ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Nothing goes forever – and the Seattle Pacific Falcons got an unpleasant reminder of that on Saturday afternoon.
 
Sydney Perry had 10 kills and Emily Tulino double-doubled for the second straight match, but SPU saw Central Washington bounce back from a first-set loss to take a 3-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball victory on Saturday afternoon.
 
Scores in Nicholson Arena were 20-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-15.
 
The Falcons (1-10, 1-2 GNAC) had won a series record nine straight matches against the Wildcats (6-4, 4-0 GNAC), dating back to 2019. The last four had gone to a deciding fifth set.
 
 

"I thought we came out strong. We put a lot of pressure on Central, and I think they were a little tense," head coach Jason Rhine said. "It was back and forth; both teams were playing well and putting a lot of pressure on each other."
 
Tulino finished with 34 assists and 18 digs. Hannah Hair had another eight blocks to go along with eight kills. Eva LaRochelle added nine kills and 10 digs.
 
Seattle Pacific was down 16-12 in Set 1 when it strung together six straight points. Sophomore opposite Coco Barnett had a hand in three of those, with two kills and a combined block with Hair. A kill by LaRochelle, an Allison Wilks service aces, and a Wildcats attack errors accounted for the other three, giving the Falcons an 18-16 lead.
 
At 19-18, SPU scored on four of the next five to make it 23-19. Another attack errors by Central and an Emily Tulino service aces closed out the set.
 
It was the Falcons who had multiple four-point leads in Set 2, the last one at 17-13. That's when Central Washington went on a 7-2 run to take a 20-19 edge. Seattle Pacific tied it once more at 20-20, then saved a set point at 24-21 before a Morgan Halady kill leveled it at one set each.
 
The Wildcats bolted to a 6-1 lead in the third set. SPU climbed back in, finally tying it at 18-18, then eventually taking a 20-19 lead on a kill by Perry and a Tulino service ace. Another Perry kill provided a 21-20 lead, but Central scored five of the final six points.
 
A string of five straight points gave Central Washington a 12-7 lead in the fourth. Then up 20-15, the Wildcats scored the final five points of the match.
 
"Central did a good job of finding their middles at big moments toward the end of the match and finding a little more effective offense to pull away in that fourth set," Rhine said. "Other than that, it was a classic back-and-forth match and very competitive.
 
Putting down kills was a challenge for both sides through the first three sets. SPU hit .029, 129, and .074; Central hit minus-.077, .138 and.158. Then in Set 4, the Falcons stepped it up to .250, but the Wildcats stepped it up even more, hitting .423, and slammed 15 kills to Seattle Pacific's nine.
 
"It was two of the bigger blocking teams in the conference causing problems for each other and having a hard time having to adjust and trying some different things," Rhine said. "I thought we did a good job of picking up some tips and rolls around the big block."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- As for that blocking, Seattle Pacific had 26 total, netting 13 points. In addition to Hair's eight, Barnett had a career-high seven, and Allison Wilks had five. Central had 23 total blocks for 12 points.
-- The Falcons wound hitting .104 for the match (43 kills-28 errors-144 attacks). Central finished at .136 (44-26-132).
-- Perry's 10 kills came on top of the career-high 19 she had in Thursday's five-set loss at Northwest Nazarene.
--Tulino hadn't double-doubled at all this season prior to this week's two in a row. She now has 26 for her career.
 
UP NEXT
After 11 road matches in September, the Falcons finally get to play at home this coming week. Alaska Fairbanks visits Brougham Pavilion on Thursday at 7:00 p.m., followed by Alaska Anchorage next Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
 
"It feels good looking forward to some home matches," Rhine said. "Some of our (freshman) players have never experienced it, so that's exciting They'll be happy to be back sleeping in their own beds and having a normal match day at home."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024
Nicholson Arena / Ellensburg, Wash.
 
Central Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 1
 
Set scores – 20-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-15.
 
Service aces – SPU 7 (Cunningham 2, Tulino 2), CWU 8 (Chang 3).
Kills – SPU 43 (Perry 10), CWU 44 (Payne 11).
Assists – SPU 40 (Tulino 34), CWU 38 (Chang 18, Cox 18).
Digs – SPU 60 (Tulino 18, Lopez 14, LaRochelle 10), CWU 63 (Chang 15, Stires 15).
Block assists / solo – SPU 26 / 0 solo (Hair 8 / 0 solo, Barnett 7 / 0 solo), CWU 22 / 1 solo (Halady 6 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – 43-28-144—104 (Wilks 8-3-24—208), CWU 46-26-132—136 (Daoud-Hebert 9-1-16—500).
Attendance – 366.
 
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 1-10, 1-2 GNAC.
Central Washington 6-4, 4-0 GNAC.
 
 
Next match
Alaska Fairbanks at Seattle Pacific
Thursday, Oct. 3     7:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.


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