Box score, play-by-play
MONMOUTH, Ore. -- She has spent most of the season watching rather than playing. But when Kylie Johnson got the call on Thursday night, she was more than ready to go.
The Seattle Pacific junior middle blocker stepped into the starting lineup for the third game, immediately hammered a kill, and that helped set the tone for the rest of the night as the Falcons took care of Western Oregon in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match.
Scores on the Wolves' home court in the New P.E. Building were 22-25, 25-23, 25-10, 25-14.
The Falcons (14-8, 8-2 GNAC) certainly weren't short of productive performances. Sophomore outside hitter Priscilla Collings (Chula Vista, Calif.) had 18 kills and 16 digs, and junior outside hitter Sarah Risser (Santa Barbara, Calif.) racked up 17 kills and 16 digs. Risser had her 15th double-double of the year and has reached exactly 500 kills for her career. Collings earned her fourth double-double of the season.
But it was the 6-foot-1 Johnson (Tucson, Ariz.), who had seen action in just 20 games so far, who provided the timely boost. She wound up with five kills on six swings for an .833 percentage, and also added a block. The first of those kills started SPU on a 4-0 run to open Game 3. The last of them set up match point at 24-14 in Game 4, which Risser then immediately converted with her final kill of the night.
“We made a change in our lineup, put Kylie in there, and she was really a nice spark off the bench,” coach Chris Johnson said. “She got that kill on the very first point of Game 3, and she was on fire the rest of the night.”
As a result, Seattle Pacific retained a share of first place in the GNAC standings with Alaska Anchorage. The Seawolves got a challenge on their home court from Central Washington on Thursday night, but still prevailed in four games, climbing to 8-2 in the conference.
The Falcons, who had to rally from two games down to beat Western Oregon in five at Brougham Pavilion on Sept. 24, found themselves in another come-from-behind situation on Thursday. After racing to a 13-6 lead in the first game, they saw the Wolves go on a 10-1 run to take the lead for good. Then in the second game, after snapping a 17-17 tie with four straight points, SPU had to fend off a Western Oregon rally before locking it up, 25-23.
Chris Johnson's message at the break was straight to the point.
“We told them that we basically have to get after their weaknesses a little bit better and make them pay for them,” Johnson said. “And we did that right at the start of Game 3.”
Indeed, when the Wolves finally got their first point to make it 4-1, that was as close as they came. SPU stretched it out to 8-2, 12-4, and eventually, 18-6. The Falcons, who made 15 hitting errors though the first two games, didn't make any in Game 3, hitting .425 and limiting Western Oregon to .057 in that game.
The fourth game was knotted at 4-4 when Collings and sophomore outside hitter Paige Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.) got back-to-back kills for a 6-4 edge. Seattle Pacific quickly stretched it to five at 11-6 and never let the Wolves get closer than four after that.
Sophomore libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) came up with 34 digs. That gives her 481 for the year, putting her less than 100 away from her single-season school record of 579 with six matches left. Senior setter Cortney Weedman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) had 33 assists, and freshman setter Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) added 28.
Sophomore middle blocker Amber Johnson hit a whopping .500 for the match, with 12 kills and just one error on 22 attacks. Jessica Bettencourt hit a solid .412 with eight kills and just one error on 17 attacks. Collings hit .255.
“Collings did a great job. She was probably our most consistent hitter, and she played real smart,” Johnson said. “Jessica played real well. We had a lot of really nice performances tonight.”
For the match, the Falcons hit .274, which was 64 points better than their season average. Western Oregon hit .152, and Laura Sakala, the GNAC's leading hitter at .365 coming into the match, was kept to just .100 with five kills and three errors on 20 swings.
“With the exception of that run (Western Oregon had in Game 1), we played well,” Johnson said “We made good adjustments both offensively and defensively, and we started serving tougher.”
Seattle Pacific has a bye on Saturday, and returns to action next Thursday at Montana State Billings at 6 p.m.
NCAA Volleyball
Thursday, October 22, 2009
New P.E. Building/Monmouth, Ore.
Seattle Pacific 3, Western Oregon 1
Game scores -- 22-25, 25-23, 25-10, 25-14.
Service aces -- SPU: Sarah Risser 2, Cortney Weedman 2, Anna Herold 2. WOU: Amy Herron 2.
Kills -- SPU: Priscilla Collings 18, Sarah Risser 17, Amber Johnson 12. WOU: Irene Walters 11.
Blocks -- SPU: A. Johnson 2, Jessica Bettencourt 2. WOU: Sylvia Herrold 3, Lisa Martini 2.
Assists -- SPU: Weedman 33, Shelby Swanson 28. WOU: Herron 38.
Digs -- SPU: Anna Herold 34, Risser 16, Collings 16. WOU: Danielle English 22, Walters 13.
Hitting -- SPU .274 (64 kills, 19 errors, 164 total attacks), WOU .152 (43 kills, 20 errors, 151 total attacks).
Attendance -- 543.
Records
Seattle Pacific 14-8, 8-2 GNAC.
Western Oregon 7-14, 4-6 GNAC.
Next match -- Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings, Thursday, Oct. 29, 6 p.m. PDT.
