THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Oct. 5                  Western Washington at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Oct. 7                   Simon Fraser at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2.650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats

 
SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons can leave their suitcases behind for a couple of weeks.
 
But they'll have to keep their 'A' game close at hand.
 
Nationally ranked, riding an 11-match winning streak, and having a chance to play three straight home matches, the competition will be just as tough in their gym as it has been in other gyms, starting this week as Western Washington and Simon Fraser come to Brougham Pavilion for a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference contests.
 
The Vikings, having won their past four, are in town on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. The Red Leaf's visit on Saturday afternoon at 2:00.
 
SPU (12-2, 6-0 GNAC) returns from 3-1 victories at Alaska Fairbanks and at Alaska Anchorage last week – the first time they've gone 2-0 on that particular road trip since 2012.
 
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 two matches are at the top of this story.
 
HAIR COLLECTS ANOTHER GNAC AWARD
Hannah Hair, who got her hands on 14 total blocks last week, including five solos at Alaska Anchorage on Saturday, has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's Defensive Player of the Week.
 
 

It is Hair's first such honor this year and the fourth time she has been selected for the weekly defensive award. She also has two Offensive Player of the Week awards from previous seasons.
 
After recording four blocks assists at UAF, Hair had five block assists and a career high-tying five solos at UAA.
 
Earlier this fall, Sarah Brachvogel was named Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 4, and the Falcons were the GNAC Team of the Week on Sept. 25.
 
POLLING PLACE
After moving into the AVCA national top 25 last week for the first time since 2011, Seattle Pacific climbed to No. 21 in this week's poll that was announced on Monday.
 
With their two victories in Alaska, the Falcons received 178 points in the voting. Last week, they were No. 24 with 118 points.
 
SPU has been mentioned all year on the AVCA list, starting off with three points in 'also receiving votes' in the preseason poll and gradually moving up through that group of teams and into the top 25.
 
The Falcons are one of six West Region teams in the top 25. The others are No. 13 Cal Poly Pomona, No. 14 Cal State San Bernardino, No. 17 Central Washington, No. 18 Chaminade, and No. 23 Cal State Los Angeles. Receiving votes are Point Loma Nazarene (No. 33 overall), Biola (tie No. 36) Simon Fraser (tie No. 43) and Sonoma State (tie No. 43).

Wayne State of Nebraska is No. 1 with 44 of the 47 first-place votes and 1,172 points. Concordia-St. Paul is No. 2 with two firsts and 1,123.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- SPU's current 11-match winning streak is the team's longest since winning 16 straight to start the 2010 season.
-- That's also the last time the Falcons were 6-0 in conference play.
-- Seattle Pacific dropped both matches to Western Washington last year, both by 3-0 scores. The Vikings have won six straight in the series.
-- The Falcons split with Simon Fraser, each team winning on its home court.
-- Since things got back on track in the fall of 2021 after the 2020 season was canceled because of the pandemic, SPU is 19-4 at home.
-- The Falcons have won their last three matches in spite of dropping the first set . That gives them a 5-2 record when losing Set 1.
-- On the other hand, SPU is 7-0 when winning the first set, and have won 14 straight matches when prevailing in the opener.
 

