BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Winning the opening set usually portends good things on the volleyball court for Seattle Pacific.
 
On Saturday night, however, Western Washington had other ideas.
 
SPU did get Set 1 – as it has in 12 other matches this fall, eventually winning all 12 – but the Vikings bounced back to take the next three and down the No. 18-ranked Falcons in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match, 3-1.
 
Scores in Carver Gymnasium were 21-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-19. That snapped a seven-match winning streak – which started on Oct. 7 at home with a win against Simon Fraser, two nights after a 3-0 loss to WWU.
 
Senior outside hitter Sarah Brachvogel had a double-double of 16 kills and 11 digs for SPU (19-4, 13-2 GNAC), and senior outside / opposite Sydney Perry put a career-high 13 kills onto the court.
 
But WWU (9-13, 9-5 GNAC)  had just a little more at the right times.
 
"The players put a lot on this match, which is OK. It's OK to realized there's going to be some extra pressure and some extra excitement playing against a team that has traditionally been hard for us to beat," head coach Jason Rhine said. "It depends on how you handle that. I think we got a little tight, and Western took advantage of that a few times early.
 
"We had a hard time getting fully out of that mindset and Western executed a good game plan. They served really tough, and that made it tough for us," Rhine added.
 
The Falcons still remain atop the GNAC standings, 2½ matches ahead of Central Washington (10-4). A win in any of those three matches, the first of which is next Saturday at Montana State Billings, will clinch the conference's automatic spot to the NCAA West Regional Tournament.
 
SPU used a 3-0 run to snap a 17-17 tie in the opening set. Western got within 20-19, but a kill by Maddie Pruden and one by Perry made it 22-19, and the teams essentially traded points the rest of the way.
 
The second set also was tied at 17-17, but this time, it was the Vikings who put together a string of points, this one a 4-0 run, for a 21-17 advantage. A kill by Allison Wilks made it 21-18, then WWU answered with three more in a row for 24-18.
 
A 5-0 surge midway through Set 3 turned a 9-8 Seattle Pacific edge into a 13-9 Western Washington lead that eventually grew to as many as five points. The Falcons twice got within one, 23-22 and 24-23 before an attack error on set point clinched it for the Vikings and a 2 sets to 1 advantage.
 
Western essentially sealed the deal with a 6-0 surge in Set 4, turning a 14-14 tie into a 20-14 lead.
 
"Within the rallies, we still found a lot of good things," Rhine said. "Sydney had a really high-scoring match, really highly efficient, and it was awesome to see her doing well. Our middles did a good job of being efficient when they had opportunities. Overall, we got outplayed a little bit on the little things. Western continued to get better as the match went on, and we couldn't quite keep up."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The Falcons wound up with 10 more kills than Western Washington, 53-43, But the Vikings balanced that out by making 10 fewer attack errors.
-- Seattle Pacific hit .202 for the night (53 kills-27 errors-129 attacks). Western was slightly better at .211 (43-17-123).
-- Senior middle Hannah Hair had four blocks, lifting her into sole possession of No. 2 on SPU's all-time blocking list. She has 456 for her career, one more than the 455 that Anina Winters recorded from 1987-88.
-- SPU, the top blocking team in Division II, had 15 totals for eight points on Saturday. But Western Washington had 24 total for `12 points.
-- Hair also had an error-free hitting night with five kills on 10 attacks for a .500 percentage. That was her fourth .500-plus of the year, along with an .833.
-- Sarah Brachvogel's double-double was her sixth of the season.
-- Dating back to last season, the Falcons had gone on to win the match 19 straight times after taking Set 1.
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific winds up its conference road schedule next Saturday at Montana State Billings. First serve is at noon Pacific time. The Falcons swept the Yellowjackets on Oct. 14 in Brougham Pavilion, 25-18, 25-12, 25-16.
 
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023
Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Western Washington 3, (No. 18) Seattle Pacific 1
 
Game scores – 21-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-19.
 
Service aces – SPU 3 (3 players with one), WWU 12 (Speer 3).
Kills – SPU 53 (Brachvogel 16), WWU 43 (Kepley 11)..
Assists – SPU 51 (Tulino 24, Chambers 20), WWU 41 (Holland 18).
Digs – SPU 55 (Lopez 17, Brachvogel 11), WWU 40 (Oestreich 12).
Block assists / solo – SPU 14 / 1 solo (Hair 4 / 0 solo, Wilks 3 / 1 solo), WWU 24 / 0 solo (Vossenkuhl 8 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 53-27-129—202 (Hair 5-0-10—500), WWU 47-17-123—211 (Vossenkuhl 6-0-14—429).
Attendance – 586.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 19-4, 13-2 GNAC.
Western Washington 9-13, 9-5 GNAC.
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings
Saturday, Nov.11, 2023     Noon PST
Alterowitz Gymnasium / Billings, Mont.