THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Oct. 24                Central Washington at Seattle Pacific, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Oct. 26                 Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, 2:00 p.m.
                                                Brougham Pavilion (2,650) / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
SEATTLE – Any time is a good time to have momentum. Heading into second half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball schedule, the Seattle Pacific Falcons definitely have some.
 
Coming off its first 2-and-0 week of the season, SPU begins the back side of conference competition at home, welcoming Central Washington to Brougham Pavilion on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday. First serve against the Wildcats is at 7:00 p.m.; first serve vs. the Nighthawks is 2:00 p.m.
 
The Falcons (4-13, 4-5 GNAC) began a four-match homestand last Thursday by getting past Western Oregon, 3-2. On Saturday, they won the first two sets, battled through a 66-point third set, then finally closed out Saint Martin's in the fourth for a 3-1 win.
 
Seattle Pacific will be looking to square things up against both of this week's opponents. Central won 3-1 on Sept. 28 in Ellensburg, and NNU hung on for a 3-2 win in Nampa on Sept. 26 after the Falcons bounced back from two sets down to force a deciding fifth.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
This week's matches and all remaining GNAC contests will have free live Webcasts on YouTube and free live stats. Greg Sexton will call the action for both of this week's contests. The appropriate links are at the top of this story.
 
TULINO NABS FIRST WEEKLY AWARD
Senior setter Emily Tulino, who had back-to-back career-high double-doubles to help the Falcons forge their first 2-0 week of the season, has been named the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week.
 
 

It is her first such award and the first for an SPU setter since 2012 when Shelby Swanson won it for the third time in her career.
 
In last Thursday's 3-2 victory against Western Oregon, Tulino had 45 assists – including the 2,000th of her career – plus four blocks Her previous highs were 41 assists and two blocks. She also had 10 digs and one kill.
 
Then in Saturday's 3-1 win against Saint Martin's, Tulino topped it with 49 assists and six blocks, along with another 14 digs, one kill, and five service aces. The 49 assists was the most by a GNAC player this season.
 
For the week, her totals of 94 assists (10.44 per set), 10 blocks (1.1 per set), five aces and two kills gave her a hand in 111 of SPU's 213 total points. She has three career highs for assists in her last four matches (starting with 41 at Western Washington on Oct. 10.)
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
--The long-time SPU-Central Washington series finds SPU with a 44-43 lead after the Wildcats won on Sept. 28 in Ellensburg, 3-1, halting the Falcons' series-record nine-match winning streak.
-- The 3-1 margin snapped what had been a 162-162 tie in all-time sets won between the teams. CWU now has a 165-163 lead.
-- It was the first time in five matches that it did not go to a deciding fifth set. The teams have done that 24 times in their 87 meetings, with Seattle Pacific owning a 14-10 advantage.
 

-- Last fall, SPU's Hannah Hair and Central's Emma Daoud-Hebert were not only the top two blockers in the GNAC, they were the top two blockers in all of NCAA Division II. So far this year, Hair once again is No. 1 in the conference at 1.49 per set (No. 3 nationally). Daoud-Hebert is tied for No. 8 in the GNAC with Allison Wilks of the Falcons at 1.00.
-- Befitting their status as three of the GNAC's best middles, Hair had eight blocks, Wilks had five, and Daoud-Hebert had five in the first match.
--Hair's double-digit performance of 10 blocks on Saturday included her 100th of the season. She comes into this week with 103.
-- She ranks No. 3 in Division II for total blocks and blocks per set.
-- With her .706 hitting last Saturday against Saint Martin's, Wilks jumped from No. 5 to No. 3 in the GNAC, now at .331 for the season. Hair is No. 4 at .316.
-- Sophomore libero Christina Lopez needs just eight more digs to reach 500 for her career.
-- Fifth-year outside hitter Sydney Perry had her career highs of 19 kills and 53 attacks at Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 26, hitting a respectable .245.
-- SPU came from two sets down to force a fifth in Nampa. The Falcons were up 8-7 at the changeover in Set 5, only to see the Nighthawks take control by running off five straight points.
-- Coach Jason Rhine is 4-1 all-time against Central Washington and 3-2 against Northwest Nazarene.
 
