Box score, play-by-play
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SEATTLE – When Lindsey Wodrich is able to bring down the big hammer time and time again, it's because her Seattle Pacific teammates are bringing it down right along with her.
Wodrich slammed 19 kills, including the last two points of the match, and teammates Nikki Lowell and Cailin Fellows also had double-figure kills as the 19th-ranked Falcons overcame an opening-game loss to beat Central Washington in Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball on Saturday night, 3-1.
Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 21-25, 25-13, 25-22, 25-23.
Senior outside hitter Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) made it a double-double – her 10th of the season and 29th of her career – by adding 12 digs. She also had three service aces for the Falcons (14-5, 8-2 GNAC).
Sophomore middle blocker Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) added 13 kills and hit .522 with just one error on 23 swings. Junior outside hitter Fellows (Edmonds, Wash./Edmonds-Woodway HS) put down 12 kills – all in the final three games.
“It's really great having so many different weapons on the team,” Wodrich said, who had 18 kills and 12 digs in a four-game win at Central last month. “If I'm having a good night, it's because our other hitters are usually having a good night. And their blockers are guessing and can't really focus on one person because we have so many people firing from all angles.”
Seattle Pacific hits the road for its next two matches, visiting Saint Martin's in Lacey on Thursday and Western Oregon in Monmouth next Saturday.
Senior outside hitter Paige Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.) had a season-high 17 digs as SPU, for the 12th straight time in regular-season play since 2009, bounced back from losing its previous match to get right back into the win column the next time on the court.
“I really thought we played pretty well for the most part on Thursday (in a five-game loss to Northwest Nazarene in Brougham), but we definitely looked good tonight,” Falcons head coach Chris Johnson said. “We had good ball control, we made a lot of good adjustments defensively throughout the match, and offensively too, for that matter.
“It was good to see the girls take the changes we were telling them and implement them and act on them.”
Junior middle blocker Angie Pricco (Brier, Wash./Blanchet HS) logged a career-high four service aces. That doubled her previous high of two.
Junior setter Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) had 47 assists, and senior libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) came up with 20 digs.
After dropping the first game, Seattle Pacific led for all but a 1-1 tie in Game 2. The Falcons were down 10-9 in Game 3 when they scored the next three points to go in front for good, eventually extending it to five at 19-14. Central (11-8, 5-6 GNAC) came as close as one at 22-21.
A 6-1 run in the fourth game took SPU from 13-10 down to 16-14 up, and it never trailed again. Central did climb into a 23-23 tie, and still had the serve. But Wodrich slammed a kill off a Wildcats defender to give the Falcons a match point, then she sealed it with a kill off another Central defender.
After hitting just .106 in Game 1, the Falcons went .241, .213 and.317 to finish the match at .213. They kept Central below .200 in the first three games, including -.107 in Game 2. The Wildcats wound up at just .130 for the match.
Freshman Brianna Leenders (Portland, Ore.) had 12 digs to join Herold, Hoffman and Wodrich in double figures.
“We've been working a lot on defense this week,” Wodrich said. “And we picked up a lot of (Central's) tips, which was great. We were taking some of their tools away from them.”
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
(No. 19) Seattle Pacific 3, Central Washington 1
Game scores – 21-25, 25-13, 25-22, 25-23.
Service aces – CWU 4 (Meg Ryan 2), SPU 8 (Angie Pricco 4, Lindsey Wodrich 3).
Kills – CWU 47 (Jordan Offutt 15, Ryan 10), SPU 57 (Wodrich 19, Nikki Lowell 13, Cailin Fellows 20).
Assists – CWU 46 (Carlee Marble 43), SPU 56 (Shelby Swanson 47).
Digs – CWU 76 (Kaely Kight 28), SPU 75 (Anna Herold 20, Paige Hoffman 17, Wodrich 12, Brianna Leenders 12).
Blocks (total / solo) – CWU 12 / 2 solo (Emmy Dolan 4 / 1 solo), SPU 15 / 0 solo (Lowell 5).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – CWU 47-26-162--.130 (Cheltzie Williams 7-3-18—.222, Offutt 15-5-51--.196), SPU 57-22-164--.213 (Lowell 13-1-23--.522).
Attendance – 153.
Records – Seattle Pacific 14-5, 8-2 GNAC. Central Washington 11-8, 5-6 GNAC.
Next match – Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, Thursday, Oct. 20, 7:00 p.m.