-- Senior middle blocker Allison Wilks continues to lead the GNAC in hitting at .436. That's 51 percentage points ahead of second-place Jennifer Soha from Saint Martin's (.385).
-- Wilks' percentage includes a .563 performance (9 kills-0 errors-16 attacks) at Alaska Fairbanks last Thursday. That was her fourth .500-plus of the year, to go along with two matches in the .400s, two in the .600s, and one at .750.
-- Hannah Hair continues to lead the country in blocking, now up to 1.59 per set.
-- SPU continues to be Division II's top blocking team at 2.70 per set. Metro State of Denver is second at 2.69.
-- Seattle Pacific is tied with Central Washington as the toughest team to hit against in the GNAC, allowing opponents just a .154 percentage.
-- Senior outside hitter / opposite Sarah Brachvogel remains atop the conference's kills-per-set list at 3.43.
-- The setter combination of junior Emily Tulino and freshman Sophia Chambers double-doubled in both Alaska matches. Tulino has seven for the season (22 for her career) and Chambers has six. They have posted double-doubles in the same match five times.
-- Head coach Jason Rhine is 0-2 against Western Washington and 1-1 against Simon Fraser.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 4-9, 4-1 GNAC (2nd)
All-time series: WWU leads, 58-28.  Current series streak: WWU won 6.  Last time: WWU 3, SPU 0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-16; Nov. 12, 2022 at Seattle).  Last SPU series win: SPU 3, WWU 0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-22; May 14, 2021 at Seattle). Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Some of WWU's most accomplished and honored players, including All-Americans Chloe Roetcisoender, Calley Heilborn, and Malia Aleaga, graduated after lifting the team into yet another NCAA West Regional tournament. So a very young group of Vikings (primarily redshirt freshmen and sophomores) took some early lumps during a power-packed preseason schedule that included six top-25 opponents. But over the past couple weeks, Western has gotten into a winning groove, starting at Northwest Nazarene when it came from 2-0 down to pull out a 3-2 victory. The Vikings then beat both Alaska schools in Bellingham, and last Saturday swept Simon Fraser in Burnaby for their fourth straight victory. Devyn Oestreich, a sophomore 6-foot outside hitter, is WWUs leading attacker with 123 kills, its top server with 19 aces, and leads the way in digs with 132. Delaney Speer a 5-11 redshirt freshman pin hitter, has 88 kills. Redshirt freshman 6-1 middle Emily Vossenkuhl leads the blockers with 51.
 
SCOUTING THE SIMON FRASER RED LEAFS: 8-5, 3-2 GNAC (4th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 31-20.  Current series streak: SPU won 1.  Last time: SPU 3, Simon 1 (25-14, 23-25, 26-24, 25-23; Nov. 10, 2022 at Seattle).  Last Simon series win: Simon 3, SPU 2 (26-24, 25-18, 23-25, 23-25, 15-8; Sept. 10, 2022 at Burnaby, B.C.)  Red Leafs on the Web.
Red Leafs in a nutshell: After starting GNAC play with a 3-0 loss at Northwest Nazarene, Simon Fraser came back two days later and swept preseason favorite Central Washington in Ellensburg. The Leafs followed up with homecourt sweeps of Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage before dropping a 3-0 decision at home to Western Washington last Saturday. Jocelyn Sherman, a redshirt junior 5-10 outside hitter, and Sophie Lachapelle, a junior 6-foot opposite, are the top producers on offense with 127 and 123 kills, respectively. Lachapelle hits at a .296 clip. Kalyn Hartmann, a redshirt senior 6-2 middle, is solid both offensively (85 kills on .264 hitting) and defensively (a team-leading 43 blocks). Brooke Dexter, a redshirt junior 6-2 opposite, has 80 kills on .239 hitting, and has some big matches against SPU, including 19 kills on .533 hitting last year in B.C.

NATIONAL NOTICE
Seattle Pacific was listed as one of five possible "sleeper" teams for the NCAA Tournament – in other words, a team to keep an eye on – in a article by Wayne Cavad on the ncaa.com Webisite.

Click on this link to read the article.
 
DAY GETS A CHANCE – AND ACES IT
Prior to last week's trip to Alaska, senior outside hitter Sarah Day had played just 25 sets on three-plus seasons with the Falcons, and just eight sets this season.
 
 

But when she came on in the second set at Fairbanks, it was the start of what would become the biggest night of her career. Day wound up with a career-high seven service aces and tied her career best with six kills to help SPU secure a 3-1 victory.
 
Day served her fifth ace on the opening point of Set 4. Her sixth one made it 23-18 later in that set, Then on match point, she floated her seventh one over the net, and it dropped to the floor before the Nanooks could play it.
 
Those seven aces are a single-match team high for this season. Day followed up with three more aces and six more kills in Saturday's 3-1 victory at Anchorage.
 
TWO MILESTONES WITHIN BRACH'S REACH
 

It's one thing to reach a career milestone in the early stages of any given match.
 
Senior outside hitter Sarah Brachvogel is on the verge of reaching two.
 
