SEATTLE - This week in Seattle Pacific University Athletics, men's and women's soccer compete at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships in Seattle, the cross country teams compete at their GNAC Championships, and women's volleyball takes its final road trip of the regular season with matches on Thursday and Saturday.

MEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, Nov. 5 - 7:00 p.m.
vs. Simon Fraser - watch - live stats - tickets - GNAC Championships Information

Saturday, Nov. 5 - 3:00 p.m. *must advance with a win on Thursday.
Vs. Western Oregon - watch - live stats - tickets - GNAC Championships Information

FROM THE COACH
"This group has put together a fantastic regular season and earned the chance to compete for a championship," head coach Kevin Sakuda said. "These are the types of games our guys come here to play in, and we're excited to have the opportunity, especially being at home at Interbay. All the teams left are talented and well coached, so we know the margins will be small. We know the things that got us here are the same things that will allow us to be successful in the postseason. We need to stay committed to our identity and play with the confidence and intensity that have defined us all year long."

ABOUT THE FALCONS

• The Falcons qualified for the GNAC Championships as the second seed and will open the tournament against Simon Fraser on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
  • SPU enters the weekend 15-3-1, with a 7-2-1 conference record.
  • The Falcons' 15 wins are the most in a single season under head coach Kevin Sakuda.
    • Sakuda has had two 12-win seasons in 2021 and 2025.
  • 15 wins are the most the Falcons have had since 2014, when the team went 16-2-2 under Mark Collins.
    • SPU won the GNAC and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament that year.
• The Falcons lead the GNAC with 48 goals scored for an average of 2.526 goals per game in 2026.
  • 48 goals are the fifth-most in the country this season.
• SPU leads the GNAC and ranks sixth in the country with 132 points scored in 2026.
• Defensively, the Falcons have allowed only 20 goals this season, the fewest in the conference.
• The Falcons rank eighth in the country with a goal differential of 28 this season.
• JP Guzman and Judah Straight lead the Falcons with six goals each and are tied for seventh in the conference in goals.
• Cooper Schneider's two game-winning goals are tied for the third most this season in the conference.
• Brady Reed leads the Falcons with five assists this season and is tied for the third-most in the conference.
• Willem Ficek leads the conference with 1.13 goals allowed per game, and his five shutouts are the third most in the conference.

WOMEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, Nov. 5 - 3:00 p.m.
vs. Simon Fraser - watch - live stats - tickets - GNAC Championships Information

Saturday, Nov. 7 - 11:00 a.m. *must advance with a win on Thursday.
vs. Western Washington or Central Washington - watch - live stats - tickets - GNAC Championships Information

FROM THE COACH
"We are so excited to have earned the opportunity to play in the GNAC Conference Championship this week," head coach Arby Busey said. "It is a great reward for all of our efforts throughout the fall so far. This team genuinely loves each other and are very motivated to play together again this week."

ABOUT THE FALCONS

• For the 14th time in program history, the Falcons have qualified for the GNAC Championships.
  • SPU finished the season 11-5-2, and went 8-4-2 in conference play to secure the third seed for the GNAC Championships.
  • The Falcons have never missed the GNAC Championships since its inception in 2012.
• The Falcons have scored 32 goals,  have averaged 1.778 goals per game, dished out 30 assists, and have scored 94 points this season, ranking second in the conference in each category.
• Logann Dukes leads the Falcons with six goals and is tied for the third-most in the conference.
• Ashlyn Valdovinos has scored three game-winning goals this season, good enough for the second-most in the conference.
• Andie Buckley and Sohpie Hanay have five assists each, leading the Falcons and are tied for the fourth-most assists in the conference this season.
• Landry Schoennauer leads the Falcons with four shutouts this season.

CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday, Nov. 7 - 10:00 a.m./10:45 a.m.
at GNAC Championships - live stats

FROM THE COACH
"We look forward all year to these championships," assistant coach Eric Hansen said. "We spend a lot of the season talking about stepping stones. That is, needing to focus on accomplishing a smaller goal before we can move on to the next one. We've seen a lot of progress from the start of training camp to now, and we are really looking forward to putting it all out there this weekend."

ABOUT THE FALCONS

• The 2026 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships will be held Saturday, Nov. 7 at Ash Creek Preserve and are hosted by Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Ore.
• The SPU women's team was picked to finish fifth in the conference in last September's Preseason Coaches Poll.
• In their last meet, Anna Prussian and Alexa Gossett led the Falcons in the 6,000m women's race on Friday afternoon, finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.
  • Prussian clocked a 21:35.6, while Gossett checked in at 21:42.2.
    • Gossett's time of 21:42.2 was a season-best on a 6k course for 2026.
• Jocelyn Schnurbusch finished the course in 22:56.6 to earn a 20th-place finish at the Tyson Invite.
• Jaylynn Erickson wasn't far off her teammate, taking 22nd overall in 22:31.5 in the same race.
• The SPU men's team was picked to finish seventh in last September's GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
• Avery Erickson has been at the front of the pack for the Falcons this season, and that was no different at the Tyson Invite on Oct. 23.
  • Erickson led the SPU men with a seventh-place finish, turning in a time of 24:46.8 over the 8,000m course.
  • It was a season's best performance for Erickson.
• Daniel Ojeda hopes to make an impact at his first GNAC Championships for the Falcons after earning a 32nd-place finish by clocking a 26:17.0 at the Tyson Invite.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, Nov. 5 - 7:00 p.m.
at Western Washington - watch - live stats

Saturday, Nov. 7 - 4:00 p.m. PST
at Simon Fraser - watch - live stats

FROM THE COACH
"We know that these are two tough environments and formidable opponents, and we look forward to meeting that challenge this week," head coach Jason Rhine said. "We will need to prepare well for both matches and continue to compete with confidence and creativity. We are also a little nostalgic because it will be the final road trip to Canada before Simon Fraser moves back to the Canadian league next year. We have lots of fond memories of exciting matches played with Simon Fraser, and I personally will miss having Gina's expertise and a team with a little bit more international style in our conference. Hopefully we can play one last great match with the Red Leafs."

ABOUT THE FALCONS

• The Falcons are 16-6, with an 11-3 record in GNAC play, and are tied for second in the conference standings with Simon Fraser, with four matches left in the regular season.
• The Falcons own a .234 hitting percentage this season, the third best of any team in the GNAC.
• Audra Rose is hitting .310 for the season, ranking fifth among all qualified players in the GNAC.
• Megan Omlid (3.02) and Amaya Evans (2.98) rank eighth and ninth in kills per set in the GNAC this season.
• The Falcons are averaging 12.20 assists per set, the second best in the conference.
• Peyton Ensign's 7.57 assists per set are the fourth most in the conference.
• The Falcons are receiving opponents' service well, allowing just 1.32 service aces to opponents per set, the second best in the league.
• Christina Lopez is averaging 4.32 digs per set, the fourth best in the conference.

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