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HONOLULU – Just one match into the volleyball season, the Seattle Pacific Falcons already know one big thing about themselves:
 
They have what it takes to come back.
 
After dropping the first two games of Thursday's 2017 opener to UC Colorado Springs, SPU forced a deciding fifth game, then wiped out an early four-point deficit in that one to beat the Mountain Lions in the Hawaii Challenge, 3-2.
 
Scores in Chaminade University's McCabe Gym were 18-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-21, 17-15.

 

"As the match moved on, I saw us getting more settled in," Abbie Wright said after winning her debut match as head coach. "The fifth game, when we should have been the most nervous, we were the most resilient. Nothing could faze us – we went after it. We served tough and kind of went all-out and let it rip."
 
The last time the Falcons (1-0) won after losing the first two games was Nov. 2, 2013 at Montana State Billings, 23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 15-13. Since then, they had fallen into a 2-0 hole in 34 matches without coming all the way back.
 
Senior opposite Hannah Lautenbach led the way on Thursday with 15 kills. The biggest of those was the last one, which gave SPU a 16-15 lead in Game 5 and its second try at match point.
 
Senior defensive specialist Sophie Kuehl served it up, and a Colorado Springs attacking error clinched it for the Falcons.
 
The Mountain Lions had a 6-2 lead and were up 8-5 when the teams changed sides. They eventually went ahead 13-11, but never did get a match point opportunity as the Falcons ran off three straight. Colorado Springs fought off match points at 14-13 and 15-14 before Seattle Pacific got the last two.
 
Lautenbach made it a double-double – the 12th of her career – with 14 digs. She also hit .344 (15 kills-4 errors-32 attacks).
 
"It was awesome," Lautenbach said of pulling out the win. "We've been conditioning super hard, and we just out-conditioned them, especially in the fifth game."
 
SPU resumes play on Friday at 10:00 p.m. Pacific time at Hawaii Pacific.
 
SLOW START
The Falcons could not get untracked through the first two games, managing just 16 kills while Colorado Springs slammed 31. Mountain Lions senior middle blocker Taylor Hamilton was having everything her way, with 13 kills and no errors on 17 attacks for a monster .765 hitting percentage. (She got just seven more kills after that, but still hit .515 for the night.)

 

Things changed dramatically after that. Up 11-8 in Game 3, junior libero Amanda Ganete (Hillsboro, Ore.) took over the serve, and SPU put up five straight points to make it 16-8. The Falcons' 18-kill total in that game was two more than the first two games combined.
 
"We mixed up our lineup a little bit. That was more of an offensive move just to throw (Colorado Springs) off track," Wright said. "We just wanted to see if we could change it up, and it was enough to get some traction."
 
"That game, we just kept our minds right and focused on what we needed to do and not on the past," Lautenbach added.
 
The lead changed hands nine times in Game 4. With SPU up 22-21, Kuehl took over the serve. She delivered an ace to make it 23-21, got a try at game point on a Springs attack error, then sent over another ace to bring on Game 5.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
 

--Sophomore middle blocker Nicole Tchabanov had a career night with 13 kills and .458 hitting (just two errors on 24 attacks). She added six blocks (two solo).
--Junior setter Symone Tran double-doubled for the 30th time in her career, this one with 47 assists and 16 digs. She is just 36 assists away from her 2,000th.
--Sophomore outside hitter Gabby Oddo, in her first match after a knee injury sidelined her for the final 10 matches of 2016, was back in fine form with 13 kills.
--Freshman outside hitter Olivia Turner made an impressive college debut with 13 kills.


NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Hawaii Challenge
Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017
McCabe Gym / Honolulu, Hawaii
 
Seattle Pacific 3, UC Colorado Springs 2
 
Game scores – 18-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-21, 17-15.
 
Service aces – UCCS 8 (Aly Morgan 3), SPU 4 (Sophie Kuehl 2)
Kills – UCCS 59 (Taylor Hamilto 20), SPU 58 (Hannah Lautenbach 15, Gabby Oddo 13, Nicole Tchabanov 13, Olivia Turner 13).
Assists – UCCS 54 (Raelynn Edge 44), SPU 56 (Symone Tran 47).
Digs – UCCS 54 (Natasha Habert 16), SPU 62 (Tran 16, Lautenbach 14)
Block assists / solo – UCCS 18 / 0 solo (Hamilton 5 / 0 solo; Grace Nelson 5 / 0 solo), SPU 14 / 2 solo (Tchabanov 6 / 2 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – UCCS 58-26-159--.201 (Hamilton 20-3-33--.515), SPU 59-26-157--.210 (Tchabanov 13-3-24--.458).
Attendance – NA.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 1-0, UC Colorado Springs 0-1.
 
 
Next match:
Seattle Pacific at Hawaii Pacific
Friday, 10:00 p.m. PDT