BURNABY, B.C. – Some nights, it takes a little bit extra to pull out a volleyball victory.
 
For the Seattle Pacific Falcons on Thursday, that meant going all five sets.
 
Sarah Brachvogel had 16 kills, Hannah Hair came up with 10 more blocks, and Erin Smith added nine kills and five blocks as No. 18-ranked SPU tallied the final three points of the match to pull out a 3-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win at Simon Fraser.
 
Scores in West Gym were 17-25, 25-22, 25-18, 19-25, 15-13.
 
The Falcons (19-3, 13-1 GNAC) won their seventh in a row and moved another step closer toward what would be their first conference championship since 2011. They are now 3½ matches ahead of second-place Central Washington (9-4 GNAC) with four matches left. The Wildcats, who have five remaining were off on Thursday and will visit Northwest Nazarene on Saturday. SPU plays at Western Washington on Saturday.
 
The decisive fifth set had nine ties and seven lead changes. On three occasions, SPU had a two-point advantage, including 8-6 at the changeover.
 
 

Then Simon Fraser (13-8, 8-5 GNAC) went on a 5-1 scoring run to take an 11-9 edge. The Falcons bounced right back with a kill by Brachvogel off a Red Leafs blocker, a combined block by Hair and Smith for an 11-11 tie, then another kill by Brachvogel for a 12-11 lead.
 
Simon wasn't done yet, getting back-to-back kills from Kalyn Hartmann to edge in front, 13-12 and still serving. But the next one went into the net, knotting it at 13-13.
 
That gave the serve to freshman setter Sophia Chambers. Senior opposite Maddie Pruden went crosscourt with a kill to set up a match-point opportunity at 14-13. Pruden and Hair then teamed up to convert that opportunity combining to block an attack by Red Leafs outside hitter Hannah Kolof.
 
The Falcons are 4-0 this season in matches that have reached the five-set limit.
 
Seattle Pacific got off to a slow start. Simon Fraser scored the first three points of the match and dominated the first set, building a 14-5 lead and eventually going ahead by as many as 10.
 
The second set was looking like more of the same as Simon Fraser went up 11-5. The Falcons came to life, finally tying it at 15-15. The Leafs answered with the next three points for an 18-15 edge. Again, SPU came back, tying it at 20-20, then ringing up four points in a row. The last three of those were with Sydney Perry on the serve, and she capped it with an ace for a 24-20 lead. Simon saved two of those set points before a combined block by Brachvogel and Allison Wilks clinched it and tied the match at one set each.
 
Seattle Pacific bolted to a 14-5 lead in Set 3, and it never got closer than six. A 6-0 scoring run gave the Red Leafs an 11-5 advantage in Set 4. The Falcons eventually climbed back into a 17-17 tie. A final Simon Fraser surge, this one a five-pointer, produced a 22-17 lead and subsequently forced a final set.
 
BRINGIN' IT ON THE BLOCK
 

Hannah Hair's 10-block effort was her third double-digit performance in the past five matches and her fifth of the season. She now has 452 for her career, putting her three away from tying No. 2 Anina Winters on the SPU all-time list (455 from 1988-89).
 
Hair climbed to No. 6 on the GNAC list on Thursday, passing the 448 by Alaska Anchorage's Vera Pluharova from 2017-21. Next up is No. 5 Erin Braun of UAA (469 from 2013-16).
 
But it wasn't just Hair. The Falcons had a season-high 34 total blocks on Thursday: 33 blocks assists, and one solo (that one by Hair). Their previous high was 27 at Central Washington on Oct. 19. Allison Wilks and Maddie Pruden had seven apiece, all block assists, with Pruden tying her career high.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
--SPU hit .193 for the night (48 kills-17 errors-161 attacks), and had four players at .200 or better: .267 for Allison Wilks, .238 for Hannah Hair, .222 for Sarah Brachvogel, and .200 for Erin Smith.
 

-- Sophia Chambers set a career high with 21 digs. Her previous high was 17 against St. Edward's on Sept. 9. She also logged 15 assists and two aces on Thursday.
-- The Falcons swept the season series from Simon Fraser for the first time since 2013. They now have five series sweeps this fall.
-- Emily Tulino's 22 assists put her at 1,469 for her career, 31 away from her 1,500th.
-- Christina Lopez set a career high with eight assists.
 
UP NEXT
SPU visits Western Washington on Saturday in Bellingham. First serve in Carver Gymnasium is at 7:00 p.m. The Vikings were the last team to beat the Falcons, 3-0 in Seattle on Oct. 5. They swept Montana State Billings on Thursday, 25-15, 25-15, 25-16.