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON WILDCATS: 10-5, 8-1 GNAC (tie 1st)
All-time series: SPU leads, 44-43.  Current series streak: CWU won 1.  Last time: CWU 3, SPU 1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-15; Sept. 28 at Ellensburg).  Last SPU series win: SPU 3, CWU 2 (25-14, 14-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-7; Oct. 19, 2023 at Ellensburg).  Wildcats on the Web.
Wildcats in a nutshell: Central is coming off a topsy-turvy kind of week at home. On Thursday, the Wildcats were swept 3-0 by Simon Fraser. On Saturday, they bounced back and did the same thing to Western Washington, 3-0. CWU has multiple offensive threats through which it can attack. Fifth-year middle blocker Emma Daoud-Hebert is still way on top of the GNAC hitting list at .433, which is 80 percentage points ahead of the No. 2 mark. She has 121 kills, a 2.16 average. Fifth-year 6-foot outside Mariana Payne (178 kills / 3.18) and sophomore 6-foot outside Ellie Marble (150 / 2.68) rank co-No. 3 and No. 8 in GNAC kills. The Wildcats are also tough on the block, with senior 6-2 middle Morgan Halady ranked No. 6 on the conference list at 1.07 per set (60 total) and Daoud-Hebert tied for No. 9 at 1.00 (56 total).
 
SCOUTING THE NORTHWEST NAZARENE NIGHTHAWKS: 6-11, 3-6 GNAC (tie 8th)
All-time series: SPU leads, 27-21.  Current series streak: NNU won 1.  Last time: NNU 3, SPU 2 (26-24, 25-23, 21-25, 19-25, 15-12; Sept. 26 at Nampa, Idaho).  Last SPU series win: SPU 3, NNU 1 (26-24, 23-25, 25-21, 25-16; Oct. 21, 2023 at Nampa).  Nighthawks on the Web.
Nighthawks in a nutshell: Northwest Nazarene is looking to get back on track after falling at home to Western Washington and Simon Fraser last week. The Nighthawks have a trio of attackers who have found the floor with regularity. Senior 5-foot-10 outside hitter Maren Machado has 185 kills (2.61 per set), including 11 vs. SPU last time. In addition, she has sent 31 aces to the other side of the net. Redshirt sophomore 5-11 outside Abby Black has hammered 171 /2.67 per set, ranking No. 9 in the GNAC. (She led NNU with 12 against the Falcons.) Senior 5-11 opposite Miya Koch has 150 / 2.11. She also is the team's second-leading blocker with 44. Sophomore 6-foot middle Hailey Cheney has 54.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE DELIGHTS
Emily Tulino has recorded five consecutive double-doubles (all assist / dig) and seven in her last eight matches. But that's not all.
 
 

Her last four have involved a career high on either side of that assist / dig slash line: 41 assists at Western Washington on Oct. 10, then 21 digs at Simon Fraser two nights later, 45 assists vs. Western Oregon last Thursday, and 49 assists vs. Saint Martin's on Saturday.
 
Fifth-year middle blocker Hannah Hair came up with her fourth career double-double and first of the season last Saturday, going for 12 kills and 10 blocks against Saint Martin's. All four of hers have been kill / block.


 
.700 HITTING NOTHING NEW FOR WILKS
 

Volleyball players anywhere at any level would love to have a match or two during their career when they hit .700.
 
Allison Wilks has half a dozen such matches for the Falcons. Her latest was last Saturday when she finished at .706. Wilks had 13 kills and just one error on 17 attacks. She had two .700s as a sophomore and senior, one as a junior, and now this one in her fifth year.
 
Wilks also has gone for .800-plus once, hitting .857 as a junior against Western Oregon (6-0-7). She has posted 12 matches of .400-plus,17 of .500-plus, and five of .600-plus.
 
SERVING UP SCORING SURGES
In winning three of their last four matches, SPU has had seven players come up with at least one serving run of three or more points.
 
At the top of that list is sophomore libero Christina Lopez with four – and two of hers couldn't have been more timely, coming in the fifth set: a five-pointer at Western Washington to help stretch a 5-4 lead to 10-4, and another five-pointer last Thursday against Western Oregon to turn a 6-6 tie into an 11-6 lead.
 
Sophia Chambers, Eva LaRochelle, Allison Wilks, and Erin Smith all have three, Emily Tulino has two, and Abigail Cunningham has one. Chambers had all three of hers at Western Washington. The last of those was a seven-pointer at the end of Set 3 as the Falcons came from 23-18 down to win that set, 25-23 (she finished it off with an ace),to stay alive, eventually going to win the next two sets and the match, 3-2.
 
