scottie Ellsworth has 177 kills (2.90 per set, No. 7 in the GNAC) and a solid .264 hitting percentage (No. 9). Fifth-year setter Tia Andaya, the conference Preseason Player of the Year, is still putting up some outstanding numbers, ranking No. 2 in GNAC assists (9.33), No. 4 in blocks (64 total / 1.05) and No. 4 in hitting (.307). She has seven assist / dig doubles, one assist / dig / block triple-double (that against SPU), and one kill / assist / dig triple-double. Morgan Halady, a junior 6-2 middle, has 63 blocks and a 1.03 average for No. 6 in the conference. 
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS: 8-9, 4-5 GNAC (tie 6th) 
All-time series: SPU leads, 26-20.  Current series streak: SPU won 1.  Last time: SPU 3, NNU 0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-17; Sept. 21 at Seattle).  Last NNU series win: NNU 3, SPU 1 (25-21, 15-25, 25-20, 25-23; Oct. 22, 2022 at Seattle).  Nighthawks on the Web. 
Nighthawks in a nutshell: Northwest Nazarene earned a 3-1 victory at Alaska Fairbanks last Thursday before falling 3-1 at Anchorage on Saturday. Junior 5-foot-10 outside hitter Maren Dent and freshman 5-10 outside Londyn Giles are both big threats up front. Dent has 183 kills and a 2.73 per-set average that ranks No. 9 in the conference. Giles has 160 for a 2.54 average. Miya Koch, a junior 5-11 opposite, has 134, with a team-high 11 of those coming last month at SPU. Redshirt senior 6-foot middle Sarah Lyons tops the team with 48 blocks. Senior 5-7 libero Caroline McMahon keeps the ball in play with 306 digs, a 4.50 average that is No. 3 on the GNAC list. In the in Seattle on Sept. 21, she broke the school career for digs. She comes into this week with 1,803. 
 
A RIVALRY LIKE NO OTHER
The SPU-CWU series takes the term "close" to a new level. The Sept. 23 match in Brougham Pavilion was the 85th time the teams have played since Seattle Pacific started its program in 1986. The win gave the Falcons a 43-42 lead in the series. The total sets between them now stands at 160 for Central, 159 for Seattle Pacific.
 
It was the 23rd time they have gone to a fifth set – and the third match in a row, as both of last year's home-and-home contests went the distance, with SPU winning both. The Falcons have a 13-10 edge in those five-setters. 
 
SPU has won the last eight matches between the teams, a series record. But before that, Central had won 12 of 14, including seven straight from 2013-16, so both teams have had their runs of success. 
 
SPECIAL DELIVERY 
As the season has gone on, the Falcons have steadily established themselves as one of the better serving teams in the GNAC. Coming into this week, they have 120 aces through 17 matches, an average of 2.00 per set to rank No 2 behind the 2.09 per-set average of Saint Martin's. 
 
The last time SPU averaged in the 2s for a season was 2.16 in 2007. 
 
The total of 120 includes 17 from last Saturday's match against Billings, tying a season high. Last season, they had 185. The single-season program record is 224 in 2007. 
 
 

ROUNDING UP 
Hannah Hair and Emily Tulino both achieved some nice round numbers in the Montana State Billings match. 
 
Hair came up with her 400th career block, and added three more after that, giving her 403 heading into this week. She is currently No. 7 on SPU's career blocking list, and quickly closing in on No. 6 Gaylene MacDonald, who had 412 from 1987-88. 
 
Tulino had eight digs, including the 500th dig of her career. She starts the week with 506. 
 
 

KILLIN' IT 
In terms of getting their first collegiate kill, the first time was a long time coming for Zoe Shuckhart and Anna Pelluer. 
 
Shuckhart, a defensive and serving specialist, doesn't go onto the court looking for a kill – that's not her job. But on a serve receive opportunity against Montana State Billings, Shuckhart got a little more power under her dig than she had planned. The ball sailed back over the net, and, perhaps catching the Yellowjackets a little bit by surprise, it dropped to the floor before any of them could react. 
 
