Box Score
        Box score, play-by-play
        SPU opens with four-game win against Holy Names

BELMONT, Calif. – Revenge was sweet. Not easy to come by for the Seattle Pacific Falcons …
 
… but sweet just the same.
 
Nikki Lowell slammed a career-high 20 kills and pushed past 1,000 career points on Friday afternoon, and Ellie Britt had 12 kills and 12 digs for her second double-double of the day as the Falcons saw a two-game lead vanish, but then dominated the fifth and deciding game to beat Cal State Los Angeles in the Route 92 Showdown volleyball tournament, 3-2.
 
Scores in Walter Gleasen Gym on the Notre Dame de Namur University campus were 25-19, 26-24, 22-25, 22-25, 15-4.
 
Coupled with a four-game victory against Holy Names to start the tournament on Friday morning, the Falcons will carry a 4-2 record into Saturday's 11 a.m. contest against Azusa Pacific at Cal State East Bay.
 
The outcome – SPU's second five-game victory in seven days – reversed last week's four-game loss to the Golden Eagles in the Coyote Classic at San Bernardino. CSULA took that one, 25-17, 22-25, 25-22, 25-17.
 
"The biggest difference was we just served and passed better," Falcons head coach Chris Johnson said in comparing the two matches. "In terms of execution, we had seen them once, so it was just applying our knowledge a little bit better. It wasn't a different plan – we just played better."
 
With the match hanging in the balance and momentum on Cal State L.A.'s side after it won the third and fourth games, the Falcons snatched it back immediately at the outset of Game 5 and never came close to relinquishing it the rest of the day. SPU scored the first two points, the first on a kill by Britt, the second on a combined block by Lowell and Lexi Biondi.
 
The Golden Eagles got one back, then Seattle Pacific put six on a row on the board to take an 8-1 lead at the changeover. The Falcons made it 9-1, yielded another point, then essentially put it away with four in a row for a 13-2 advantage.
 
"We just played awesome defense (in Game 5)," Johnson said. (The Falcons hit .400 and limited CSULA to minus-.130.) "We said, 'This is our game; just stay aggressive, get up on your blocks, make good digs, and just keep the pressure on them.' We were up 5-1, 6-1, and this team is getting to the point now where you just know, 'This is ours now.' You just have that feeling."
 
Sophomore outside hitter Britt (Orange, Calif.), who had 14 kills and 12 digs in the early match against Holy Names, was joined in the double-double department on Friday afternoon by  junior Madi Cavell (Keizer, Ore.). Cavell had 11 kills and 11 digs for her second of the season and fifth of her career. Britt now has three career double-doubles.
 
Junior setter Kendall Langdon (Irvine, Calif.), having established a career high with 26 assists against Holy Names, erased that with 27 against Cal State L.A. Junior setter Sara Biondi (Sacramento, Calf.) had 29 assists, an SPU high for her. Along with the 21 she had against Holy Names, she topped 1,000 assists for her career, now at 1,007. Biondi also established new single-match marks for block assists with six, solo blocks with two, and total blocks with eight.
 
In addition to a new career high with her 20 kills (her previous was 19 as a freshman at Alaska Anchorage), Lowell tied her all-time single-match best for total blocks with nine, coming up with eight block assists and one solo. Lowell hit a season-best .350.

Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) came into the match needing just four points to hit 1,000. The 1,000th came on a kill in Game 1 that gave SPU a 17-11 lead.
 
Junior opposite Jessica Miller had a solid performance with nine kills and a season-best .312 hitting.
 
"Nikki just killed it – they couldn't stop her at all," Johnson said. "They couldn't stop Jessica, either. She just owned the right sideline. She was really good offensively, and she had some nice passes at clutch times."
 
Junior libero Brianna Leenders (Portland, Ore.) topped SPU in digs both times Friday, totaling 39 for the day.
 
Seattle Pacific led through most of Game 1, then came from 23-22 down to take the second game. A Lowell kill provided the clinching point.
 
Cal State L.A. was on top through most of Game 3, although the Falcons cut a 23-16 deficit all the way to 23-22 before the Golden Eagles got the final two points. SPU fell into a 9-1 hole at the outset of the fourth game, then roared back to take an 18-13 lead. CSULA tied it at 18, then moments later ran off four straight to turn a 20-18 deficit into a 22-20 advantage.


NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Route 92 Showdown
Friday, September 13, 2013
Walter Gleasen Gym / Belmont, Calif.

Seattle Pacific 3, Cal State Los Angeles 2
 
Game scores – 25-19, 26-24, 22-25, 22-25, 15-4.
 
Service aces – SPU 4 (Ellie Britt 2, Madi Cavell 2), CSULA 5 (5 players with 1).
Kills – SPU 60 (Nikki Lowell 20, Britt 12, Cavell 11, Jessica Miller 9), CSULA 56 (JamieAnn Bero 14, Iona Lofrano 14).
Assists – SPU 59 (Sara Biondi 29, Kendall Langdon 27), CSULA 56 (Alexandra Bura 24).
Digs – SPU 67 (Langdon 19, Britt 12, Cavell 11, Breanne Wiekamp 100, CSULA 69 (Kymberly Silveyra 18).
Blocks / solo – SPU 24 / 4 solo (Lowell 8 / 1 solo, Sara Biondi 6 / 2 solo), CSULA 10 / 2 solo (Loreal Carter 4 / 0).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 60-27-159—.208 (Lowell 20-6-40--.350, Miller 9-4-16--.312, Cavell 11-4-29--.241), CSULA 56-33-168--.137 (Bero 14-4-27--.370.)
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 4-2, Cal State Los Angeles 4-2.
 
Next matches – Seattle Pacific vs. Azusa Pacific, Saturday, 11:00 a.m.; Seattle Pacific at Cal State East Bay, Saturday, 7:00 p.m.