Box score, play-by-play
        SPU-Florida Southern recap

DENVER – Plenty of swings – but not nearly enough satisfaction.

That's how it went all afternoon for the Seattle Pacific Falcons in the Silver Bracket final of the Colorado Premier Challenge volleyball tournament.

SPU generated 105 attacks, but had just 26 kills to show for it, and Southwest Minnesota State slammed nearly twice as many kills on just two fewer tries in notching a three-game victory.

Scores in the Auraia Event Center on the Metro State University campus between the nationally ranked teams were 25-21, 25-14, 25-11.

Seattle Pacific (5-3), No. 16 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, finished with a 2-2 record in the tournament. After splitting two pool-play matches on Friday, the Falcons beat Florida Southern in a Silver Bracket semifinal on Saturday, 25-17, 14-25, 25-21, 25-18.

Southwest Minnesota State, ranked No. 6, put down 49 kills on 103 attacks and hit .311 for the game. The Falcons hit just .105.

“They played very good defense. They're very scrappy and they dug a lot of balls up,” Seattle Pacific coach Chris Johnson said. “We just had a hard time finding the floor. Give a lot of credit to their defense, and their offense got better throughout the match, too. We just kind of shut down at the end and didn't have an answer for anything.”

Junior outside hitter Cailin Fellows (Edmonds, Wash./Edmonds-Woodway HS), had a team-high eight of SPU's 26 kills and, with 52 kills in four matches (including a career-high 18 against Florida Southern), was named to the all-tournament team.

The Mustangs (7-2) led for all but a few moments of the bracket final. Seattle Pacific was up 3-2 in Game1 before the Southwest Minnesota State went ahead for good. An 8-1 scoring surge early in the second game expanded a 3-2 lead to 11-3.

Then, after SPU scored the initial point of Game 3, Southwest Minnesota State ran off seven of the next eight. The closest Seattle Pacific came after that was three points, the last time at 8-5.

Senior outside hitter Lindsey Wodrich added seven kills for the Falcons.

Top-ranked and four-time defending NCAA Division II champion Concordia-St. Paul swept Washburn of Kansas in the Gold Bracket/tournament championship match, 25-20, 25-15, 25-15. Concordia won all four of its matches in sweeps.

With preseason play now complete, Seattle Pacific opens its Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule on Thursday, Sept.15, at Ellensburg against Central Washington at 7 p.m. A visit to Northwest Nazarene two days later in Nampa, Idaho, will conclude a season-opening stretch of 10 straight road matches.

The home opener in Royal Brougham Pavilion is Thursday, Sept. 22 against Western Oregon at 7:30 p.m.


NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Colorado Premier Challenge
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Auraia Event Center/Denver, Colo.

(No. 6) Southwest Minnesota State 3, (No. 16) Seattle Pacific 0

Game scores – 25-21, 25-24, 25-11.

Service aces – SWM 2 (2 players with 1), SPU 0.
Kills – SWM 49 (Mary Groth 17), SPU 26 (Cailin Fellows 8, Lindsey Wodrich 7).
Assists – SWM 44 (Cara Carson 37), SPU 24 (Shelby Swanson 23).
Digs – SWM 54 (Burmeister 15), SPU 28 (Anna Herold 7).
Blocks – SWM 5 / 1 solo (Groth 2 / 0), SPU 8 / 2 solo (Swanson 1 / 1 solo, Nikki Lowell 2 / 0).
Hitting (kills-errors-total attacks) – SWM 49-17-103--.311 (Alyssa Taylor 5-1-9--.444, Burmeister 13-3-24--.417), SPU 26-15-105--.105 (Lowell 6-2-16--.250, Wodrich 7-3-23--.174).
Attendance – NA.

Records – Seattle Pacific 5-3, Southwest Minnesota State 7-2.

Next match – Seattle Pacific at Central Washington, Sept. 15, 7:00 p.m.