Box Score
        Box score, play-by-play (HTML)
        TOURNAMENT CENTRAL (HTML)
 
SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific Falcons are already flying high.
 
Madi Cavell recorded a double-double of 11 kills and 13 digs, and SPU hit a solid .260 as a team on Thursday to open the season with a 3-0 sweep of Chico State on the first night of the Seattle Pacific Tournament.
 
Scores in Royal Brougham Pavilion were 25-12, 25-22, 25-17.
 
The Falcons will play two matches on Friday, facing Cal Poly Pomona at noon and Cal State Los Angeles at 8:00 p.m. Other pairings on the five-match docket are Dixie State-Cal State L.A. at 9:30 a.m., Dixie-Chico at 3:00 p.m., and Pomona-Western Oregon at 5:30.





The double-double for senior outside hitter Cavell (Keizer, Ore.) was the 15^th of her career. She also had two block assists against the Wildcats.
 
Junior outside hitter Ellie Britt (Orange, Calif.) had six kills and nine digs. Senior setter Sara Biondi (Sacramento, Calif.) and senior opposite Jessica Miller (Fife, Wash. / Fife HS) had five kills apiece and played error-free. Biondi hit .625, had 26 assists, four blocks (including one solo) and a service aces. Miller hit .455. Freshman middle blocker Hannah Lautenbach had five kills, four blocks (one solo) and hit .235.
 

"We came out really strong offensively and defensively in Game 1 and out-hit them by over 400 points – when you do that, you're going to win," SPU head coach Chris Johnson said. "We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit in Game 2, but were still playing good defense. Then in the third game, we got back to what we were doing in Game 1.
 
"We saw this at times in our exhibition last Friday at Concordia and in our scrimmage on Wednesday against Western Oregon. But this is the beat we've played out of those three matches," Johnson added.
 
The Falcons snapped a 3-3 tie in the opening game with a run of five straight points with senior libero Brianna Leenders (Gresham, Ore.) serving, and they kept command the rest of the way.
 
SPU trailed just once in the second game – that on the initial point – but Chico State hung close. The Wildcats eventually trimmed a 23-17 Falcons lead to 24-22 before freshman middle blocker Hannah Lautenbach (Portland, Ore.) finished it with a kill.
 
A five-point run midway through Game 3, with Cavell serving, extended a 14-13 lead to 19-13, and Chico never got closer than five, the last time at 20-15.
 
"I felt like we really came in prepared," Biondi said. "We had our scrimmage (Wednesday) night against Western Oregon and kind of went through some different lineups. We came in tonight just really confident in ourselves and everything we've been working on and practicing. I felt it all came together tonight and we played really well as a team."
 
Seattle Pacific had 35 kills and just 10 errors on 96 total attacks, almost right on Johnson's goal of no more than 10 percent errors in a match.
 
"Good passing, good setting, good focus – they knew what they were doing," Johnson said. "They were hitting with intention, taking good swings, and being aggressive."
 
Leenders had a team-high 16 digs, and junior libero Breanne Wiekamp (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) served three aces – all in a row late in Game 2.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Seattle Pacific Tourmament
Thursday, Sept. 4, 2014
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Chico State 0
 
Game scores – 25-12, 25-22, 25-17.
 
Service aces – Chico 0, SPU 5 (Brianne Wiekamp 3).
Kills – Chico 34 (Shannon Boling 8), SPU 35 (Madi Cavell 11).
Assists – Chico 33 (Torey Thompson 27), SPU 31 (Sara Biondi 26).
Digs – Chico 47 (Shannon Cotton 9, Emily Duran 9), SPU 47 (Brianna Leenders 16, Cavel 13)
Blocks – Chico 9 / 1 solo (Thompson 3 / 0 solo), SPU 14 / 2 solo (Hannah Lautenbach 3 / 1 solo, Biondi 3 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – Chico 34-23-110--.100 (Natalie Nordahl 6-1-11--.455), SPU 35-10-96--.260 (Biondi 5-0-8--.625, Jessica Miller 5-0-11--.455).
Atttendance – 51.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 1-0, 0-0 GNAC. Chico State 0-1, 0-0 CCAA.
 
Next matches – Seattle Pacific vs. Cal Poly Pomona, Friday, 12 noon; Seattle Pacific vs. Cal State Los Angeles, Friday, 8:00 p.m.; both Brougham Pavilion.