COACH JASON RHINE SAYS …
 

(On SPU's recent run of success)
"It's fun for the team and hopefully it helps them see all of the progress they've been making and working on and seeing some things come together. It takes a lot of individual performances, but it also is the work the team has been doing in practice and responding to what they're learning in different matches."
 
(On this week's matches)
"Central is coming off two big matches against Simon and Western. It's a short week to Thursday, but we'll be at home and have some time to prepare and continue to hopefully get a few points better than the first time when we played a close match against them. This time, we'll have the homecourt advantage. We're excited to be coming off a couple wins and keep going."
 
FALCONS REPLAY
-- Sydney Perry had 13 kills, Eva LaRochelle recorded her first collegiate double-double, and Emily Tulino set up her 2,000th career assist on Thursday as SPU took charge in the deciding set to beat Western Oregon, 3-2. Scores were 25-14, 22-25, 25-19, 19-25, 15-7.
 --Hannah Hair had a double-double of 12 kills and 10 block, Allison Wilks had 13 kills on .706 hitting, and SPU got the clinching point on a kill by LaRochelle to secure a 3-1 victory against Saint Martin's on Saturday, 25-13, 25-19, 32-34, 25-23.
 
MARCH TO A MILESTONE
In the making

100th kill        Coco Barnett (has 89)
                  Eva LaRochelle (has 84)
300th dig         Sarah Brachvogel (has 293)
                  Allison Wilks (has 274)
400th block       Allison Wilks (has 360)
500th blk ast.    Hannah Hair (has 492)
500th dig         Christina Lopez (has 492)
600th assist      Sarah Chambers (has 532)
600th block       Hannah Hair (has 574)
600th kill        Sydney Perry (has 587)
                  Allison Wilks (has 566)
                  Sarah Brachvogel (has 564)                             
900th kill        Hannah Hair (has 862)
1,000th dig       Abigail Cunningham (has 907)
 
Made last week
100th dig         Eva LaRochelle (has 104)
2,000th assist    Emily Tulino (has 2,070)
 
AROUND THE WEST
The first half of GNAC play wound up with a first-place tie between Simon Fraser (12-4, 8-1 GNAC) and Central Washington (10-5, 8-1 GNAC). In a showdown last Thursday in Ellensburg, the Red Leafs came from 24-22 down to win the first set and went on to a 26-24, 25-16, 25-22 sweep. Simon Fraser completed a 2-0 road trip with a 3-1 win at Northwest Nazarene and Central got back on track by beating Western Washington, 3-0. With their identical 8-1 records, Simon and CWU are two matches ahead of Western (7-8, 6-3 GNAC). The Vikings and Leafs play on Saturday in Burnaby; Western swept the first match between them on Sept. 27 in Bellingham.
 
Cal Poly Pomona is clearly the team to beat heading into the second half of the California Collegiate Athletic Association schedule. The Broncos (16-1, 10-0 CCAA) have won 12 straight and have a two-match lead on second-place San Francisco State (14-4, 8-2 CCAA). Defending conference and national champion Cal State Los Angeles is next (12-5, 7-3 CCAA) and Stanislaus State (13-5, 6-4) is staying in the overall picture, with Cal State San Bernardino (10-7, 6-4) somewhat on the fringe. Huge matches dot this week's schedule, with L.A. at San Bernardino on Thursday, Pomona at Stanislaus on Friday, and L.A. visiting San Francisco State on Saturday.
 
Chaminade and Point Loma Nazarene start the second half of Pacific West Conference play in a near dead heat. The Silverswords (17-4, 10-0, winner of seven straight) are on top with the Sea Lions (15-0, 9-0) Hawaii Hilo (14-7, 9-2) is still close enough to be a threat. Point Loma is at Hilo on Saturday. For the record, Chaminade and Point Loma won't see each other until Nov. 15 in San Diego.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons return to the road next week, making their annual trip to Alaska. They'll visit Anchorage on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time and Fairbanks on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Pacific.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                      GNAC             Overall
Simon Fraser              8-1        12-4
Central Washington        8-1        10-5
Western Washington        6-3         7-8
Alaska Fairbanks          5-4        13-6
Western Oregon            4-5        12-6
Alaska Anchorage          4-5        10-9
Seattle Pacific           4-5         4-13
Northwest Nazarene        3-6         6-11
Saint Martin's            3-6         5-12
Montana State Billings    0-9         7-12
 

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