THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Nov. 2                 Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser, 7:00 p.m.
                                                West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Nov. 4                  Seattle Pacific at Western Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats

 
SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons are closing in on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball title, But other teams are still in the hunt, too.
 
This week, two of those teams will be waiting in their own gyms for a visit from SPU.
 
Now ranked No. 18 in NCAA Division II, Seattle Pacific heads onto the road, traveling to Simon Fraser in Burnaby, B.C., on Thursday, and Western Washington in Bellingham on Saturday. The first serve for both matches is at 7:00 p.m.
 
The Falcons (18-3, 12-1 GNAC) have won six straight, and begin the week with a three-match lead in the standings on second-place Central Washington (9-4). Simon Fraser (8-4) is 3½ back in third, and WWU (7-5) is 4½ back in fourth. SPU and Central each have five matches to go; Simon and Western have six remaining.
 
Seattle Pacific started its current six-match win streak after losing at home to the Vikings, 3-0, on Oct. 5. The first win of the streak came on Oct. 7 against Simon Fraser, 3-0.
 
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.
 
A REPEAT AND A 3-PEAT FOR HAIR
Hannah Hair won her second consecutive GNAC Defensive Player of the Week award on Monday. It was her third of the season and the sixth weekly defensive award of her career.
 
The senior middle blocker had 19 blocks in two matches combined, helping the Falcons post 3-1 victories at home against Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks.
 
In the UAA match, Hair had 10 blocks, four of them solo. She followed up with nine more against Fairbanks.
 
She also was a big contributor on offense with 17 kills and .484 hitting in the two matches combined.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- At 18-3, SPU is getting close to its first 20-win season since 2011, when it went 21-7.
-- In 37 previous seasons, the Falcons have 14 with at least 20 wins.
-- Both Burnaby and Bellingham are among the toughest places to play, but Seattle Pacific has had a good amount of road success this fall with a 12-2 record (7-1 in true road matches, 5-1 on neutral courts).
--The Falcons are going for a season series sweep against Simon Fraser and are looking for a split against Western Washington.
-- SPU swept Simon the first four seasons after the Red Leafs (then known as the Clan) joined the GNAC (2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013), but hasn't swept since. The teams have split the past two seasons, each winning at home.
-- Different story with Western Washington. The Falcons haven't defeated the Vikings in a regular GNAC match since Oct. 24, 2013, in Bellingham. Their 3-1 victory that night was the 500th win in program history
-- Since then, WWU has swept every season series.
-- Seattle Pacific did win twice during the 2021 spring season when teams were allowed to play independent schedules after the 2020 GNAC campaign was canceled because of the pandemic. They played six times that spring, three in each gym. Both of SPU's wins came at home.

-- Junior setter Emily Tulino is getting closer to her 1,500th career assist. She starts this week with 1,447.
-- Freshman libero Christina Lopez moved up two places to No. 6 on the GNAC digs list, now averaging 3.53 per set. She had 20 against Alaska Fairbanks last Saturday, just one shy of her career high.
-- Senior outside hitter Sarah Brachvogel had a huge overall stat line for last week's two matches combined: 26 kills (13 in each match), .284 hitting, 14 digs, 10 blocks, and five service aces. She got six of her blocks against Fairbanks, tying her career high.
-- Brachvogel is No. 2 on the GNAC kills list at 3.31 per set (255 total). She had been in the top spot until Western Oregon's Madison Hornback came up with an astounding 50 in two matches last week: 27 in five sets against Northwest Nazarene, then 23 in 23 in three sets against Central Washington.
-- Coach Jason Rhine is 2-1 against Simon Fraser and 0-3 against Western Washington.
 
