SEATTLE – After logging a little more than 10,000 air miles through the first three weeks of the volleyball season, the Seattle Pacific Falcons finally got to keep their feet on the ground at home this week.
They made the most of it.
Megan Omlid and
Joslyn Greff each had 10 kills, Omlid made it a double-double with 17 digs, and SPU swept past Saint Martin's in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match on Saturday afternoon, 3-0.
Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 25-22, 25-14, 25-23.
That gave the Falcons (8-4, 3-1 GNAC), who had a season-high 20 blocks, a perfect start to their home schedule. On Thursday, they came from a set down twice, then rallied from 5-2 behind in the deciding fifth set to take a 3-2 victory against Western Oregon.
SPU did all of that flying with preseason trips to San Bernardino, California (about 1,900 round trip), Honolulu (5,350) and then to Anchorage and Fairbanks at the start of conference play (3,350).
FROM THE COACH
"It was a great way to come back home and be challenged in different ways with some tough serving from two teams," Falcons coach
Jason Rhine said. "Saint Martin's did that especially in the third set. They put some pressure on us and made it tougher to side-out all the way to the very end. … The team did a good job of staying aggressive and staying calm even in the third set when it was a little more back-and-forth after Set 2."
That the Falcons finished with 20 total blocks was exactly what Rhine was hoping to see.
"We thought this could be a match where we could come out with some extra blocks because of the way they attack the block," he said. "We tried to emphasize that in practice, and it was fun to see it pay off, especially in the second set (when the Falcons had 12 of their 20 total blocks)."
Rhine is looking forward to a quieter week coming up, with only next Saturday's home match against Montana State Billings on the calendar.
"We only half-recovered this week from all of those trips," he said. "We'll really enjoy having a little bit slower start to the week and a little bit of a chance to work on some stuff that we want to work on. We'll be excited to get back to work and have a few practices in a row and hopefully come out even a little bit better against Billings."
HOW IT HAPPENED
--SPU got off to a quick start in the opening set, jumping to an 8-3 lead and forcing Saint Martin's (5-6, 1-2 GNAC) into an early timeout.
--It was still a five-point margin at 12-7 when the Saints went on a 12-4 run to go up 19-16.
--The Falcons climbed back into a 20-20 tie. Then, down 21-20, they rang up three straight points on a Saint Martin's attack error, an Omlid kill, and service ace from Greff.
--The Saints made it 23-22 before kills by
Amaya Evans and
Brooke Williams finished the set.
--Seattle Pacific took charge of the second set with a 6-0 scoring run, stretching a 10-8 lead to 16-8.
--Senior libero
Christina Lopez was on the serve for the last five of those points. She started it with a service ace, then Williams and
Audra Rose finished it with back-to-back blocks.
--The Saints had the lead for a good part of Set 3, twice by as many as three points.
--Down 15-13, SPU put together a 7-0 scoring run to take the lead for good. Sophomore defensive specialist Makaya Hickman had the serve for the final six points of that surge. Rose had two blocks, the first with sophomore opposite
Grace Holstrom to tie it at 15-15, the second with sophomore outside hitter Omlid to put the Falcons in front.
--Seattle Pacific was up 23-17 and 24-20, but the Saints hung in. They got as close as 24-23 before Evans' ninth and final kill clinched the match.
FROM OUTSIDE HITTER MEGAN OMLID
"I feel like they put some good service pressure on, but I think we handled it well," Omlid said. "We've been practicing the end of sets and our side-out percentage, and it was definitely much better this match, so we're happy about that."
Omlid has made some adjustments to her own game and is liking how they are working out so far.
"I feel like I'm taking more of an aggressive approach than last season," she said "I feel like I've been trying to swing more and have an aggressive mindset."
She was happy to be playing at home after all of the traveling to start the season.
"It was a crazy three weeks – lots of planes," she said with a grin.
FROM THE BOX SCORE
--Omlid had an error-free performance, getting her 10 kills on 26 attacks for a .385 hitting percentage.
Joslyn Greff
--Junior outside hitter Greff got her 10 kills on .242 hitting.
--Evans also had a solid hitting day at .280.
--The Falcons hit .252 with 40 kills and just 11 errors on 115 attacks. They were well above .200 in all three sets: .244 in the first, .290 in the second and .233 in the third.
--Defensively, they limited Saint Martin's to .103 hitting, including .000 in the second set.
--SPU's 20 total blocks was double its previous season high, with six for Williams, five for Evans, and four for Rose.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
--The sweep was the second of the year for the Falcons. The first one was Sept. 5 at Hawaii Pacific.
--Omlid's error-free hitting day was her second this season and the third of her career.
--The kills-digs double-double was her second of the season.
--SPU had one 2-0 week in conference play last fall, and that also came against Saint Martin's and Western Oregon at home, last Nov. 13 and 15.
--For the week, Omlid had 26 kills, Greff had 24 and Evans logged 23.
--Williams had 11 blocks in the two matches combined and is up to 41 for the season.
--Rose had seven blocks combined and still leads the team with 45.
UP NEXT
The Falcons play host to
Montana State Billings next Saturday in Brougham Pavilion. First serve is at 2:00 p.m.
