PORTLAND, Ore. – On a night when Hannah Hair could have taken the spotlight for herself, the Seattle Pacific volleyball star did what she usually does:
 
She shared it with everyone else.
 
 

After breaking the Great Northwest Athletic Conference career record for total blocks on Saturday afternoon, the spotlight came right back to her on Monday afternoon when she was named the Defensive Player of the Week.
 
It is her second such award this season and the eighth of her career for defense. She has 10 weekly honors altogether, counting her two on the offensive side.
 
With five matches left in her college career, Hair has 598 total blocks. The old record was 597, set from 2015-19 by Western Washington's Kayleigh Harper.
 
The record-setter for Hair came midway through the fifth set of a high-intensity, high-quality match between the Falcons and host Alaska Fairbanks inside The Patty Center.. It was her fifth block of the day and her 14th of the week after recording nine in Thursday's match at Alaska Anchorage.
 
"It was exciting and it's definitely a huge honor," Hair said, and then immediately started dishing the credit to others. "I think it speaks a ton to our team in general. We have trained to have a really high-level defense. Our current coaches and our coaches in the past like (former SPU assistant) Lindsey Calvin have helped me a ton in the way I block. It speaks to their ability to train us hard in the gym and I'm very grateful for that."
 
Hair had some help on that block, as senior setter Emily Tulino also got her hands on it.
 
"It was extra-special to have her be the record-breaking one," Hair said. "She has put in so much work to be an effective blocker. When we played Western Oregon and Saint Martin's (two weeks ago in Brougham Pavilion), I think most of my block assists came from her. I'm so grateful."
  
For the past five years, Hair and fellow middle Allison Wilks have been a dynamic duo of sorts at the net for the Falcons. While Hair has 598 blocks, Wilks has 374. That adds up to 972. It is entirely possible that those two could wind up with more than 1,000 blocks between them by the time the final point of he season is played on Nov. 23.
  
Of Hair's 598 blocks, Falcons coach Jason Rhine has been at the helm for the last 393 of them since taking charge of the program in 2022. So Saturday was a special moment for him, too.
 
 

"It was a cool deal. I'm thankful to Fairbanks for recognizing her, and it was fun for our team to celebrate her and to have it happen in a match when the whole team was playing well," Rhine said. "To come away with the (match) ball and have the other coach (Brian Scott of Fairbanks) come over and recognizing how good of an athlete she is and how much of a leader she is in the conference, it was real cool to see.

"Hannah's attitude and effort have gained her the respect of her teammates and coaches, as well as many opponents and coaches around the league," Rhine added in the GNAC's announcement of the award. "It is awesome that those traits also led her to individual achievement of the GNAC blocking record."

The Falcons are back home in Brougham Pavilion this week, hosting Simon Fraser on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.and Western Washington on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.


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