SCOUTING THE SIMON FRASER RED LEAFS: 13-7, 8-4 GNAC (3rd)
All-time series: SPU leads, 32-20.  Current series streak: SPU won 2.  Last time: SPU 3, Simon 0 (25-9, 34-32, 25-19; Oct. 7 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: Simon Fraser has won four of its last five, including a 3-2 victory at Western Washington last Saturday when it came from 1-0 and 2-1 behind to force a fifth set, winning that one by a 15-6 count. Redshirt junior 5-foot-10 outside hitter Jocelyn Sherman continues to set the pace on offense with 209 kills, a 3.07 per-set average that ranks No. 5 in the GNAC. She also has the team lead in service aces with 28. The Leafs have three other attackers who not only hammer kills, but do so with respectable hitting percentages: Junior 6-foot opposite Sophie Lachapelle with 154 on .290 hitting (No. 5 on the GNAC list, junior 6-2 opposite Brooke Dexter with 152 on .237 hitting, and senior 6-2 middle blocker Kalyn Hartman with 137 on .278 hitting (No. 9). Hartman also is Simon's top blocker with 64 (13 solo), an 0.93 per-set mark that is No. 11 in the conference.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 7-13, 7-5 GNAC (tie 4th)
All-time series: WWU leads, 59-28.  Current series streak: WWU won 7.  Last time: WWU 3, SPU 0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-22; Oct. 5 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: After a fast start in GNAC play with a 5-1 mark, Western has gone 2-4 in the six matches since. Sophomore 6-foot pin hitter Devyn Ostreich leads the way with 193 kills (2.54 per set) and also tops the team's serving with 26 aces. Her 249 digs is tops on the team, as well. Redshirt freshman 5-11 pin hitter Delaney Speer has added 151 kills. Redshirt freshman 6-1 middle blocker Emily Vossenkuhl has 118 kills and a team-high 84 blocks, with nine solo. She was the driving force behind Western's 3-0 victory at SPU last month with 11 kills and four blocks (two solo). Speer also had four blocks that night, along with 12 digs.
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POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific continued its climb up the American Volleyball Coaches Association national rankings, ascending to No. 18 in this week's poll that was released on Monday. SPU picked up 367 points in the voting.
 
The Falcons have been part of AVCA's polling all season. Back on Aug. 23 when the preseason poll was released, they received three points, putting them in the last spot on the "also receiving votes" list.
 
SPU moved steadily up that group of teams and finally broke into the top 25 on Sept 25 after defeating Northwest Nazarene and then-No. 15 Central Washington. In the weeks that followed, the Falcons moved up to No. 21, dropped to No. 22, stayed at No. 22, climbed to No. 19 last week and now have moved up to No. 18.
 
Wayne State of Nebraska (23-1) remained No. 1 with 41 of the 47 first-place votes. Undefeated Tampa (22-0) and Missouri-St. Louis (24-0) are Nos. 2 and 3.
 
From the West, Cal State San Bernardino moved up to No. 7. Chaminade stayed at No. 15, Central Washington dropped one place to No. 20, and Cal Poly Pomona remained No. 22. Point Loma Nazarene moved into the rankings at No. 25, while Cal State Los Angeles, which had been No. 23, dropped out and is the second team on the "also receiving votes" list (No. 27 overall). San Francisco State is also receiving votes.
 
RAMBLINGS ABOUT RANKINGS
The first set of NCAA Division II regional rankings was released on Wednesday, with 10 teams listed from each of the eight regions around the country.
 
As expected, Seattle Pacific was among the 10 teams on the West list. But this one is not in any ranked order. A few years ago, a change was made so that for the first release of the year, the 10 teams are listed alphabetically and designated as "under consideration" to be included. The second of the three sets of rankings, which will come out Wednesday, Nov. 8, will have the 10 teams in each region listed in ranked order,
 
However, along with the rankings on the ncaa.com Website is a current list of RPI numbers. Cal State San Bernardino is No. 1 in the West with a .606 RPI. The Falcons are right behind at .605, and Point Loma Nazarene is next at .603.

For D2, regional rankings are of paramount importance. In the West, the three conference champions are automatic qualifiers (regular-season champions for the GNAC and Pac West; conference tournament champion for the CCAA). The other five slots are filled by the five highest-ranked teams who did not win a conference title.
 
The No. 1-ranked team in each region earns the right to host the eight-team tournament, with four first-round matches on Thursday, two semifinals on Friday, and the championship on Saturday. If the No. 1 team is not able to host for any reason, the No 2 team is given the chance to host.
 
DOUBLING UP AT NO. 1
For the past few weeks, Hannah Hair has been atop the national Division II blocks-per-set list, and she is still there this week at 1.75.
 
But that's not all. SPU as a team now leads the nation in blocking, as well, with an average of 2.81 per set. In the No. 2 spot is Indiana University of Pennsylvania at 2.78.
 
