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SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons. The Western Washington Vikings. Volleyball. Five games.

Different night. Different season.

Same heart-stopping story.

Cailin Fellows slammed 20 kills on Saturday, and Angie Pricco had a career-high 13 block assists as 20th-ranked SPU pulled out a five-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference victory against arch-rival Western.

Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 21-25, 25-17, 25-14, 21-25, 15-10.

That result, along with Alaska Anchorage's four-game loss at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, vaulted the Falcons (12-4, 7-1 GNAC) into sole possession of first place. Western (9-4, 7-2 GNAC) and Anchorage (11-6, 7-2) are tied for second.





“It's always a big win against Western, whether it's home or away, no matter what time of season it is,” said SPU head coach Chris Johnson, whose team now has beaten Western five of the last six times – including a five-gamer in last year's NCAA West Regional semifinals, their most recent meeting. “For our girls, it's a good confidence booster, and just to see us play that well and that consistently throughout a match was really good, too.”

Junior outside hitter Fellows (Edmonds, Wash./Edmonds-Woodway HS) came within one of her career high for kills. Junior middle blocker Pricco (Brier, Wash./Blanchet HS) shattered her old career high for blocks, which was eight.

Senior outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich (Richland, Wash./Richland HS) had a double-double of 12 kills and 11 digs. It was her seventh double-double of the season and the 26th of her career.

Junior setter Shelby Swanson (Kennewick, Wash./Kamiakin HS) joined the GNAC all-time top 20 for assists. Her 49 on Saturday gave her 2,121 for her career, pushing her ahead of former WWU star Kari Rice, who finished with 2,110. Swanson made it a double-double on Saturday with 16 digs.

Senior libero Anna Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS) passed 2,000 digs and moved into the No. 2 spot on the all-time GNAC digs list. She had 30 on Saturday giving her 2,016. She moved ahead of former Seattle University star Maggie Safranski, who had 2,008 from 2002-05.

“I thought everybody just played really well. Cailin was spraying the ball and getting kills at an angle and down the line and was doing a really good job of making good choices as a hitter,” Johnson said, going on to mention all of the aforementioned performances. “It was really a team effort. When everybody's playing well like that, we're a really hard team to beat.”

The Falcons scored the first four points of Game 5 and eventually built a 7-2 lead. But Western than ran off six in a row and for an 8-7 lead at the switchover – at which point Johnson called a timeout.

“It was just, 'Stay steady and make sure we keep our digs and passes off the net,'” he said of the quick discussion before play resumed. “We weren't overly concerned at that point. Let's catch our breath and go back at them again.”

The Falcons did precisely that, running off five points in a row, four of them with Wodrich hammering her powerful jump serve. Fellows put down back-to-back kills, both of them off of Viking blockers, then Lowell and Swanson teamed up on a block to make it 11-8. A WWU attack error pushed the lead to 12-8.

Western got a point back, but SPU answered immediately with a quick kill by Lowell to make it 13-9. A kill by Emily Jepsen cut the lead to 13-10, then the Falcons got the final two points: a kill by Fellows, and a ball that was poked long by the Vikings.





Senior outside hitter Paige Hoffman (Encinitas, Calif.), who had nine kills, 14 digs and a career-high nine block assists, figured the Falcons still had it in them to pull out the match, even after Western Washington stormed back in that deciding game.

“I think there was kind of a point where we just said, 'OK, let's stop,'” Hoffman said. “We were playing great defense, we went on a great run that kind of broke their backs, and they couldn't recover.”

Hoffman was correct about the defense: The Falcons finished with a season-high 38 block assists. In addition to the career-highs posted by Pricco and Hoffman, Swanson tied her career-best with four.

That same defense also limited Western Washington to just .103 hitting for the match (55 kills-335 errors on 194 -attacks). The Vikings came in as the GNAC's top-hitting team at .228. SPU put the brakes on senior middle blocker Jepsen, limiting her to 10 kills and just .030 hitting. She came in at .363. Outside hitter Marlayna Geary showed why she's one of the GNAC's biggest threats on offense with 17 kills, although she was kept to .090 hitting.

SPU hit .201 for the match (56 kills-22 errors-169 attacks). Pricco, in addition to her defensive work, played error-free on offense with six kills on eight attacks for a .750 hitting night. Fellows finished at a solid .232.


NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.

(No. 20) Seattle Pacific 3, Western Washington 2

Game scores – 21-25, 25-17, 25-14, 21-25, 15-10.

Service aces – WWU 4 (4 players with 1), SPU 5 (Anna Herold 3).
Kills – WWU 55 (Marlayna Geary 17, Kayla Erickson 14), SPU 56 (Cailin Fellows 20, Lindsey Wodrich 12).
Assists – WWU 48 (Laurie Yearout 44), SPU 53 (Shelby Swanson 49).
Digs – WWU 84 (Samantha Hutchinson 27), SPU 92 (Anna Herold 30, Shelby Swanson 16).
Blocks (total / solo) – WWU 18 / 0 (Kayla Erickson 5 / 0), SPU 38 / 0 (Angie Pricco 13 / 0).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – WWU 55-35-194--.103 (Kayla Erickson 14-3-28--.393, SPU 58-22-169—.201 (Pricco 6-0-8--.750, Paige Hoffman 9-2-29—241, Fellows 20-7-56—232).
Attendance – 393.

Records – Seattle Pacific 12-4, 7-1 GNAC. Western Washington 9-4, 7-2 GNAC.

Next match – British Columbia at Seattle Pacific (non-conference), Monday, Brougham Pavilion, 7:00 p.m.