Box Score
        Box score, play-by-play
 
SEATTLE – They got off to a slow start in the match. But by the end of Saturday night, the Seattle Pacific Falcons were off to their best start to a volleyball season in three years.
 
Madi Cavell and Sara Biondi each registered their second double-doubles of the year, and the Falcons shook off a first-game loss to beat Dixie State in the finale of the SPU Volleyball Tournament.
               
Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 19-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-17.
 
Senior outside hitter Cavell (Keizer, Ore.) hammered 19 kills and had 14 digs for her 16^th career double-double. She had four block assists and hit .204.
               
Senior setter Biondi (Sacramento, Calif.) had a season-high 41 assists to go along with 11 digs for the third double-double of her career. She also had six kills, hit .385 with just one error on 13 attacks, and had four blocks (one solo).
 
Both earned a place on the seven-player all-tournament team.





Senior libero Brianna Leenders (Gresham, Ore.) had 16 digs for the Falcons, who went 3-1 in a season-opening tournament for the first time since 2011.
 
"It's a great start – that's what we were hoping for and practicing for, and that's what we were ready for," said Cavell, whose double-double was the 16^th of her career. "I though everyone just played phenomenal. I'd just say our team is firing on all cylinders. From the outside to the middle to the right side, there's just so many options for our setter to set."
 
The first road trip of the season begins on Thursday at the Pacific West-Great Northwest Athletic Conference Challenge in San Rafael, Calif. The Falcons will play four matches over three days, beginning with Academy of Art on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
 

Sara Biondi" src="/common/controls/image_handler.aspx?thumb_id=13&image_path=/images/2013/9/16/biondi_sara_2013.jpg" />

After dropping the first game of Saturday's match, the Falcons were either tied (14 times) or trailing in Game 2 until Biondi dunked one over the net for a 23-22 lead. A Dixie attack error made it 24-22. The Red Storm got one back on a tip, then Cavell tipped one over that dropped in for game point, squaring the match at one game apiece.
 
"If you go down 2-0, it's tough, especially when you feel like you should be winning," head coach Chris Johnson said.
 
SPU yielded the first point of the third game, then ran off six in a row and stayed ahead the rest of the way to take a one-game lead. Then, down 15-14 in Game 4, the Falcons put four straight on the board, the start of a 9-2 run to finish the match.
 
"Getting that third game under our belts and winning a tight one, we kept our poise and were doing the things we know how to do," Johnson said. "Our offense started going, and our defense got better and better throughout the match. I love looking at a scoresheet when our opponent's hitting percentage goes down every set."
 
The Falcons limited Dixie State to .167. The Red Storm (2-2) hit .244 in Game 1, then dropped to .205, .184, and finally .000 in the last game.
 
SPU hit .252 for the match, including a .406 performance (17 kills and just four errors on 32 attacks) in the second game. The Falcons' final percentage was their third above .250 in four matches. Freshman middle blocker Hannah Lautenbach (Portland, Ore.) played error-free with eight kills on 13 attacks for a .615 percentage. Biondi was at .385, and senior opposite Jessica Miller (Fife, Wash. / Fife HS) hit .312.
 
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Seattle Pacific Tournament
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
               
Seattle Pacific 3, Dixie State 1
 
Game scores – 19-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-17.
 
Service aces – Dixie 5 (5 players with 1), SPU 6 (Sara Biondi 2, Breanne Wiekamp 2).
Kills – Dixie 50 (Kendahl Weiland 13), SPU 52 (Madi Cavell 19).
Assists – Dixie 44 (Shelby Sorenson 37, SPU 51 (S. Biondi 41).
Digs – Dixie 62 (Alex Anderson 15), SPU 59 (Brianna Leenders 17, Cavell 14, S. Biondi 11).
Block assists / solo – Dixie 4 / 1 solo (Sorenson 1 / 1 solo), SPU 22 / 1 solo (Hannah Lautenbach 7 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – Dixie 50-25-150--.167 (Makenzi Bird 9-0-25--.360), SPU 52-17-139--.252 (Lautenbach 8-0-13--.615).
Attendance – 106.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 3-1, 0-0 GNAC. Dixie State 2-2, 0-0 Pacific West.
 
Next match – Seattle Pacific vs. Academy of Art at Pacific West-GNAC Challenge (San Rafael, Calif.), 4:30 p.m.


ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Outside hitter – Madi Cavell (SPU), Iona Lofrano (Cal State Los Angeles).
Opposite – Shannon Boling (Chico State).
Middle blocker – Samantha Moore (W. Oregon), Christen Williams (Cal Poly Pomona).
Setter – Sara Biondi (SPU).
Libero – Alex Anderson (Dixie State).