SEATTLE – It doesn't always take a perfect 10 to get a winning result.
 
A timely 10 will get the job done, too.
 
Hannah Hair had a career-high 14 blocks to go along with 10 kills, Allison Wilks slammed 14 kills for Seattle Pacific, but Western Washington went on a 10-0 scoring run in the fifth set and closed out a 3-2 volleyball victory on Saturday afternoon.
 
Scores of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest in Brougham Pavilion were 23-25, 25-17, 25-18, 20-25, 15-7.
 
The Falcons (7-16, 7-8 GNAC) had four players get into double-digit kills as freshman outside hitter Eva LaRochelle put down 11 and fifth-year outside Sydney Perry logged 10. LaRochelle also had five blocks, and fifth-year opposite Erin Smith went for six.
 
Seattle Pacific put together a pair of scoring runs in Set 4. The first one was five straight points took them from 9-5 behind to 10-9 ahead. The second was a six-pointer, turning a 12-11 deficit into a 17-12 lead.
 
Twice after that, Western Washington (11-9, 9-4 GNAC) got back within two, the last time at 22-20 before a tip by Hair, a Vikings attack error, and s kill by Perry closed it out and brough on Set 5.
 
 

"The fourth was one of the best sets we played all day, especially defensively," head coach Jason Rhine said. "We finally started to slow them down a little bit (the Vikings had a combined 35 kills in winning Sets 2 and 3), and we served tough. We had a couple different little matchups that helped and maybe caused Western to hesitate a little bit. Our team took advantage of that."
 
SPU jumped to a 4-2 lead in the fifth, thanks to a three-point run of its own: a WWU attack error, a LaRochelle kill that deflected out off a Vikings player, and combined block by Wilks and Smith A service errors cut it to 4-3 – the first of those 10 straight points -- and gave side-out to Western Washington.
 
Anne VanderYacht took over the serve and immediately delivered an ace. Of the next eight points, five came on Vikings kills, and the other three game on blocks.
 
It all added up to an essentially insurmountable 12-4 lead in the abbreviated first-to-15 set.
 
"We had a hard time getting out of a couple rotations, and Western was too consistent today," Rhine said. "Sometimes, it's just the small, little plays. We had a couple chances with different hitters, but we couldn't find a kill, and Western did a good job of keeping the ball alive."
 
This was the second five-setter in the past month between the two teams. On Oct. 10 in Bellingham, Seattle Pacific pulled off a reverse sweep after dropping the first two sets.
 
Having scored a 3-0 sweep against first-place Simon Fraser on Thursday, the Falcons wound up with a split against two of the GNAC's top teams.
 
"Obviously, when you're that close, you wish you could come away with both," Rhine said. "But overall, it's a commendable performance for the week. Hopefully, we can carry it into the last couple weeks (of the season)."
 
Hair wiped out her previous career high of 11 blocks, a total she had reached twice, most recently on Oct. 19, 2023 in a five-set win against Central Washington. On Saturday, her total of 14 included four solos.
 
"Hannah did a really good job of knowing the scouting report well," Rhine said. "They like to attack into our hands. Sometimes, that worked, and that can be frustrating when you're on defense. But on the flip side, you get to come away with some extra blocks."
 
 

GOING FOR A GRAND
Hair and Wilks on are on the brink of a rather unusual accomplishment.
 
With Hair's career-high 14 blocks on Saturday and four from Wilks, the two fifth-year middle blockers now have 999 between them.
 
Hair, who broke the GNAC career record last Saturday in Fairbanks with her 598^th, now has 618. Wilks is up to 381.
 
Whichever one of them gets the first block on Thursday at Saint Martin's – and with those two, it's always possible that it could be a combined effort – will push their collective total to 1,000.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The Falcons had a season-high 32 total blocks (four solos, all by Hair). That eclipsed their previous season high of 31 against Western Oregon on Oct. 17.
--Seattle Pacific hit .188 for the day (54 kills-24 errors-160 attacks). The Falcons had some solid hitting in the middle three sets: .250 in the second, .290 in the third, and .270 in the fourth.
-- Western Washington hit .214 (63-27-168). The Vikings came up big in the Sets 2 and 3, with a .474 mark in the second when 20 of their 25 points came on kills, and .344 in the third with another 15 kills.
--Senior setter Emily Tulino now has a dandy dozen double-doubles. Her numbers on Saturday were 40 assists and 14 digs, She's up to 36 for her career.
-- With 11 kills and 13 digs, Eva LaRochelle recorded her third career double-double.
-- SPU and Western split the season series. The Falcons now have splits in four of their six series (Central Washington, Northwest Nazarene and Simon Fraser are the others.)
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons play their final two road matches next week, visiting Saint Martin's on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and Western Oregon next Saturday at 1:00 p.m. SPU beat both teams in Seatle during October.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 2
 
Set scores – 23-25, 25-17, 25-18, 20-25, 15-7.
 
Service aces – WWU 11 (Claeys 3), SPU 8 (4 players with 2).
Kills – WWU 63 (Oestreich 15), SPU 64 (Wilks 14, LaRochelle 11, Hair 10, Perry 10).
Assists – WWU 57 (Holland 29), SPU 50 (Tulino 40).
Digs – WWU 76 (Oestreich 19), SPU 70 (Lopez18, Tulino 14, LaRochelle 13).
Block assists / solo – WWU 18 / 2 solo (Vossenkuhl 4 / 2 solo), SPU 28 / 4 solo (Hair 10 / 4 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – WWU 63-27-168—214 (Oestreich 15-4-34—324), SPU 54-24-160—188 (Wilks 14-4-23—435).
Attendance – 175.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 7-16, 7-8 GNAC.
Western Washington 11-9, 10-4 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's
Thursday, Nov. 14     7:00 p.m.
Marcus Pavilion / Lacey, Wash.


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