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        SPU-Cal State East Bay box score, play-by-play (HTML)
        SPU-Fresno Pacific box score, play-by-play (HTML) 

MONMOUTH, Ore. – This five-game volleyball thing is starting to suit Seattle Pacific very nicely.
 
After coming from 2-1 down to win in five against Cal State East Bay on Friday morning, the Falcons stormed back after losing the first two games to beat Fresno Pacific on Friday night at the D2 West Region Showcase.
 
Scores in the New P.E. Building at Western Oregon University were 18-25, 21-25, 25-14, 25-14, 15-11.
 
Of SPU's seven matches this fall, four have gone to the five-game limit. The Falcons have won three of those. Friday was the second time this season they rallied after dropping the first two games. The first one was last Thursday against UC Colorado Springs at the Hawaii Challenge in Honolulu.
 
"I think we're learning how to play tough – you have to play tough in tight situations," head coach Abbie Wright said after her team improved to 4-3 for the year. "We've talked about being comfortable (by) being uncomfortable. Matches are going to be uncomfortable at times – how are we going to deal with it? It shows the character of our team."
 
Through the first two weekends, the Falcons already have more five-game wins this year (three) than they had all of last season, when they were just 2-6 in the deciding game.
 
"It's kind of one of those things – you go five, you get more touch. It's just (like) a longer practice," Wright said. "It will serve us well later on. We're going to see that in our conference."
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Fresno Pacific 2
Freshman outside hitter Olivia Turner (Phoenix) had a career-high 18 kills, beating her old high of 16 set last week at Chaminade in Hawaii. Sophomore outside Gabby Oddo (Alta Loma, Calif.) finished with 15.
 
Tied at 3-3 in the deciding fifth game, the Falcons went on a 4-1 run to go up 7-4. It was still a three-point advantage at 8-5 when the teams changed sides.
 
Fresno Pacific immediately ran off four straight points for a 9-8 lead. Tied at 10-10, SPU got the go-ahead point on kill by Oddo.
 
 

That started a decisive 4-0 spurt. With senior Sophie Kuehl (Vancouver, Wash. / Columbia River HS) serving, Oddo got another kill for a 12-10 lead, senior Hannah Lautenbach (Portland, Ore.) used a soft touch for a well-placed kill, then senior Colleen Hannigan (Brentwood, Calif.) blasted one to the corner for quadruple match point at 14-10.
 
The Sunbirds got one point back and regained the serve. But Oddo finished it with a kill that landed just inside the baseline.
 
Except for a 2-2 tie, the Falcons led all the way in Game 3. The fourth game was tied at 4-4 when SPU ran off nine straight points, the last eight of those with Oddo serving.
 
After hitting .000 and .116 in the first two games, Seattle Pacific hit .333, .394, and .450 in the last three. In those three, the Falcons totaled 37 kills and just six errors on 80 swings. For the match, the Falcons hit .224 (56 kills-20 errors-161 attacks).
 
BY THE NUMBERS VS. FRESNO PACIFIC
-- Led by Oddo's .286 percentage, the Falcons had five front row players hit better than .200: Hannigan at .273, Turner at .255, Lautenbach at .250, and freshman Gabi Stegemoller at .227.
-- Lautenbach played error-free, with eight kills on 32 attacks.
-- Junior libero Amanda Ganete (Hillsboro, Ore.) led the team with 20 digs.
-- Junior setter Symone Tran (Portland, Ore.) had 48 assists in both Friday matches.
-- Middle blocker Stegemoller (West Linn, Ore.) had a career-high five total blocks, with three solos.
 
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Cal State East Bay 2
Down 3-2 early in Game 5, SPU went on a 5-1 run to take a 7-4 lead. East Bay (4-2) cut it to 7-6 before a kill by Gabby Oddo that the Pioneers dug up but couldn't get over the net made it 8-6 at the changeover.

