SEATTLE – This week in Seattle Pacific University Athletics, the women's golf team starts its fall season, men's and women's soccer play on the road, cross country competes in Oregon, and women's volleyball plays one match at home on Saturday.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Sept. 26 – 2:00 p.m.
vs. Montana State University Billings –
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live stats -
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FROM THE COACH
"To me, this is a huge week for us," head coach
Jason Rhine said. "That might seem like a strange statement with only one home game this Saturday. But because of that schedule, we have an opportunity to make extra progress in practice on small habits and skills, individually and as a team, which could make a big impact for the rest of the season. It is also our last week before school starts, and navigating that transition well is an important goal for the team this week."
ABOUT THE FALCONS
- The Falcons hosted Western Oregon in their home opener last Thursday, outlasting the Wolves in five sets, 3-2 (24-26, 25-23, 19-25, 25-23, 15-13).
- The Falcons have extended their winning streak against Western Oregon to nine games.
- The streak started on Sept. 29, 2022, in Seattle.
- Megan Omlid led the Falcons with 16 kills while adding nine digs and three assists to a solid night.
- Peyton Ensign led the Falcons with 27 assists and 15 digs for the double-double.
- Ensign recorded her fourth double-double of the season and has had them in back-to-back matches.
- Christina Lopez finished the match with a team-high 24 digs while adding four service aces.
- Last Saturday, the Falcons swept aside Saint Martin's, 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-23).
- Omlid finished the match with 10 kills and 17 digs for her first double-double of the 2026 season.
- Omlid had an error-free performance, getting her 10 kills on 26 attacks for a .385 hitting percentage.
- Brooke Williams had 11 blocks in the two matches combined and is up to 41 for the season.
- Audra Rose had seven blocks combined and still leads the team with 45.
- The Falcons rank fourth in the GNAC in hitting percentage with a .212 hitting percentage.
- SPU has had 89 aces this season for an average of 1.89 aces per set, good enough for third-best in the conference.
- Lopez's 19 total aces are tied for the third-most in the conference.
WOMEN'S GOLF
Sept. 21-22 – 8:00 a.m.
at the Grisham Memorial Shootout
Sept. 25-26
at the Falcon Invitational
FROM THE COACH
"A lot of our excitement stems from the way we finished the season last year," head coach
Tyler Copp said. "We showed a lot of growth in March and April, and that really motivated the ladies to stay ready this off-season. In just a handful of practices, we've shown that our potential to go low and win tournaments will very much be in play every time we tee it up. Collectively, we are focused on sticking to our process and golfing our ball the best way we know how."
ABOUT THE FALCONS
- The Falcons open their 2026 season with two tournaments this week.
- They'll compete in the Grisham Memorial Shootout on Monday and Tuesday, followed by the first-ever Falcon Invitational at Druids Glen Golf Course on Friday and Saturday.
- The Falcons return six players from last year's roster, including Great Northwest Athletic Conference First Team selections Lauren Lee and Zoe Garcia.
- Lee returns to the Falcons after winning the GNAC Individual Championship last April.
- She earned three GNAC Weekly Awards throughout the 2025-26 season.
- Lee also became the first Falcon to win a tournament outright at the Chico State Invitational before her GNAC Individual Championship.
- Garcia returns after two notable seasons with the Falcons.
- She was named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year for her performance during the 2024-25 season.
- At last year's Tim Tierney Pioneer Shootout in February, Garcia shot a 68, the lowest single-round score in program history.
- Garcia tied for fourth at last year's GNAC Championships and tied with SFU's Dana Smith for the best average score on par-3s with a 3.07 during the tournament.
- Coach Copp's 2026 signing class features newcomers Emma Worgum and Julie Wang, as both players hope to make an immediate impact in their first season with the Falcons.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, Sept. 24 – 6:00 p.m.
at Simon Fraser –
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live stats
Saturday, Sept. 26 – 7:00 p.m.
at Western Washington –
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live stats
FROM THE COACH
"Great start to conference last week," head coach
Arby Busey said. "Three goals in each game, and two shutouts were fantastic. But we are aware that this was just the beginning, and that our challenge continues to be to grow and improve each day. We head back out on the road this week, and we are very excited to play 2 more games against great opponents."
ABOUT THE FALCONS
- The Falcons opened GNAC play with a pair of 3-0 victories last week, beating Saint Martin's on the road last Thursday before steamrolling Western Oregon last Saturday.
