THE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Oct. 10                Seattle Pacific at Western Washington, 7:00 p.m.
                                                Carver Gymnasium / Bellingham, Wash.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
Saturday, Oct. 12                 Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser, 5:00 p.m.
                                                West Gym / Burnaby, B.C.
                                                Live Webcast        Live stats
 
 
SEATTLE – It's back on the volleyball road for the Seattle Pacific Falcons tis week.
 
But no plane rides this time.
 
Instead, SPU will make a couple of drives northbound on Interstate 5. On Thursday, the Falcons are off the Bellingham for a showdown with Western Washington, First serve in Carver Gymnasium is at 7:00 p.m.
 
Then on Saturday, they cross the border into Canada, heading to Burnaby, B.C. to take on Simon Fraser. That one begins at 5:00 p.m.
 
The Vikings (5-6, 4-1 GNAC) and Red Leafs (8-4, 4-1 GNAC) enter this week tied for second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings.
 
Seattle Pacific (1-12, 1-4 GNAC) is looking to get back into the win column. In its first two home matches of the season last week, the Falcons fell 3-0 to Alaska Fairbanks and 3-1 to Alaska Anchorage.
 
FOLLOW IT LIVE
This week's matches and all remaining GNAC contests will have free live Webcasts on YouTube and free live stats. The appropriate links for this weeks' matches are at the top of this story.
 




SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Thursday's match will mark the beginning of the season's second half. The Falcons have played 13 of their 26 matches.
--The last Falcons win against Western Washington was 3-0 on May 14, 2021 in Seattle when teams were playing independent schedules after the coronavirus pandemic forced cancelation of the 2020 fall season.
-- Because of their close driving proximity to each other, the Falcons and Vikings played six times that spring, with SPU winning two and WWU four.
-- The most recent regular-season win vs. WWU was 3-1 in Bellingham on Oct. 24, 2013. That also was the 500th overall victory in program history.
-- Seattle Pacific swept Simon Fraser last year and has won the last three matches in the series.
-- Fifth-year opposite Erin Smith had 12 kills against Alaska Anchorage last Saturday. The sixth of those kills was the 500th of her career. She now has 506.
-- In that same match, senior setter Emily Tulino had a double-double of 23 assists and 15 digs. That was her third double-double of the year and team-leading 26th of her career.
-- Tulino is now 102 assists away from 2,000 for her career.
-- Saturday's match at Simon Fraser will have the current Nos. 4, 5, and 6 hitters in the GNAC on the court: No. 4 Brooke Dexter of the Red Leafs (.318), along with No. 5 Hannah Hair (.288) and No. 6 Allison Wilks (.286) of SPU.
-- For the second week in a row, the Falcons will square off against the GNAC kills leader. Last week, Fairbanks came in with the No. 1 mark at 12.77 per set. Now, it's Simon Fraser on top at 12.93 (even though UAF bumped up its average to 12.89).
-- From the start of the season, SPU, Western, and Simon Fraser have been ranked as having some of the toughest schedules in all of NCAA Division II. Coming into this week, the Falcons and Vikings are 1-2 on that list, and the Red Leafs are No. 12.
-- Coach Jason Rhine is 0-4 vs. Western Washington and 3-1 vs. Simon Fraser.
 
SCOUTING THE WESTERN WASHINGTON VIKINGS: 5-6, 4-1 GNAC (tie 2nd)
All-time series: WWU leads, 60-28.  Current series streak: WWU won 8.  Last time: WWU 3, SPU 1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-19; Nov. 4, 2023 at Bellinghanm).  Last SPU series win: SPU 3, WWU 0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-22; May 14, 2021 at Seattle).  Vikings on the Web.
Vikings in a nutshell: Western Washington won its season opener, lost six in a row, but now is on a roll with four straight victories. That includes a 3-0 sweep at home against Simon Fraser on Sept. 27. In fact, Western's last three matches have been 3-0 wins, the latest of which were at Saint Martin's and Western Oregon last week. Providing a chunk of the offense is sophomore 5-foot-11 outside hitter Delaney Speer with her team-leading 92 kills. Close behind is junior 6-foot outside Devyn Oestreich with 85 kills. She also has served a team-leading 21 aces.  Emily Vossenkuhl, a sophomore 6-1 middle blocker, and Hayli Tri, a redshirt freshman 6-foot middle, each have 58 kills, and Tri hits a team-high .348. They also are WWUs leading blockers with 36 and 21, respectively.
 
SCOUTING THE SIMON FRASER RED LEAFS: 8-4, 4-1 GNAC (tie 2nd)
All-time series: SPU leads, 33-20.  Current series streak: SPU won 3..  Last time: SPU 3, Simon 2 (17-25, 25-22, 25-18, 19-25, 15-13; Nov. 2, 2023 at Burnaby, B.C).  Last Simon series win: Simon 3, SPU 2 (26-24, 25-18,23-25, 23-25, 15-8; Sept. 10, 2022 at Burnaby, B.C.).  Red Leafs on the Web.
Red Leafs in a nutshell: Of Simon Fraser's four GNAC victories, three of them have been in 3-0 sweeps, including at Saint Martin's last Thursday, followed by a 3-1 decision at Western Oregon on Saturday. Redshirt senior 6-foot-2 opposite Brooke Dexter, has 170 kills for a GNAC-leading 4.05 per set. She's also No. 4 on the conference hitting list at .318. When Dexter isn't the one putting the ball onto the floor, junior 6-foot outside Davida Hill is. She has 129 kills, a 3.07 average that is No.5 in the GNAC. She is No. 10 on the hitting list at .270. Simon has two of the top 10 blockers in freshman 6-3 middle Logan Remington (No.4 at 1.15 per set, 31 total) and Ezawa Malish (No.10 at 0.97 with 34 total). The Red Leafs are the toughest GNAC team to hit against, allowing just a .153 percentage.
 