When the takes the court for Thursday's contest against Western Washington, Brachvogel shouldn't need very long to collect her 400th kill and her 200th dig. She comes in with 399 of the former and 199 of the latter.
 


Other Falcons on a march to a milestone:
In the making
100th block            Sydney Perry (has 95)
                           Sarah Brachvogel (has 88)
100th dig              Brianna Ingram (has 99)
200th block           Maddie Pruden (has 179)
                           Erin Smith (has 151)
200th dig               Sarah Brachvogel (has 199)
                           Allison Wilks (has 191)
400th block           Hannah Hair (has 389)
400th kill             Sarah Brachvogel (has 399)
500th dig                Emily Tulino (has 482)
600th kill                Maddie Pruden (has 587)
700th kill                Hannah Hair (has 649)
 
Made last week
200th assist           Sophia Chambers (has 208)
300th kill             Erin Smith (has 309)
 
COACH JASON RHINE SAYS …

(On going 2-and-0 in Alaska)
"It's great for the team. We have a lot of seniors and they've had a lot of trips to Alaska and come up short. I think they're really excited to come away from this early travel, the trips to Alaska and down to Western Oregon, and getting some of these out of the way in the early going, and now come back for some important home matches the next few weeks."
 
(On bouncing back from a Set 1 loss to win the last three matches)
"They're responding well. In all the matches, we feel we're just trying to figure out how to adapt as the match goes on. Whether the result of the first set is a win or a loss, it's going to be our plan either way. Our team does a good job of sticking to that plan and looking for ways to clamp down defensively and being creative on offense."
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Among the 278 volleyball program in NCAA Division II, the Falcons are:
-- No. 1 in blocking at 2.70 per set..
-- No.9 in total blocks at 137.5 (Indiana of Pennsylvania 190.0).
-- No. 37 in hitting percentage at .235 (Wayne State-Neb. .310).
-- No. 58 in kills per set at 12.84 (Concordia-St. Paul 15.26).
 
Individually:
--Hannah Hair No. 2 in blocks per set at 1.59.
--Hair No. 3 in total blocks with 78 (100).

Click on this link to see how the Falcons stack up in the Division II stats. Click on this link to see statistical rankings for GNAC teams and players.
 
AROUND THE WEST
While Seattle Pacific continues to lead the GNAC at 6-0, Western Washington has rapidly moved up the standings into sole possession of second place following last Saturday's sweep at Simon Fraser. Central Washington, with victories against Western Oregon and Saint Martin's last week, is alone in third at 4-2, with Simon fourth at 3-2 and Northwest Nazarene fifth at 3-3. Central is home in Ellensburg against NNU on Saturday.
 
An early-season showdown that could set the tone in the California Collegiate Athletic Association is set for Saturday when current leader Cal Poly Pomona (13-1, 6-0 CCAA and on a 10-match winning streak) visits third-place Cal State San Bernardino (11-3, 4-2 CCAA). In between those two is Cal State Los Angeles (7-7, 5-1 CCAA), which defeated San Bernardino last week, 3-1. After going 2-6 in preseason play, the Golden Eagles have won 5 of 6 in conference, the only loss being 3-0 at Pomona.
 
Speaking of showdowns, that's what Biola and Point Loma Nazarene are headed toward on Thursday in San Diego. BU is 7-0 in Pacific West Conference play (11-3 overall); PLNU is 6-0 (9-4). Someone's win streak is going to end – Biola has won eight straight, Point Loma has taken six in a row. Chaminade (13-2, 2-2 Pac West), which started the season 12-0, has lost two of its last three.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for the latest news, notes, results, and stats from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons get a breather of sorts next week with no travel and just one match, that being a home contest against Montana State Billings on Saturday, Oct. 14. The first serve in Brougham Pavilion is at 2:05 p.m.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                        GNAC            Overall
Seattle Pacific            6-0       12-2
Western Washington         4-1        4-9
Central Washington         4-2        8-4
Simon Fraser               3-2        8-5
Northwest Nazarene         3-3        7-7
Western Oregon             2-3        8-5
Saint Martin's             2-3        8-6
Alaska Anchorage           2-3       10-10
Alaska Fairbanks           1-4        8-11
Montana State Billings     0-6        2-14