September 10, 2009
BELLINGHAM -- The Seattle Pacific Falcons didn't need to be reminded about when went wrong in the opening game of their volleyball match against Notre Dame de Namur on Thursday afternoon.
The Falcons knew -- and they did something about it.
Sarah Risser and Lindsey Wodrich had 18 kills apiece, and both posted double-doubles, helping Seattle Pacific overcome a first-game loss to power past Notre Dame de Namur in the Western Washington Invitational tournament.
Scores in WWU's Carver Gym were 24-26, 25-15, 25-14, 25-12, as the Falcons (5-5) won their third in a row.
“They just knew we were playing at their pace,” coach Chris Johnson said of the opening-game setback. “We just started playing a bit tougher and passing a bit better. We challenged them to see how many points we could run when serving and to keep passes and digs off the net.”
Risser (Santa Barbara, Calif.), a junior outside hitter, set a single-match career high for kills, and also came up with 13 digs. It was Risser's second straight double-double and the third in her last four matches. She hit .259 for the match.
Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS), a sophomore outside hitter, had a single-match career best of 24 digs to go along with her 18 kills. She hit .368 for the day.
“We talked to everyone about making sure we take care of the ball on offense and hit for a high percentage, and Sarah and Lindsey did that,” Johnson said. “They did a good job of staying aggressive as much as they could and put the ball in.”
SPU, which resumes tournament play on Friday against Grand Canyon of Phoenix at 1 p.m. (live stats on this link) had its second consecutive match of hitting better than .300, with a final mark of .316. The Falcons had a season-high 62 kills (two more than they recorded in a five-game loss to the Academy of Art in the Central Washington Invitational last Thursday) and made just 14 errors in 152 total attacks.
The Argonauts (2-7), from Belmont, Calif., saw their two-match winning streak snapped.
Seattle Pacific had a 24-22 lead in Game 1 before Notre Dame de Namur put the last four points on the board. The Argos then took a 2-0 lead in Game 2. It was tied at 5-5 when the Falcons rattled off six straight points for an 11-5 lead, and they never led by less than that six-point margin the rest of the game.
“Once we took care of that first contact, we played a little better,” Johnson said.
SPU was up 8-6 in the third game when it put together a 7-0 run to take command at 15-6. Notre Dame de Namur scored the first two points of Game 4, but the Falcons tallied five straight to start a 10-1 surge that produced a 10-3 lead.
Seattle Pacific limited the Argonauts to .118 hitting, and kept them below the .100 mark -- .056, .034 and .029 -- in the last three games after hitting .259 in the opener.
“That first game, we had a good amount of digs, but they were still able to find some kills,” Johnson said. “After that, we held them to .060 or less every game. We had better eye work on the block, better movement, and better composure on defense. We weren't just getting balls, we were getting some really good digs and got some good swings.”
Senior middle blocker Jessica Bettencourt had eight kills for SPU, pushing her past the 300 mark for her career. She now totals 306. Junior setter Joelle Perez (Vancouver, Wash./Heritage HS) led with 26 assists, and senior Cortney Weedman (Scottsdale, Ariz.) was right behind with 23.
Sophomore libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) had 25 digs, and freshman middle blocker Angie Pricco (Briar, Wash./Blanchet HS) tallied four blocks, including one solo.
