August 21, 2009
SEATTLE -- They've said all along that they want to have a more effective attacking game this season. On Friday afternoon, the Seattle Pacific volleyball team went out and showed it.
Sophomore returner Priscilla Collings had seven kills, and fellow sophomores Lindsey Wodrich and Amber Johnson added six kills apiece as the Falcons hit better than .300 for the day to open the season with a three-game sweep of Northwest Christian in an exhibition match.
SPU led from start to finish against the visitors from Eugene, Ore., on the way to winning in Brougham Pavilion, 25-17, 25-13, 25-9.
“We had some good matches from all of our hitters, and we had a lot of them in there,” Seattle Pacific coach Chris Johnson said. “We saw people playing in a match the same way we're playing in practice.”
The Falcons, who hit just .166 as a team in 2008, hit .237 in Game 1, and raised it to .273 in Game 2. Then in Game 3, they climbed all the way to .400 with 17 kills and just three errors on 35 total attacks.
For the match, SPU hit .305 with 42 kills and 13 errors on 95 total attacks.
“I liked the way we increased our intensity throughout the match and our ball control throughout the match,” Johnson said. “It's nice to see us running some good plays and to see everyone contributing.”
Collings (Chula Visa, Calif.) took the most swings for the Falcons with 28. Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) hit .500, and Johnson (Mount Vernon, Wash./Mount Vernon HS), who joined SPU this year after earning a share of the conference MVP award last year at Whatcom Community College, hit .455.
Sophomore Paige Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.) took just six swings, but had five kills with no errors for an .833 percentage.
Senior setter Cortney Weedman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) led the Falcons with 13 assists, and freshman Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) was right behind with 12. Sophomore libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS), last season's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, came up with 14 digs.
Seattle Pacific limited Northwest Christian to just .012 hitting for the match.
The Falcons head to California next week for four matches in the Southern California Classic. SPU visits Cal State Dominguez Hills on Thursday, Cal State Los Angeles on Friday, Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday afternoon, and plays Ashland University of Ohio at Pomona on Saturday evening.
Pomona played in the NCAA Division II West Region championship match last season, and CSULA made it to the West semifinals.
“We're definitely going to be tested,” Johnson said. “It was good to have this match.”
NCAA Volleyball
Exhibition
Friday, August 21, 2009
Brougham Pavilion/Seattle, Wash.
Seattle Pacific 3, Northwest Christian 0
Game scores -- 2517, 25-13, 25-9.
Service aces -- SPU: Kylie Johnson 3. NWC: Whitney Hoff 3.
Kills -- SPU: Priscilla Collings 7, Lindsey Wodrich 6, Amber Johnson 6, Sarah Risser 5, Paige Hoffman 5. NWC: Emily Miller 4, Cassie Bishop 3.
Blocks -- SPU: K.Johnson 3, A. Johnson 3, Jessica Bettencourt 2. NWC: Kayla Hansen 3, Kalyssa Koonta 3, Amber Kraaz 2.
Assists -- SPU: Cortney Weedman 13, Shelby Swanson 12. NWC: Hoff 3, Mercedes LeClaire 2, Bishop 2.
Digs -- SPU: Anna Herold 14, Hoffman 4. NWC: LeClaire 10, Miller 6.
Attendance -- 40.
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