BURNABY, B.C. – Two nights after overcoming a couple of deficits to pull out a victory in Bellingham, the Seattle Pacific Falcons were faced with the same volleyball challenge in Burnaby.
 
Simon Fraser wouldn't let them do it again.
 
Erin Smith and Eva LaRochelle each had 10 kills, Hannah Hair came up with nine blocks, but the host Red Leafs seized the momentum midway through each of the final two sets to take a 3-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory on Saturday.
 
Scores in West Gym were 30-28, 16-25, 25-19, 25-20.
 
Senior setter Emily Tulino recorded her third straight double-double, this one with 37 assists and a career-high 21 digs. That was her first time in the 20s and topped her previous high of 19, set as a freshman in 2021 at Northwest Nazarene.
 
The Falcons (2-13, 2-5 GNAC) were riding high on the heels of their 3-2 come-from-behind win at Western Washington, having dropped the first two sets and then overcoming a 23-17 deficit in the third.
 
They came out in fine form on Saturday, quickly going ahead and building a 15-9 lead in the first set. But Simon Fraser (10-4, 6-1 GNAC) rang up four straight points as part of an 8-3 scoring run that leveled it at 17-17.
 
From there, it was tied 11 more times, and the lead changed hands three times. SPU had a set point opportunity at 24-23, but the Red Leafs saved it on a kill by Davida Hill.
 
Simon Fraser than had four tries at set point, all of which Seattle Pacific saved, leaving it tied at 28-28. A kill by Hill (one of her 11) gave the Leafs another set point, and this time, Brooke Dexter finished it with one of her 23 kills.
 
The Falcons took immediate command of Set 2, going up 7-0 as Allison Wilks was on the serve. Simon never got closer than five, the last time at 9-4 as SPU hit .276 in that set (15 kills-4 errors-40 attacks) and kept the Leafs to negative hitting (8-9-36—minus .028).
 
The Red Leafs had the upper hand for most of the third set. SPU was still within striking distance at 19-16, but Simon Fraser stretched it out to 23-18. Then with just a two-point gap in Set 4, the Leafs put it out of reach with a 6-0 run, stretching a 10-8 lead to 16-8, although the Falcons eventually did get as close as 23-20.
 
The match featured four of the GNAC's top 10 hitters in SPU's Hair and Wilks, and Simon Fraser's Hill and Dexter. Collectively, they had 42 kills. Hair hit .333, Wilks .318, Dexter .259, and Hill .129.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
--The 30-28 set was SPU's longest of the season. It dropped a 29-27 against Lewis on Sept. 13, a 28-26 against Missouri-St. Louis on Sept. 14, and a 27-25 against Alaska Anchorage on Oct. 5.
 

-- Emily Tulino's double-double was her fifth of the year and the 29th of her career.
--With her 37 assists, on top of the career-high 41 she set up at Western Washington on Thursday, Tulino has 1,976 for her career.
 

-- Senior defensive specialist Abigail Cunningham is approaching her 900th career dig. She had nine more on Saturday, giving her 892.
-- Of Hannah Hair's nine blocks, four were solos. That was a season high; her career high is five.
-- The Falcons hit .192 for the match (55 kills-21 errors-177 attacks). That was their most attacks this season, topping the 166 they had against Alaska Anchorage last Saturday.
-- Factored into that total was a career-high 49 for freshman outside hitter Eva LaRochelle.
-- Simon Fraser hit .232 (62-23-168). The Red Leafs had 22 of those kills in the first set.
-- Along with her 16 digs and eight assists, sophomore libero Christina Lopez was credited with a kill when a dig during the second set got over the net and dropped to the floor before the Red Leafs could react to it. She now has two kills for the season and four for her career.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons begin a four-match homestand this coming Thursday when Western Oregon comes to Brougham Pavilion. First serve is at 7:00 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024
West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
 
Simon Fraser 3, Seattle Pacific 1
 
Set scores – 30-28, 16-25, 25-19, 25-20.
 
Service aces – SPU 1 (Wilks 1), Simon 5 (Hawkins 2).
Kills – SPU 55 (LaRochelle 10, Smith 10), Simon 53 (Dexter 23).
Assists – SPU 52 (Tulino 37), Simon 58 (Person 48).
Digs – SPU 74 (Tulino 21, Lopez 16, Chambers 11), Simon 81 (Hill 18).
Block assists / solo – SPU 18 / 4 solo (Hair 5 / 4 solo), Simon 13 / 2 solo (Kovacevic 3 / 2 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 55-21-177—192 (Hair 9-1-24—333, Wilks 9-2-22—318), Simon 62-23-168—232 (Hawkins 14-2-38—316).
Attendance – 127.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 2-13, 2-5 GNAC.
Simon Fraser 10-4, 6-1 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Western Oregon at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Oct. 17   7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
 
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