 

COACH JASON RHINE SAYS …
(On Saturday's effort against Anchorage)
"I thought our team responded really well (after Thursday's loss to Fairbanks). I thought we just brought really fresh energy and intensity to this match. We fought hard on defense and had some really extended rallies. That showed the heart we were playing with today, and that was fun to see."
 
(On this week's matches)
"If we bring that same kind of energy and momentum into practice this week and get a little bit better, then hopefully, we'll be putting a little pressure on Western. They have played a lot of close matches, as have we. It's probably going to come down to some small plays at the end of sets, so we have to just be ready for that."
 
PELLUER POWER
It had been three weeks since junior outside hitter Anna Pelluer had seen action in a match. But she made the most of her opportunities at home last week against the Alaska schools.
 
On Thursday against Fairbanks, Pelluer saw action in all three sets. She came off the bench in Set 1, but then was on the floor for the start of Sets 2 and 3. Pelluer wound up with four kills, seven digs, one ace, and one block assist.
 
In the Alaska Anchorage match last Saturday, she got the start and remained in the starting group for all four sets. By the end of the day, she had career highs of nine kills on 37 attacks. But the stat that really caught some attention was her 23 digs. That was just one less than the 24 Pelluer had through her first nine matches.
 
"Anna covered a lot of ground back there," coach Jason Rhine said. "She responded really well from a lot of early serving pressure they were putting on her position. She bounced back and got some kills and played really well on defense."
 
ALWAYS ANSWERING THE CALL
The Falcons still have five players who have been on the court for all 51 sets this season: fifth-years Allison Wilks, Hannah Hair and Sydney Perry, and true seniors Abigail Cunningham and Emily Tulino.
 
 

Wilks and Tulino certainly have some ironwoman-type tendencies. Both of them also played every set in 2022 (100) and 2023 (101).
 
The last time Wilks did not take the court was the third set of a match at Western Oregon on Oct. 28, 2021. Since then, SPU has played 275 sets – and so has Wilks.
 
It's almost exactly the same for Tulino. She did not play on Oct. 23, 2021 at home against Fairbanks. Since then, she has played 278 consecutive sets, starting with that match at WOU. She was in for all three sets of that one.
 
IN 10 YEARS …
One of the questions asked of incoming SPU athletics freshmen is what they intend to be doing in 10 years. The six first-year Falcons had some intriguing responses.
 
Amaya Evans: Creating new understandings of the brain and mental illnesses.
Joslyn Greff: Working in the housing industry and coaching volleyball.
Makayla Hickman: Providing "extraordinary care: to patients as a nurse.
Eva LaRochelle: Pursuing nursing and perhaps having a small family.
Elle McCandless: Helping people improve their mental or physical health.
Brooke Williams: Inventing something new.

FALCONS REPLAY
-- Erin Smith had nine kills and Sydney Perry added eight, but Alaska Fairbanks came up big on the block with an eight-point advantage and swept to a 3-0 victory last Thursday in Brougham Pavilion, 25-19, 25-19, 25-19.
-- Looking to force a fifth and deciding set against Alaska Anchorage, SPU had four tries at it, only to see the Seawolves fend off all of them. UAA then came up with back-to-back service aces and closed out a 3-1 victory on Saturday, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 27-25.
 
MARCH TO A MILESTONE
In the making
300th dig         Sarah Brachvogel (has 293)
600th kill        Sarah Brachvogel (has 564)
1,000th dig       Abigail Cunningham (has 873)
2,000th assist    Emily Tulino (has 1,898)
 
Made last week
200th dig         Zoe Shuckhart (has 200)
400th dig         Christina Lopez (has 410)
500th kill        Erin Smith (has 506)
 
AROUND THE WEST
Although it had just one match last week, Central Washington remains the lone unbeaten team in the GNAC at 5-0 (7-4 overall). The Wildcats won at Northwest Nazarene. Western Washington and Simon Fraser are tied for second at 4-1, just ahead of 4-2 Alaska Fairbanks. Central has a tough road trip this week, visiting Fairbanks on Thursday and Anchorage on Saturday.
 
Cal Poly Pomona is riding an eight-match winning streak and remains atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association at 6-0 (12-1 overall). But San Francisco State is breathing right down the necks of the Broncos at 5-1, 11-3 overall. Still in the hunt are Cal State Los Angeles and Cal State San Bernardino, both at 4-2 (9-4 overall for L.A., 8-5 overall for San Bernardino).
 
Point Loma Nazarene and Chaminade are dead even atop the Pacific West Conference at 6-0. Point Loma is the only remaining unbeaten team in the West Region, having won all 12 of its matches. Chaminade is 13-4 overall. Right on their heels are Azusa Pacific (6-1, 10-4) and Hawaii Hilo (5-1, 10-6). Azusa visits Hilo on Thursday and Chaminade on Saturday.
 
UP NEXT
While last week wrapped up the first half of the overall schedule, next week will conclude the first half of the GNAC schedule. It also will be the start of an SPU four-match homestand as Western Oregon visits Brougham Pavilion on Thursday, Oct. 17, at 7:00 p.m. Saint Martin's comes in on Saturday the 19th at 2:00 p.m.
 
 
GNAC STANDINGS
                                                      GNAC            Overall
Central Washington        5-0        7-3
Simon Fraser              4-1        8-4
Western Washington        4-1        5-6
Alaska Fairbanks          4-2       10-4
Alaska Anchorage          3-3        9-7
Northwest Nazarene        2-3        5-8
Western Oregon            2-4       10-5
Saint Martin's            2-4        4-10
Seattle Pacific           1-4        1-12
Montana State Billings    0-5        6-8


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