Seattle Pacific University Athletics

BILLINGS, Mont. – They're in.
 
For the first time since 2011, the Seattle Pacific Falcons are on their way to the NCAA West Region volleyball tournament.
 
Sarah Brachvogel had 13 kills, Allison Wilks had another .500 hitting match, and Emily Tulino racked up her 1,500th career assist on Saturday as SPU swept Montana State Billings in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest, 3-0.
 
Scores in Alterowitz Gymnasium were 25-17, 25-16, 25-22.
 
The Falcons (20-4, 14-2 GNAC) are now guaranteed at least a tie for the conference championship with Central Washington. However, SPU has the tiebreaker for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAAs on the basis of sweeping the two-match season series from the Wildcats.
 
It also gave Seattle Pacific, ranked No. 18 nationally and No. 4 in the West Region, its first 20-victory season since 2011, when it finished 21-7. The program now has 15 seasons of 20-plus victories.
 
 

"We're just super-excited to have the opportunity to go farther than anyone on our team has been at this point," said senior middle blocker and co-captain Wilks. "It has just been a lot about our individual players and just being able to mature together and have so much time together, and grow and raise our level of play in the gym every single day."
 
Added second-year head coach Jason Rhine, "We're excited – we talked about it a little before the match, still having big stuff left to play for, including this match and trying to seal the bid. And we're also looking forward to playing one match at a time and getting ready for the tournament.
 
The Falcons bounced back from last Saturday's 3-1 loss at Western Washington and went from start to finish in short order on Saturday, polishing off the sweep in 84 minutes.
 
"I thought we looked really fresh this week and pretty sharp in terms of execution," Rhine said. "I thought we did a good job of making things tough for them and taking care on offense of running some of the stuff we were planning on and finding ways to score."
 
Where the Falcons make their NCAA return and which school they will face in the first round has yet to be determined. There is still one week of regular-season play left in both the GNAC and Pacific West Conference, and the California Collegiate Athletic Association has its conference tournament next week.

 

"All of us are just really, really excited. Today was a big win, and it's not easy to win on the road," senior outside hitter Brachvogel said. "It was fun to be able to take it in three and be able to get to the tournament. We've worked so hard. I think all of us are playing with a lot of confidence and grit, which is more than anyone can ask for."
 
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
Except for the first point of Set 1 and the first few points of Set 2, the Falcons were in charge from the get-go They built a 12-5 lead in the opener and gradually expanded it to as many as 10 points.
 
The second set was tied at 7-7 when SPU put together a 6-1 scoring burst to make it 13-8. Montana State Billings (3-23, 1-15 GNAC) climbed back as close as four, the last time at 20-16. The Falcons then put the final five points on the board, the clincher coming on Tulino service ace.
 
Seattle Pacific used a 6-0 scoring run, the last five of those with Zoe Shuckhart on the serve, to take command of Set 3 at 13-6. The Falcons eventually had a 24-17 lead, but the Yellowjackets fought off five consecutive match points to get within 24-22. The clinching point for SPU finally came on a Billings serve that went long.
 
The match was in the win column, and the team was in the NCAAs.
 
 

 "It has been a fun journey," Rhine said. "We were close at the end of last year, as well (the Falcons were the first one out). So it feels like it has been a long time, but in a good way, because we've gotten to spend a lot of time together as a team. We've gotten to see them grow individually and as a group, and play at a higher and higher level on the court, but really growing a lot individually on and off the court."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- SPU hit .279 for the day (43 kills-12 errors-111 attacks). It limited Montana State Billings to just .053 (29-23-113), the seventh time it has kept an opponent below .100 hitting this season.
-- Allison Wilks now has eight matches of .500-plus hitting this fall, along with three of .600-plus and two of .700 plus. Her error-free performance on Saturday (6-0-12) was her ninth of the year and lifted her season hitting percentage to .421.
-- Wilks also had one service ace for the 100th of her career.
-- Junior setter Emily Tulino finished with 23 assists. She came into the day with 1,493, so pushed her career total to 1,516.
-- Hannah Hair had five kills to put her at 699 for her career.
 
UP NEXT
SPU will be at home for the final week of the regular season, hosting Saint Martin's on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and Western Oregon next Saturday for Senior Day at 1:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.
 
(No. 18) Seattle Pacific 3, Montana State Billings 0
 
Game scores – 25-17, 25-16, 25-22.
 
Service aces – SPU 6 (Lopez 2), MSUB 2 (2 players with 1).
Kills – SPU 43 (Brachvogel 13), MSUB 29 (Schwartz 9).
Assists – SPU 43 (Tulino 23, Chambers 18), MSUB 28 (Carroll 24).
Digs – SPU 53 (Lopez 17), MSUB 48 (Funk 13).
Block assists / solo – SPU 12 / 2 solo (Smith 3 / 1 solo), MSUB 8 / 1 solo (Langston 4 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU s43-12-111—279 (Wilks 6-0-12—500), MSUB 29-23-113—053 (Gordon 5-2-17—176).
Attendance – 210.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 20-4, 14-2 GNAC.
Montana State Billings 3-23, 1-15 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Nov. 16     7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.