 

A kill by sophomore middle blocker Nicole Tchabanov (San Ramon, Calif.) and a tip by Oddo pushed the lead to 10-6. Cal State East Bay got the next point, then SPU ran off the final five: a quick kill by Tchabanov, a combined block by Tchabanov and Symone Tran, then the three straight kills by Olivia Turner.
 
Needing Game 4 to get back into the match, the Falcons scored the first two points and led from start to finish. Up 15-12, they ran off seven in a row, effectively putting it away and setting up the decisive fifth game.
 
BY THE NUMBERS VS. CAL STATE EAST BAY
-- Oddo hit a season-high.279 (18 kills-6 errors-43 attacks).
 

-- Hannah Lautenbach recorded her fourth double-double of the year, this one with 11 kills and 15 digs. That was her 15th career double-double.
-- Tran had her second double-double of the season, logging 48 assists and 14 digs. She has 28 for her career.
-- The Falcons had four players in double-digit digs, with junior libero Amanda Ganete collecting 22.
--After low hitting percentages in the first three games, SPU found the mark in Games 4 and 5 at .370 (12-2-27) and .435 (11-1-23), respectively. It finished the match at .185 (57-25-173).
-- The kills total was the team's second-highest of the year, trailing only the 58 in a five-gamer against UC Colorado Springs last Thursday.
--Tchabanov had her second match of better than .400 hitting this season, finishing at .444 (9-1-18). She hit .458 last week against Colorado Springs.
 
UP NEXT
SPU concludes the tournament on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against Cal State San Marcos. That also will be end of preseason play. The Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule starts at home next Thursday at 7:00 p.m. against Concordia-Portland in Brougham Pavilion.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
D2 West Region Showcase
Friday, Sept. 8, 2017
New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Cal State East Bay 2
 
Game scores – 25-23, 20-25, 18-25, 25-16, 15-7.
 
Service aces –EB 6 (Katie Ireland 3), SPU 2 (Sophie Kuehl 1, Symone Tran 1).
Kills – EB 49 (Kiki Leuteneker 12), SPU 57 (Gabby Oddo 18, Hannah Lautenbach 11, Olivia Turner 10).
Assists – EB 48 (Ireland 40), SPU 55 (Tran 48).
Digs – EB 82 (Brandi Brucato 22), SPU 87 (Kuehl 24, Amanda Ganete 22, Lautenbach 15, Tran 14).
Block assists / solo – EB 4 / 2 solo (Deja Thompson 2 / 1 solo), SPU 16 / 0 solo (Tran 5 / 0 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – EB 49-29-175--.114 (Ireland 4-1-9-.333, Thompson 11-2-30--.300), SPU 57-25-173--.185 (Nicole Tchabanov 9-1-18--.444).
Attendance – 50.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 3-3, Cal State East Bay 4-2.
 
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Fresno Pacific 2
 
Game scores – 18-25, 21-25, 25-14, 25-14, 15-11.
 
Service aces – SPU 6 (Amanda Ganete 3), FPU 4 (Karah Mitchell 3)
Kills—SPU 56 (Olivia Turner 18, Gabby Oddo 15), FPU 49 (Mitchell 17).
Assists – SPU s54 (Symone Tran 48), FPU 46 (Christina Tran 37).
Digs – SPU 67 (Ganete 20), FPU 73 (Mitchell 18).
Block assists / solo – SPU 16 / 3 solo (Gabi Stegemoller 2 / 3 solo), FPU 10 / 1 solo (Malerie Crenshaw 3 / 1 solo).
Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 56-20-161--.224 (Oddo 15-5-35--.286, Colleen Hannigan 5-2-11--.273), FPU 49-33-155--.103 (Tran 6-1-10--.500).
Attendance – 50.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 4-3, Fresno Pacific 1-6.
 
 
Next match
Seattle Pacific vs. Cal State San Marcos
Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
New P.E. Building / Monmouth, Ore.