SEATTLE – Seattle Pacific University women's volleyball head coach Jason Rhine announced the team's 2025 schedule on Wednesday, featuring two nonconference tournaments in California and Idaho before a loaded Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule.
The Falcons open their season with a rare exhibition match at home against Manhattan University. It takes place on Sept. 2 at 5:00 p.m. inside Royal Brougham Pavilion. The season truly begins when the Falcons head to Seaside, Calif., for the Otter Invitational. SPU plays Lincoln Memorial, hosts CSU Monterey Bay, Westminster, and Dominican on Sept. 5-6.
The following weekend, the Falcons finish nonconference play with four matches at the Nighthawks Classic. From Sept. 11-13, the Falcons take on Colorado Mines, have a rematch with Westminster, Westmont, and close out the weekend against Concordia Irvine.
"Our 2025 nonconference schedule contains a fun mix of a few teams we have seen in past years and also a few unusual ones like Lincoln Memorial, who we don't typically see on the West Coast," Rhine said. "We are excited for solid opponents who will test us early and allow us to see where we can continue to grow and make adjustments."
The Falcons open GNAC play at home when Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks visit Seattle. SPU hosts UAA on Sept. 18 before facing UAF on Sept. 20. September finishes with road trips to Simon Fraser (Sept. 25) and Western Washington (Sept. 27).
The Falcons bookend October with home matches. They welcome Northwest Nazarene on October 2 and Central Washington on October 4. SPU plays three consecutive road matches before hosting the Vikings on October 23. October 25 features a game against the Red Leafs at 2 p.m.
SPU's final home stand of the year is three straight matches. Montana State University Billings is in town on Nov. 8. Saint Martin's makes the quick trip to Seattle on Nov. 13. The Falcons' final home match of the regular season is on Nov. 15 at 1:00 p.m. when they host Western Oregon. The regular season concludes with a trip to Alaska for the Falcons.
"We know the GNAC schedule after that will be typically tough, with lots of quality programs in the mix," Rhine said. "Our team is much younger than the previous two seasons, and there are some other young teams in the GNAC this year, so I anticipate there will be some surprising results."
The Falcons enter 2025 with a new-looking roster. Eight seniors graduated from the program at the end of the 2024 season. Three of which were named to the GNAC All-Conference team. The 2025 team doesn't have a senior on the roster. The group will lean on experienced third-year players in Sophia Chambers, Avery Veenendall, and Christina Lopez.
The Falcons routinely produce in the classroom. Recently, the team was awarded its 17th American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award in program history. Teams must maintain a year-long grade point average of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale to earn this award. The Falcons finished 2024-25 with a. 3.53 team GPA. SPU placed 12 student-athletes on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Academic team last fall. Four players were named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
"Our team is excited to come in with a bit of an unknown or even underdog mindset and surprise some of our GNAC competition," Rhine added. "Of course, it starts with preparing the best we can in practice and competing every day, beginning in just a couple of weeks as preseason gets underway. This team has a lot of energy and is chomping at the bit to start training hard."
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