SEATTLE – A couple weeks at home turned out to be just what the Seattle Pacific Falcons needed.
 
Erin Smith had 12 kills and three blocks. Allison Wilks had another .500-plus hitting day, and SPU polished off its four-match volleyball homestand with a 3-0 sweep of Northwest Nazarene.
 
Scores of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference contests in Brougham Pavilion were 25-19, 25-23, 25-21 – the first 3-0 sweep of the year for SPU.
 
After playing 13 of their first 15 matches on the road, the Falcons (6-13, 6-5 GNAC) won four in row on their homecourt. They won in five sets against Western Oregon, four against Saint Martin's and Central Washington, and now in three against NNU.
 
Seattle Pacific has won five of its last six matches.
 
"It's definitely a fun feeling to be having some success – four times in a row at home," head coach Jason Rhine said. "I told the team and we talked this weekend about that we're proud of how they continue to compete hard in practice, continue to want to get better and want to play hard and have fun on the court every match. I think we are playing better and playing at a high level."
 
Wilks had seven kills and just one error on 11 attacks for a .545 hitting mark. That comes on the heels of Thursday's .579 performance (12-1-19) against Central.
 
Hannah Hair added seven kills and four blocks for SPU.
 




Except for four ties, Seattle Pacific led for the entirety of Set 1. The last of those was at 13-13, after which the Falcons ran off five straight points, the last four with freshman outside hitter Eva LaRochelle on the serve.
 
The Nighthawks (7-12, 4-7 GNAC) jumped to a 5-1 lead in the second set and was still up by six in the late stages at 19-13. That's when SPU ran off seven in a row, including a pair of Christina Lopez service aces, for a 20-19 edge. NNU subsequently tied it up at 20, 22, and 23. Smith then put down back-to-back kills, capping a 12-4 run to finish the set.
 
Northwest Nazarene led for most of Set 3 until Seattle Pacific finally tied it at 15-15. Then, down 18-17, the Falcons strung together four in a row to go in front, 21-18, and eventually built it to a quadruple match-point advantage at 24-20. An attack error cut it to 24-21, then fifth-year outside hitter Sydney Perry with a kill that was tipped out by the Nighthawks.
 
 

"We did a good job of staying consistent," Rhine said. "NNU did a really good job defensively, keeping some balls alive and causing some chaos for us. But I felt or team did a good job of staying with it and figuring out different ways to stay in points and score.
 
"Despite their libero having a good match by getting some extra touches and making it tough for our girls to score, we did a good job of finding a way," Rhine added.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Of Hannah Hair's four blocks, three were block assists, pushing her past 500 in that statistical category (now with 501). Hair picked up her 500th total career block earlier in the season and now is up to 588.
-- Senior setter Emily Tulino racked up another 36 assists and 12 digs for her seventh straight double-double, her ninth of the year and 33rd of her career.
-- The Falcons hit .169 for the afternoon (41-19-130). They limited Northwest Nazarene to .066 (28-20-122), including .026 in the first set and .021 in the second. That's the fewest kills allowed by SPU this fall and the third time it has kept an opponent below .100 hitting.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons return to the road next week for their annual trip to Alaska. They visit Anchorage on Thursday at 8;00 p.m. Pacific time, then are at Fairbanks next Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Pacific.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Northwest Nazarene 0
 
Set scores – 25-19, 25-23, 25-21.
 
Service aces – NNU 5 (Machado 2), SPU 7 (Lopez 3).
Kills – NNU 28 (Machado 10), SPU 41 (Smith 12).
Assists – NNU 27 (Wilding 15), SPU 40 (Tulino 36).
Digs – NNU 59 (Spray 21), SPU 65 (Lopez 16, LaRochelle 13, Tulino 12).
Block assists / solo – NNU 18 / 0 solo (Black 8 / 0 solo), SPU 14 / 1 solo (Wilks 4 / 0 solo, Hair 3 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – NNU 28-20-122—066 (Machado 10-3-33—212), SPU 41-19-130—169 (Wilks 7-1-11—545).
Attendance – 115.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 6-13, 6-5 GNAC.
Northwest Nazarene 7-12, 4-7 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Alaska Anchorage
Thursday, Oct. 31     8:00 p.m.
Alaska Airlines Center / Anchorage, Alaska
 
 

 

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