For stat-keeping purposes, that goes into the book as an attack and a kill. 

Pelluer, an outside hitter, does go onto the court looking for kills – that is her job. In very limited action at Idaho last year (four total sets), she didn't have any. Prior to Saturday, she had played just two sets for the Falcons this fall. 
 
Pelluer got onto the court late in the third set and promptly hammered back-to-back kills, the second of which was a nice shot down the line. 
 
COACH JASON RHINE SAYS … 
(On heading into the second half of GNAC) 
"It kind of feels strange to be halfway through already, especially with just one match (last) week. But it will be a quick transition back into the second half, and we're excited to be starting the second half from a good spot. We know every team is going to be getting better, and we know we have to continue keep getting better if we want to be competing with all of those teams." 
 
 

(On this week's road trip) 
"Two tough teams, two tough places to play. Central has their gym back online, so we're excited to play there." 
 
(On the team's defense) 
"I think our defense has been really strong from the get-go. But we continue to clamp down in conference play and figuring out the combination of serving and blocking and defense behind that works together. Our team continues to get better and better at that, and has done a great job of slowing down what teams are trying to do." 
 
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 159) 
200th dig                Allison Wilks (has 195) 
600th kill                Maddie Pruden (has 598) 
700th kill                Hannah Hair (has 666) 
 
Made last week 
400th block            Hannah Hair (has 403) 
500th dig                Emily Tulino (has 506) 
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING 
Among the 278 volleyball program in NCAA Division II, the Falcons are: 
 
--No. 2 in blocking at 2.68 per set (Indiana of Pennsylvania 2.74).. 
--No.27 in total blocks at 160.5 (Indiana of Pennsylvania 238.0). 
--No. 26 in lowest opponents percentage at .140 (Shaw .094). 
--No. 41 in aces per set at 2.00 (Shaw 2.75) 
 
Individually: 
--Hannah Hair No. 1 in blocks per set at 1.59 (1.50). 
--Hair No. 92 in total blocks with 92 (123). 
 
AROUND THE WEST
The unpredictability of the GNAC kept right on going last week. On Thursday, Saint Martin's came from two sets down to beat Western Washington in Bellingham, 3-2 (15-10 in the fifth). The Saints had lost 46 straight matches to Western since moving up to Division II and becoming a charter member of the GNAC in 2001. Then on Saturday, Alaska Fairbanks knocked off Central Washington at UAF, 3-1. Heading into the second half of the schedule, Seattle Pacific (8-1) has a two-match lead on CWU, Simon Fraser, and Western Washington, all at 6-3. 
 
Cal State Los Angeles has the top spot all to itself halfway through the California Collegiate Athletic Association schedule. The Golden Eagles (11-7 overall, 9-1 CCAA) have won seven straight and are one match up on Cal State San Bernardino (15-3, 8-2) and two up on Cal Poly Pomona (14-4, 7-3). CSULA's only conference loss was 3-0 at Pomona. 
 
Point Loma Nazarene in in charge of the Pacific West Conference. The Sea Lions are 10-0, with a 13-4 overall record, and have a 2½-match lead on Chaminade (19-2, 7-2) and Biola (11-5, 7-2), with those two not having yet played the 10th of their 20 conference matches. Chaminade and Biola have a showdown on Wednesday in Honolulu.  
 
UP NEXT 
The Falcons return home next week to take on the Alaska schools. Fairbanks comes to Brougham Pavilion on Thursday, Oct. 26, at 7:00 p.m. Anchorage is in town on Saturday the 28th at 2:00 p.m. SPU beat both schools by identical 3-1 margins on the road last month. 
 
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS 
                                            GNAC                   Overall 
Seattle Pacific          8-1       14-3 
Central Washington       6-3       12-5 
Simon Fraser             6-3       11-6 
Western Washington       6-3        6-11 
Saint Martin's           5-4       11-7 
Alaska Anchorage         4-5       12-12 
Northwest Nazarene       4-5        8-9 
Western Oregon           2-7        8-9 
Alaska Fairbanks         3-6       10-13 
Montana State Billings   1-8        3-16