NOT TED WILLIAMS, BUT …
Most baseball buffs would know that Ted Williams was the last major league player to finish a season with a .400 batting average … 82 years ago, way back in 1941, when he hit 406.
 
 

Volleyball isn't baseball, and Allison Wilks isn't Ted Williams. But if she keeps it up, she could become the first Falcon in the 38-year history of the program to finish a season hitting north of .400. A volleyball mark of .400 is every bit as impressive as a similar baseball mark.
 
Wilks comes into this week with a season percentage of .430. That's 52 points ahead of No. 2 Jennifer Soha of Saint Martin's on the GNAC list. Soha is at .378.
 
Of SPU's 21 matches so far this fall, Wilks has eight matches with zero attack errors. In fact, of the last 25 sets, she has zero attack errors in 22 of them.
 
The Falcon who has come closest to .400 hitting in program history was middle blocker Nikki Lowell. As a freshman in 2010, she hit .382.

MILESTONES IN THE MAKING
In the making
100th dig               Brianna Ingram (has 99)
200th block           Maddie Pruden (has 194)
                            Erin Smith (has 170)
700th kill              Hannah Hair (has 694)
1500th assist         Emily Tulino (has 1447)
 
Made last week
100th block           Sarah Brachvogel (has 105)
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
Among the 278 volleyball program in NCAA Division II, the Falcons are:
-- No. 1 in blocking at 2.81 per set (Indiana of Pennsylvania 2.78).
-- No. 8 in total blocks at 216.0 (Indiana of Pennsylvania 281.0).
-- No. 24 in lowest opponents' percentage at .141 (Spring Hill .093).
-- No. 53 in aces per set at 1.95 (Shaw 2.73)
 
Individually:
--Hannah Hair No. 1 in blocks per set at 1.75 (1.45).
--Hair No. 2 in total blocks with 131 (142).

Click on this link to see now the Falcons stack up within Division II. Click on this link to see how other GNAC teams and players rank nationally.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Central Washington did its part to stay within reach of Seattle Pacific in the GNAC, winning its matches at Saint Martin's and at Western Oregon last week, and is now 9-4 in conference play. The Wildcats have just one match this week, visiting Northwest Nazarene on Saturday. Simon Fraser remained in the hunt, pulling out a 3-2 win at Western Washington, twice coming from one set down. The Red Leafs are 8-4 as they get ready to host SPU and Montana State Billings.
 
Cal State San Bernardino surged into first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Coyotes (19-3, 12-2 CCAA) have won nine straight, the ninth of which was a 3-1 decision against Cal State Los Angeles last Saturday in a 1-vs-2 showdown. The Golden Eagles (13-9, 11-3 CCAA) had been in first place most of the season, but fell not only to San Bernardino on Saturday, but also came up short at San Francisco State on Thursday, 3-1, so now sit in second place. They are one match behind San Bernardino and one ahead of Cal Poly Pomona and SF State (both 8-4). Pomona visits L.A. on Saturday.
 
Another 1-vs-2 took place in the Pacific West Conference, as first-place Point Loma Nazarene got past second-place Chaminade, 3-2. The Sea Lions twice trailed by a set (1-0 and 2-1) before winning in the fifth, 15-6. They are now 17-4 overall, 14-0 in the Pac West, and have a 2 ½-match lead on Chaminade (24-3, 12-3 Pac West). The two teams immediately behind the Silverswords are awaiting them on their respective home courts this week: Biola (10-4) on Wednesday, and Azusa Pacific (10-3) on Friday.
 
UP NEXT
SPU's final conference road match of the year is set for next Saturday, Nov. 11, at Montana State Billings. The Falcons and Yellowjackets will serve it up at noon Pacific time in Alterowitz Gymnasium. Seattle Pacific scored a 3-0 victory (25-18, 25-12, 25-16) on Oct. 14 in Brougham Pavilion.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                     GNAC          Overall
Seattle Pacific          12-1      18-3
Central Washington        9-4      15-6
Simon Fraser              8-4      13-7
Saint Martin's            7-5      14-8
Western Washington        7-5       7-13
Alaska Fairbanks          6-7      13-14
Northwest Nazarene        6-7      10-11
Alaska Anchorage          5-8      13-15
Western Oregon            2-10      8-12
Montana State Billings    1-12      3-20