SEATTLE – Sure, nobody's perfect. But Seattle Pacific's middle blockers came darn close to it on Thursday night just when the Falcons needed it most
 
Hannah Hair and Allison Wilks combined for 25 kills and just one attack error, and Erin Smith came through with a career high 17 kills as the Falcons pulled out yet another close volleyball victory against Central Washington, this time winning 3-1 in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Scores of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest were 21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-23.
 
Senior setter Emily Tulino tied her career high with 49 assists, matching what she had last Saturday in a 3-1 win against Saint Martin's.
 
In what is arguably the best rivalry in the conference, the result gave SPU (5-13, 5-5 GNAC) a split of the season series. Central (10-6, 8-2 GNAC), which started the night tied for first place with Simon Fraser, won on Sept. 28 in Ellensburg, 3-1.
 
 

"For these players specifically, Central and us have been in a lot of the same spots. We've both been at the top of the conference the last couple years, both been in the hunt – their journeys have mirrored ours," head coach Jason Rhine said. "Our teams have played against each other many, many times with so many close matches back and forth, so many fun battles,
 
"Both teams have enjoyed playing each other and bring out the best in each other."
 
Hair and Wilks are both in their fifth years with Seattle Pacific. Hair had 13 kills and no errors on 22 attacks for a .591 hitting percentage. Wilks had 12 kills and just one error on 19 attacks for  579 mark. Together, they hit .585.
 
"Definitely both got good sets and a lot of chances and they took advantage of that," Rhine said. "In some ways, they were fired up for potentially the last time playing against  two other good middles who have done a good job of hitting and blocking against us. It was fun for the middles on both sides."
 




Fifth-year opposite Smith topped her previous career high of 14 kills, which she set in a non-conference match against Concordia Irvine on Sept. 8, 2023. Her line was 17-6-36 for a season-best .306 hitting percentage.
 
Collectively, the Falcons hit a season-high .296 (60-18-142). That was 85 percentage points higher than their previous 2024 best of .211.
 
"That was our highest hitting percentage in a while, and against a team that's typically pretty good at holding teams to a low hitting percentage this year," Rhine said.
 
After gaining a split of the first two sets, the Falcons led for the entirety of the third. Then the fourth set had 10 ties and five lead changes. Central had an edge of a point or two most of the way, but SPU climbed back into an 18-18 tie.
 
The Wildcats, seeking to force a deciding fifth set (24 of the 87 all-time series matches have gone the maximum distance) put the next three points on the board for a 21-18 lead. SPU responded with four in a row to go up 22-21.
 
Still up 23-22, the Falcons came up with a match point opportuity in dramatic fashion.

Zoe Shuckhart chased down a Central attack to the far corner, sticking her right arm under it to keep the ball alive. Sophomore libero Christina Lopez then did the same. Her dig hit the ceiling and came down to Eva LaRochelle, who dug it backward over her head from the baseline to the CWU side of the net.
 
The Wildcats dug it up, but it went right to Wilks in the middle, and she slammed it home for 24-22.
 
Central Washington saved the first match point on a kill by Corinne Westby. The Falcons closed it out when Smith's final kill of the night was deflected out by two Wildcat blockers..
 
"She took a lot of big swings and found some different places to score," Rhine said. "She did a really good job of carrying a big offensive load for us tonight."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- SPU now has a 45-43 all-time lead against Central Washington. The all-time sets between them are now back to even at 166-166.
-- Both sides were hitting at a tremendous percentage through the first two sets. The Falcons were at .343 in the first and .414 in the second for a .375 mark through two. Central Washington was at .323 in the first and .364 in the second for a .344 mark.
-- While Seattle Pacific wound up at .296, Central finished the night at .221 (51-21-136).
-- Emily Tulino, who has become more of a threat at the net since the Falcons switched from the 6-2 to a 5-1 system, tied her career high with three kills. She also had two more blocks, giving her 12 in her last three matches.
-- Tulino made it a double-double with 17 digs to go along with her 49 assists.
-- Christina Lopez had 10 digs, the eighth of which was her career 500th. She now has 502.
-- Fifth-year outside hitter Sydney Perry had nine kills, bringing her within four of her career 600th.
-- Fifth-year defensive specialist Zoe Shuckhart tied her career high with four service aces.
-- The Falcons finished with 17 total blocks – and all of them came in the final two sets. Hannah Hair had six, Erin Smith had five, and Allison Wilks had three.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons wrap up their four-match homestand on Saturday when Northwest Nazarene visits Brougham Pavilion at 2:00 p.m. The Nighthawks (7-11, 4-6 GNAC) swept their road match at Montana State Billings on Thursday, 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-12). NNU beat Seattle Pacific last month in Nampa, 3-2 (26-24, 25-23, 21-25, 19-25, 15-12).
 
 
 
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