Box score, play-by-play

SEATTLE – All week long, the Seattle Pacific Falcons made sure to keep their minds on the present before looking to the future – and it paid off.

Paige Hoffman and Lindsey Wodrich hammered 10 kills apiece, leading 20th-ranked SPU  to a sweep of Simon Fraser in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match on Thursday night.

Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 25-13, 25-18, 25-11.





The Falcons (11-4, 6-1 GNAC) now get ready for Saturday's night's showdown against Western Washington in Brougham. The Vikings (9-3, 7-1 GNAC) scored a sweep at Montana State Billings on Thursday.

“We're excited. It's good to get that kind of energy pumping into you at midseason,” Hoffman said of the upcoming visit by the Vikings. “(For us), it's just minimizing our errors and staying focused on our side of the net. We know they're going to get their points, and that's just fine. But we need to make sure that we get ours and keep the momentum and keep our energy up high.”

Senior outside hitter Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.) had just one error on 14 attacks, and finished with a .643 hitting percentage. That was a season high by a long way (her previous best was .429 on Sept. 10 against Florida Southern) and was just four points shy of her career-high of .647.

Senior outside hitter Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) finished at a solid .261 hitting clip. She also had a season-high four service aces – three of them on one rotation in Game 1. Wodrich had 14.5 points for the night as she closes in on 1,000 for her career. She now has 968.5.

“I'm really excited about both of them,” Falcons head coach Chris Johnson said. “Paige was unstoppable again on the right side. She's doing a good job of putting up big numbers every night. Lindsey was doing a great job all week  (in practice) of being aggressive on the attack and moving the ball around, and that paid off for her in a big way.”

Senior libero Anna Herold (Bothell,Wash./Shorecrest HS) came up with 16 digs – 11 of them in Game 2 when she chased down some all-but-certain kills by the Clan -- and now is just 22 away from the No. 2 spot on the all-time GNAC list. She has 1,986 for her career and needs 2,008 to catch former Seattle University standout Maggie Safranski.





Freshman outside hitter Jessica Miller (Fife, Wash./Fife HS) recorded the first three kills of her college career and hit .750 for the night with no errors on four attacks.

Except for a few moments early in the first and third games, the Falcons led all the way against the Clan (0-12, 0-8 GNAC).

SPU hit ..293 for the match -- including a sky-high .571 in Game 1 -- and kept the Clan to negative hitting for the night at -.023. The last time the Falcons kept an opponent below .000 was Sept. 25, 2010 when they limited Saint Martin's into -.136 hitting.

Just like his players, Johnson is looking forward to tangling with Western on Saturday night.

“Our girls have confidence going into that match knowing we've won four of the last five against them,” he said of a stretch that includes a five-game victory in last year's NCAA Division II West Region semifinals. “I'm sure Western wants to pay us back for that (regional) match. We know they're going to come in giving it all they've got, and we're going to be ready for them for sure.”

The Falcons will welcome back SPU volleyball alumni on Saturday. It also is autograph night after the match, and the game program will feature a team photo.


NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.

(No. 20) Seattle Pacific 3, Simon Fraser 0

Game scores – 25-13, 25-18, 25-11.

Service aces – SFU 2 (2 players with 1), SPU 9 (Lindsey Wodrich 4, Brianna Leenders 2).
Kills – SFU 18 (Jessica Young 5), SPU 36 (Paige  Hoffman 10, Wodrich 10).
Assists – SFU 18 (Danielle Curtis 8), SPU 34 (Shelby Swanson 32).
Digs – SFU 32 (Alanna Chan 11), SPU 41 (Anna Herold 16).
Blocks (total / solo) --  SFU 7 / 1 solo (Chelsea Elvy 3 / 1 solo), SPU 10 / 0 solo (Angie Pricco 4 / 0 solo, Hoffman 3 / 0 solo.
Hitting  (kills-errors-attacks) – SFU 18-20-86 --  -.023 (Young 5-3-23--.087); SPU 36-12-82--.293 (Jessica Miller 3-0-4--.750; Hoffman 10-1-14--.643; Wodrich 10-4-23--.261.).
Attendance – 112.

Records – Seattle Pacific 11-4, 6-1 GNAC. Simon Fraser 0-12, 0-8 GNAC.

Next match – Western Washington at Seattle Pacific, Saturday, Brougham Pavilion, 7:00 p.m.