SEATTLE – Of course it went five sets.
 
Doesn't it always whenever Seattle Pacific and Central Washington get together for a volleyball match?
 
Maybe not always – but it certainly happens often enough.

It happened again on Saturday, as the Falcons shook off a slow start in Set 1, a less-tban-stellar Set 4, and pulled out a 3-2 victory against the No. 15-ranked Wildcats in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Scores were  12-25, 25-23, 25-16, 14-25, 18-16.
 
Erin Smith led SPU with 13 kills, Sarah Brachvogel had 11, and Maddie Pruden had 10, plus three blocks.
 
The Falcons (10-2, 4-0 GNAC) now have won nine straight matches and remain the only undefeated team in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
In defeating the Wildcats (8-4, 2-2 GNAC), they took down a national top-25 squad for the first time since the 2022 season opener against No. 15 Winona State.
 
 

"Offensively, it was tough to come by, quite honestly. Defensively, it was a blocking battle, and different players finding ways to score," head coach Jason Rhine said. "Our right sides had a high percentage of kills, and that was part of our game plan. We had a couple people come up big on defense. Kind of across the board – liberos, setters, different people doing their role well when it counted in the clutch."
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The SPU-CWU series takes the term "close" to a new level. Saturday was the 85th match the teams have played since Seattle Pacific started its program in 1986. The win gave the Falcons a 43-42 lead in the series. The total sets between them now stands at 160 for Central, 159 for Seattle Pacific.
 
It was the 23rd time they have gone to a fifth set – and the third match in a row, as both of last year's home-and-home contests went the distance, with SPU winning both. The Falcons have a 13-10 edge in those five-setters.
 




"We always look forward to them. It's like, 'We're playing Central on this date," senior opposite Smith said. "We always just get really excited to do it. It's one of those that always goes five sets. You know it's always going to be a really hard game, a really tough game. They have crazy-good players. It's always just really fun."
 
Added Rhine, "I thought a couple of times throughout the match it was not going to be five sets – the first set in their direction, then in our direction. So I guess it's about right. It was back and forth, and we figured out a way to take it to five and pull it out in five, so we'll take it."
 
HERE THEY GO AGAIN
After forcing the fifth set with their convincing win in Set 4, the Wildcats bolted to a 4-0 lead – a margin that's often tough to come back from when playing just to 15 points.
 
But come back, the Falcons did. In fact, they had a three-point run of their own to turn a 7-5 deficit into an 8-7 lead as the teams changed sides.
 
Back and forth they went. Central went up 9-8. Seattle Pacific answered and went ahead, 11-9. The Falcons were up 13-11. The Wildcats tied it at 13-13.
 
A Central Washington serve into the net gave the Falcons at match point at 14-13. Couldn't convert. A kill by Hair gave them another one at 15-14. Central saved it. Another Hair kill made it 16-15. The Wildcats answered with a kill by Ashley Kaufman. Then Pruden hammered a kill that deflected wide off a CWU blocker for a 17-16 lead.
 
 

That gave the serve to SPU junior libero Abigail Cunningham. It was dug up on the reception, but the ball went right into the net and dropped to the floor for an ace and the clinching point.
 
"We just reminded them that even tough Set 4 didn't go our way at the end, we reminded them that we said, 'We get to play Central, a very solid team, Set 5 at home. This is where we want to be, and we're excited to be there.'" Rhine said. "We wanted to play that way and compete the way we knew we could compete, and we did a good job of responding."
 
Both teams had their moments of dominance on Saturday.
 
Central Washington took charge of the opening set with two big scoring runs. The first one was 5-0, extending a 7-5 lead to 12-5, The second was 8-0, stretching a 12-6 advantage all the way to 20-6 and effectively sealing the set. The Wildcats hit an eye-popping .464, with 14 kills and just one error on 28 attacks.
 
The second set was much tighter with eight ties and four lead changes. The Falcons were down 23-21 when they called a timeout, then came back and scored the final four points: a dunk at the net by Smith on a CWU overpass, a kill by Pruden to tie it at 23-23, a Wildcats attack that went wide off the net cord for 24-23, and a kill by Pruden on set point.
 
Seattle Pacific never trailed in Set 3. Up 19-15, it went on a 4-0 run on the way to forging a 2 sets to 1 lead, thanks in large part to .314 hitting (14-3-35). The fourth set was tied at 10-10 when Central Washington racked up nine points in a row to make it 19-10.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Along with her six kills, senior middle blocker Hannah Hair had eight blocks.
 

-- Freshman setter Sophia Chambers recorded her third career double-double, this one with 16 assists and 16 digs.
-- Saturday's win was a series-record eighth straight for Seattle Pacific. Both the Falcons and Central previous have previously had seven-match winning streaks.
-- The Falcons wound up hitting .125 for the day. Central hit .242.
-- Junior setter Emily Tulino tied her season high with 25 assists.
-- Central fifth-year setter Tia Andaya had a triple-double of 46 assists, 15 digs, and 10 blocks (3 solo).
 
UP NEXT
SPU heads to Alaska this coming week, visiting Fairbanks on Thursday and Anchorage on Saturday. Both matches start at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Sept. 23, 2023
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, (No. 15) Central Washington 2
 
Game scores – 12-25, 25-23, 25-16, 14-25, 18-16.
 
Service aces – CWU 4 (Kaufman 2), SPU 7 (Cunningham 2, Brachvogel 2).
Kills – CWU 59 (Garman 16), SPU 54 (Smith 13, Brachvogel 11, Pruden 10).
Assists – CWU 57 (Andaya 46), SPU 50 (Tulino 25, Chambers 16).
Digs –CWU 75 (Stires 27), SPU 60 (Chambers 16, Cunningham 10).
Block assists / solo – CWU 18 / 5 solo (Andaya 7 / 3 solo), SPU 16 / 1 solo (Hair 7 / 1 solo).
Hitting – CWU 59-22-153—242 (Halady 5-0-8—626), SPU 54-32-176—1256 (Pruden 10-4-24—250).
Attendance – 246.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 10-2, 4-0 GNAC.  Central Washington 8-4, 2-2 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Fairbanks
Thursday, Sept. 28     8:00 p.m. PDT
The Patty Center / Fairbanks, Alaska