SPU-Chico State box score, play-by-play
        SPU-Sonoma State box score, play-by-play
 
ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – The Seattle Pacific Falcons have had better afternoons and evenings on the volleyball court.

Jessica Miller hammered a career-high 20 kills, and Shelby Swanson set up a career-high 60 assists, but the Chico State Wildcats ran off the first five points of the fifth and deciding game on Friday to beat Seattle Pacific at the Seawolf Spike tournament, 3-2.
 
Scores in the Recreation Center at Sonoma State University were 23-25, 33-31, 23-25, 25-18, 15-8.

Things didn't get any easier after nightfall, as 23rd-ranked Sonoma State swept the Falcons for the second week in a row, this time by scores of 25-19, 25-16, 25-19.

"We played really, really well in the first match, although we played poorly at the start of Game 5, and that was the difference," SPU head coach Chris Johnson said. "We were close at times in the second match, but overall, it didn't feel that way. We battled well at times against them, but we didn't hit well."

Seattle Pacific wraps up preseason play -- and a nine-match, 12-day road trip -- with two matches on Saturday. The Falcons take on 25th-ranked UC San Diego at 11:15 a.m., then meet Cal State Stanislaus at 3:45 p.m.
 
Chico State 3, Seattle Pacific 2
Sophomore outside hitter Miller (Fife, Wash. / Fife HS) exceeded her previous career high of 19 kills, which she set in a five-game victory against Fresno Pacific last Saturday at the Hawaii Pacific Challenge in Honolulu. She had just four errors on 51 swings and hit a solid .314.
 
Senior setter Swanson (Kennwick, Wash. / Kamiakin HS) erased her previous assists record of 58, which she set last Sept. 15 in a four-game victory at Central Washington. That put her into the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's all-time top 10 for career assists 2,882, moving past former Central Washington star Carlee Marble (2,847 from 2007-11).

Swanson made it a double-double -- her fourth of the season and 21st of her career -- with 14 digs.
 
Junior middle blocker Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) had a season-best performance of 15 kills and .560 hitting. Senior outside hitter Cailin Fellows (Edmonds, Wash. / Edmonds-Woodway HS) put down 17 kills and hit a season-best .245. Sophomore libero Brianna Leenders (Portland, Ore.) had 23 digs, and freshman libero Breanne Wiekamp (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) had a career-high 17 digs, nearly doubling her previous best of nine.
 
SPU had its season-best hitting performance as a team, finishing at .282, which included a mark of .364 (17 kills, just one error) in the third game. The Falcons' 69 kills were a season-high.
 
But undefeated Chico State (5-0) was even better with 72 kills and a .310 percentage.

"We had a lot of great performances, and we passed well in this match," Johnson said. "It was the best match we've played as a team -- we played as one instead of as six individuals."

The Falcons got the early jump on Chico by winning their first Game 1 in six matches this season. The Wildcats then pulled out a marathon back-and-forth second game, and had a 21-19 lead in the third game. But SPU rallied with a 5-1 spurt to go up 24-22, saw Chico State stave off one game point, then clinched it on a kill by Swanson.
 
The Wildcats took command of the fourth game with a 7-0 run, expanding a 10-8 lead to 17-8. Then in the fifth game, Chico raced to leads of 5-0 and 9-2, Seattle Pacific never got any closer than six.

"We would get down a few points, then we came back," Johnson said. "But you can't get down five points in Game 5 -- it's too short of a game."


(No. 23) Sonoma State 3, Seattle Pacific 0
Madelyn Densberger had 14 of Sonoma State's 44 kills on Friday night, and Seattle Pacific was limited to just 26 kills.

Fellows led SPU with eight kills. Swanson set up 20 assists to push her past 2,900 for her career (2,902), and Leenders had a team-leading 13 digs.

The Seawolves (5-1) used a timely scoring spurt to take control of each of the three games. In the opener, SPU was within 18-16 before Sonoma put six of the next seven points on the board for a 24-17 lead. Another 6-1 run in the second game expanded a 6-4 lead to 12-5. In the finale, the Falcons again were close at 18-16, but the Seawolves tallied five of the next six to make it 23-17.

Sonoma hit .248 for the match. SPU, coming off a season-best .282 against Chico State, was limited to just .067 hitting.

"We had too many hitting errors, and we weren't making good adjustments and doing the thing we were supposed to do," Johnson said.



NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Seawolf Spike
Friday, Sept. 7, 2012
The Recreation Center at Sonoma State / Rohnert Park, Calif.
 
Chico State 3, Seattle Pacific 2
 
Game scores – 23-25, 33-31, 23-25, 25-18, 15-8.
 
Service aces – SPU 6 (Breanne Wiekamp 2), Chico 8 (Emily Duran 3). Kills – SPU 69 (Jessica Miller 2-0, Cailin Fellows 17, Nikki Lowell 15), Chico 72 (Alex Shurtz 18). Assists – SPU 66 (Shelby Swanson 60), Chico 63 (Sable Villaescusa 54). Digs – SPU 65 (Brianna Leenders 23, Wiekamp 17), Chico 75 (Jessica Simms 26). Block assists / solo – SPU 12 / 2 (Jackie Arnold 4 / 1), Chico 6 / 2 (Jessica Leek 2 / 0, Shurtz 2 / 0). Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 69-19-177--.282 (Lowell 15-1-25-.560), Chico 72-19-171--.310 (Lindsay Quigley 13-1-22--.545).
 

(No. 23) Sonoma State 3, Seattle Pacific 0

 

Game scores – 25-19, 25-16, 25-19.

 

Service aces – SPU 0, SSU 9 (Nicola Gragnola 3). Kills – SPU 26 (Cailin Fellows 8), SSU 44 (Madelyn Densberger 14). Assists – SPU 26 (Shelby Swanson 20), SSU 41 (Devin Shaver 21). Digs – SPU 45 (Brianna Leenders 13), SSU 52 (Gragnola 19). Block assists / solo – SPU 11 / 1 (Madi Cavell 4 / 0), SSU 8 / 4 (Densberger 2 / 1, Ally Sather 3 / 0). Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 26-19-105--.067 (Nikki Lowell 5-2-13--.231), SSU 44-17-109--.248 (Devynne Jackson 5-0-8--.625, Densberger 14-3-24--.458). Attendance – 339.

 

Records – Seattle Pacific 2-5, Sonoma State 5-1.

 

Next match – Seattle Pacific vs. UC San Diego (at Sonoma State), Saturday, 11:15 a.m.