SEASIDE, Calif. – The Seattle Pacific University women's volleyball team opened its 2025 season by taking both matches during the first day of the Otter Invitational. The Falcons earned a 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 27-25) sweep over Lincoln Memorial before taking down host CSU Monterey Bay 3-1 (25-17, 25-11, 23-25, 25-18) on Friday night.
AGAINST LINCOLN MEMORIAL
FROM THE COACH
"Fun first match," head coach
Jason Rhine said. "I thought we only looked a little tight for a few points to start the match and then settled down and put a lot of pressure on LMU with our serving and attacking. The third set was a great opportunity to play from behind and stay poised until the end and the team did a great job pulling out the victory in three."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Falcons trailed 8-6 in the first set when a kill from Megan Omlid sparked a 6-0 run to give the Falcons a 12-8 lead.
- SPU closed out the first set with a 6-3 run to take it 25-20 over the Railsplitters.
- The Falcons jumped all over the Railsplitters to begin the second set, growing their lead to 16-6.
- LMU pulled to within seven points of SPU in the second set before the Falcons closed it out with a 5-1 run to take it 25-15.
- The Falcons trailed the Railsplitters by five points in the third set of the match before storming back.
- A bad set from LMU led to an 11-4 run from the Falcons to take the final set 27-25.
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- Omlid had three kills and Elle McCandless had two kills, leading the Falcons during the run that secured the match.
FROM THE BOX SCORE
- Omlid led the Falcons with 12 kills and 11 digs for her first double-double as a Falcon.
- Amaya Evans joined Omlid with double-digit kills, finishing the match with 10.
- Josleyn Greff had nine kills for SPU.
- The offense flowed through Sophia Chambers, who racked up 29 assists in her 2025 season debut.
- Christina Lopez led the Falcons with 13 digs.
- Brooke Williams had the most total blocks on the team with 2.5.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Omlid and Madeline Eggerth appeared in their first match for the Falcons.
- Omlid set career-highs in both kills (12) and digs (11) against LMU.
- Evans set a new career-best with 10 kills.
- Chambers set a new career-high in assists with 29 against the Railsplitters.
AGAINST CSU MONTEREY BAY
FROM THE COACH
"Tough mental challenge for both teams coming off a long delay and a late start time," Rhine said. "I thought we handled it well and played cleanly the first couple sets. Then Monterey stepped up their attack and the match got a lot more even. Ultimately I think our aggressive serving and the defense we played to back that up helped us to seal it."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Otters took advantage of their home court early, jumping out to a 9-3 lead over the Falcons.
- From there, SPU took over with a balanced offensive attack, using a 22-8 run to win the set 25-17.
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- McCandless and Evans had two kills each, tied for the most during that stretch.
- Four Falcons contributed one kill each during the run.
- The Falcons carried momentum from the first set into the second, going on an 18-6 run to open the second frame.
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- Greff led the Falcons with three kills during that span.
- SPU went on to take the second set 25-11 over CSUMB.
- The third set was tightly contested, with the Falcons holding a 23-20 lead in the closing moments of the set.
- A service error from the Falcons opened the door for the Otters to go on a 5-0 run to close out the set and take it 25-23.
- In the fourth set, the Falcons trailed 9-5 before going on a 6-1 run to tie the score at 10.
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- McCandless and Greff had two kills each during that span.
- The Falcons followed that stint with a 6-1 run that gave them a 16-12 set lead over the Otters.
- SPU led by one point before closing out the set and the match with an 8-2 run, giving them a 25-18 fourth set victory.
FROM THE BOX SCORE
- Six Falcons had multiple kills against the Otters in Friday's game.
- Omlid led the Falcons with 12 kills against the Otters.
- Greff joined Omlid with double-digit kills, finishing the match with 11.
- Chambers led the Falcons with 34 assists against CSUMB.
- Lopez and Makayla Hickman were the only Falcons with double-digit digs against the Otters.
- Lopez led the team with 16 digs against CSUMB.
- Hickman wasn't far off with 13 digs on Friday night.
- McCandless set a new career-high with six total blocks against the Otters.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Omlid matched a career-high in kills with 12 against CSUMB.
- Chambers set a new career-high with 34 assists against the Otters.
- McCandless set a personal record with six total blocks against CSUMB.
UP NEXT
The Falcons close out the Otter Invitational with two more matches on Saturday. SPU takes on Westminster at 12:00 p.m. followed by a match against Dominican at 4:00 p.m.
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