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SEATTLE – No matter what sport, defense can find a way to carry the day.
 
It did for the Seattle Pacific Falcons on Saturday afternoon.
 
Lexi Biondi, Ellie Britt, and Hannah Lautenbach all recorded double-digit kills, and Breanne Wiekamp came up with 31 digs – reaching that total in just three games – to help SPU polish off Western Oregon for its second straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball sweep.
 
Scores in Brougham Pavilion were 25-20, 25-23, 25-17.
 
"It really honestly felt amazing," senior outside hitter Britt said. "I can just feel the chemistry finally coming together Everyone is in their position, they're playing at such a high level, and we're demanding so much of ourselves and really executing when we need to. It felt really good out there. I'm really excited for the next couple months."


 


Those next couple months start with the upcoming trip north, facing undefeated and No. 11-ranked Alaska Anchorage (12-0, 4-0 GNAC) on Thursday, and Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday. Both start at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Biondi (Albuquerque N.M.) had 12 kills and three total blocks, one of those a solo, for SPU (4-8, 2-2 GNAC), which swept Concordia on Thursday.
 
Britt (Orange, Calif.) and sophomore opposite Lautenbach (Portland, Ore.) slammed 11 kills apiece. Britt hit .229 with just three errors on 35 attacks, and also came up with five digs. Lautenbach added four digs.

 

Senior libero Wiekamp (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) once again was the anchor of the defense for Seattle Pacific. Her 31 digs were just four short of her career-high 35, and that total was in five games last week at Simon Fraser.
 
"I thought their libero (Christie Colasurdo, with 26 digs) played outstanding today, and our libero had more digs than she did," Falcons head coach Chris Johnson said. "Bre with 31 digs in three sets … that's amazing.
 
"I'm really proud of the way our defense played," he added. "We had a lot of good touches that turned into easy digs. We held them to .078 hitting and just .026 in that last set and only six kills in the last set. If you can hold a team to six kills, it's going to be tough for them to win."
 
Freshman setter Symone Tran logged her second straight double-double and fifth of the season. Tran (Portland, Ore.) had 37 assists and 13 digs. Freshman middle blocker Shaun Crespi (Camarillo, Calif.) put down nine kills and hit a team-leading .240.
 
The teams traded early-match scoring runs, with the Falcons running off six straight to take a 6-1 lead in the opening game, only to see Western Oregon (4-9, 1-3 GNAC) answer with eight in a row for a 9-6 advantage. Then SPU, down 14-13, rang up four consecutive points and stayed in front the rest of the way.
 
Seattle Pacific built a 23-20 lead in Game 2. The Wolves rallied to tie it at 23-23. Biondi responded with a kill, and a Western Oregon attack error into the antenna sealed the game for the Falcons.
 
SPU went up 11-6 in the third game. It got as close as 15-14, but a kill by Lautenbach, a Wolves error, and an ace by Wiekamp provided a four-point cushion. The Falcons scored the final four points of the match, with two of them – including the clincher – on kills by Britt.
 
"I'm feeling a lot better about things right now," Johnson said. "We still have a lot of stuff we need to work on, but it's starting to come together a lot better. We're seeing better chemistry on the floor."
 
For the second straight match, Seattle Pacific kept its opponent below .100 hitting, as Western Oregon's .078 (28 kills-18 errors-129 attacks) came on the heels of limiting Concorida to just .070 on Thursday. The 28 kills allowed Saturday was SPU's second-lowest total of the season, as nobody for the Wolves had more than seven.
 
The Falcons hit .160 (46-23-144).

 
Saturday's match included a celebration marking the 30th season of the Seattle Pacific program. Among those in attendance were four of the nine members from  the inaugural 1986 team, including Nancy Best, Heather Bolles, Lori Johnson, and Deri Paulson.
 
JoAnn Atwell-Scrivner, who coached the Falcons through their first 14 seasons and now is the chair of the school's Health and Human Performance department, also was there, as was husband Rich, her assistant coach through her entire tenure.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Western Oregon 0
 
Game scores – 25-20, 25-23, 25-17.
 
Service aces – WOU 2 (Amanda Short 2), SPU 3 (3 players with 1).
Kills – WOU 28 (Mariella Vandenklly 7), SPU 46 (Lexi Biondi 12, Ellie Britt 11, Hannah Lautenbach 11).
Assists – WOU 26 (Leila Holt 11), SPU 40 (Symone Tran 37).
Digs – WOU 68 (Christie Colasurdo 26), SPU 74 (Breanne Wiekamp 31, Tran 13).
Block assists / solo – WOU 8 / 3 solo (Maddie Mehciz 3 / 0 solo), SPU 8 / 1 solo (Biondi 2 / 1 solo).
Attendance – 142.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 4-8, 2-2 GNAC. Western Oregon 4-9, 1-3 GNAC.
 
Next match – Seattle Pacific at Alaska Anchorage
                          Thursday, Oct. 1 / 8:00 p.m. PDT