- Ashlyn Valdovinos scored her third goal of the season for the Falcons last Thursday.
- Sophie Hanay's goal was her second of the season, and her assist was her fourth of the season against the Saints.
- Maddie Cooke's goal was the first of her career with the Falcons against the Saints.
- Landry Schoennauer picked up her first shutout of the 2026 season, and the fourth total in her career with the Falcons last Thursday.
- Andie Buckley's goal on Saturday was the 10th of her career with the Falcons.
- Logann Dukes scored her third goal of the season last Saturday for the Falcons.
- Nora Patterson scored her first goal of the season for the Falcons last Saturday.
- Hanay's assist was her fifth of 2026 for the Falcons.
- Schoennauer has now recorded consecutive shutouts for the Falcons.
- The Falcons have scored 15 goals in six matches this season, ranking second in the GNAC behind 20 goals from Simon Fraser.
- They also trail the Red Leafs in assists with 15 this season.
- SPU leads the GNAC with 7.67 shots per game this season.
- Valdovinos and Dukes are tied for second in the conference with three goals each this season.
- Valdovinos leads the conference with two game-winning goals this season.
- Hanay is tied with SFU's Kiera Scott with a conference-high five assists this season.
- Schoennauer has the second-most shutouts in the GNAC this season with two.
MEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, Sept. 24 – 3:00 p.m. PST
at Northwest Nazare –
watch –
live stats
FROM THE COACH
"Our guys did a fantastic job navigating a challenging nonconference schedule, and we're proud of the position we've put ourselves in," head coach
Kevin Sakuda said. "But GNAC play is a new season. The familiarity of facing common opponents brings a different challenge. Teams know each other well, every game is competitive, and the margins become even smaller. We'll need to bring the same commitment and discipline that got us here while continuing to improve each week."
ABOUT THE FALCONS
- The 11th-ranked Falcons flew to Texas for two nonconference matches last week and returned to Seattle with two wins.
- The Falcons shut out Dallas Baptist last Wednesday for a 1-0 victory over the Patriots.
- It was the second-ever meeting between the Falcons and Patriots last Wednesday night, with SPU now holding a 2-0-0 record against DBU all-time.
- Willem Ficek has recorded back-to-back shutouts for the Falcons.
- It's the first time the Falcons have recorded consecutive shutouts since Sept. 13 & Sept. 18 of 2025.
- The Falcons beat St. Edward's on Friday night, powered by a goal from Harper Sabari and a brace from Lucas Witthauer.
- Sabari's goal gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead and was his first of the season.
- Witthauer scored in the 54th minute with an assist from Owen Swartout that gave the Falcons a 2-1 advantage.
- Witthauer put the game away in the 82nd minute when he put the team up 3-1.
- Witthauer's goals were the first and second of the season.
- The Falcons lead the conference with 120 shots and rank third in goals scored with 17.
- JP Guzman ranks second in the conference in shots taken with 20 this season.
- SPU has allowed nine goals, the second fewest in the conference.
- Rafael Lucio ranks second in the conference in goals scored with five this season.
- He has a conference-high two game-winning goals in 2026.
CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday, Sept. 26 – 11:00 a.m.
at the Mike Johnson Classic
FROM THE COACH
This weekend will be the first real test for us this season," assistant coach
Eric Hansen said. "We will have a chance to preview our conference championship course and see how we stack up against half of the teams in the conference. It will also be our first race at full distance for the season, so we will see how our freshmen adjust to the longer distances."
ABOUT THE FALCONS
- The Falcons return to competition on Saturday for the first time since their season-opening meet on Sept. 12 at the Puget Sound Invitational.
- The SPU women's team placed five runners inside the top nine, accruing 23 points to win the meet.
- The SPU men's team scored 106 points and took fourth place as a team.
- Avery Erickson led the men with a fifth-place finish, running a 15:31.9 in the 5k event.
- Erickson's average mile was 4:59.9.
- Daniel Ojeda was impressive in his first college race for the Falcons, finishing 12th with a time of 15:56.4.
- Fellow newcomer Alex Ramos Yin was solid in his debut, clocking a 17:06.2 for a 36th-place finish.
- Mason Oleson-Borland (41st) and Silas Demmert (43rd) rounded out the scoring for the SPU men.
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