Seattle Pacific University Athletics

By Mark Moschetti

SEATTLE – There are five-set volleyball matches. There are Seattle Pacific vs. Central Washington five-set volleyball matches.
 
Then there was Thursday's five-setter between the No. 25-ranked Falcons and No. 17-ranked Wildcats..
 
Amaya Evans slammed a career-high 24 kills, Brooke Williams had a career-best nine blocks, but the Wildcats fought off two match points in the fifth set to pull out a 3-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory.
 
Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 24-26, 25-18, 27-25, 21-25, 21-19.
 
This was the 92nd all-time match between the schools, dating back to the mid-1980s. Of those 92 matches, 26 have gone to a deciding set.
 
Central, leading the conference standings, is now 16-4, 12-2 GNAC. Seattle Pacific is at 15-6, 10-3 GNAC.
 
FROM COACH JASON RHINE
"That was definitely one of the more fun matches we've had. Hopefully we could have come out on top at the end, but we had a few chances and it was a super-fun match," Rhine said. "Volleyball is like that sometimes – a lot of points played and it comes down to one or two points at the end. It was pretty wild, and that's part of what makes it fun."
 
The performances by Evans (24 kills on .373 hitting), Williams (five kills and three solo blocks among her nine total) and Audra Rose (14 kills on .360 hitting) stood out to Rhine.
 
"Brooke was efficient when she got the ball offensively, but also did a really good job defensively against some really good middles and some good attackers on their side. Audra hit a high percentage with a lot of kills. Amaya, especially toward the end, it someone we're trying to get the ball to. It felt like it went down every time she swung. To have 24 kills and hit .373 is pretty impressive. Central really didn't have an answer for that."
 
Even with the result going the other way, Rhine saw plenty to take away from the match.
 
"It's tough for girls to be on the wrong side of that. But the message for them is that (kind of match) is what we play for," he said. "We played evenly against a high-level team that is ranked high in the region now. It's a confidence booster. We can go back and watch film and see how they played and what they're capable of dong against good opponents."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Falcons had a 12-8 lead in the fifth set  Central came back from a timeout and ran off five straight points for a 13-12 lead.
• SPU tied it at 13-13, then the Wildcats gained their first try at match point, 14-13. Evans saved it with a kill.
• Central Washington took a 15-14 lead. A kill by Audra Rose knotted it at 15-15.
• The Falcons then had two match-point opportunities at 16-15 and 17-16. The Wildcats saved both and went up 18-17, but then had an attack error for 18-18.
• CWU gained another match point at 19-18. Evans saved that one with a kill.
• But a Seattle Pacific attack error and a final kill by Centrals's Corinne Westby put the final two points on the Wildcats' side of the board.
• SPU fought off two set points in the opener, running off four in a row to turn a 24-22 deficit into a 26-24 win.
• CWU led for most of Set 2, building a 12-5 lead and never letting the Falcons get closer than four.
• The Falcons had leads of 22-19 and 23-21 in the third set, then had set point chances at 24-23 and 25-24. The Wildcats scored the last three points of the set to pull it out for 2 sets to 1 edge.
• A 6-2 SPU scoring burst in Set 4 turned a 15-13 deficit into a 21-17 advantage. The teams split the final eight points, with a kill by Evans closing out the set and forcing Set 5.

FROM OPPOSITE AMAYA EVANS
"We did a great job of picking up every single ball that was coming over, we hustled for every single ball, and our serve receive was so good," Evans said. "Compared to the first time we played them, we were just so much more confident and it was just amazing on every single aspect on all parts of the game.
 
"It's just that sometimes, that's how it goes – someone's gotta lose, someone's gotta win," Evans added. "I definitely think it was a fun match. It's not the way I wanted it to fall, but I'm proud of every single one of us. It was awesome."
 
FROM THE BOX SCORE

• The teams had identical .198 hitting percentages. For the Falcons, it was 73 kills-32 errors-207 attacks. For the Wildcats, it was 68 kills-28 errors, 202 attacks.
• Central had 84 digs, SPU had 83.
• Megan Omlid recorded a double-double of 12 kills and 11 digs.
• Peyton Ensign set a career-high 60 assists. She had 53 against Western Oregon on Oct. 17.
• Williams' nine block beat her previous career high of eight, set on Oct. 17 at WOU.
• Rose had three blocks to go along with her 14 kills.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The all-time series is as tight as so many of the matches have been. Central now leads it, 47-45. The all-time sets between the teams is 198-190 in the Wildcats' favor.
• Of the 26 five-setters, SPU has won 14 to Central's 12.

UP NEXT
The Falcons host Northwest Nazarene on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in Royal Brougham Pavilion.

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