VOLLEYBALL: 

The Seattle Pacific University volleyball team secured their first away victory of the season on Saturday, Oct. 9 against Montana State University Billings. The Falcons delivered a devastating loss to the Yellowjackets by completely shutting them out. 

The scores of all three sets were very close, but the Falcons took the victory each time. 

The Falcons won the first set by three points after a kill from sophomore middle blocker Hannah Hair. The team won the first set, 25-21. Hair also finished the second set with a kill, but the scoring did not end there. After an attack error from the Yellowjackets’ Bayli Monck, the Falcons ended the set, 26-24. 

In the last set of the game, the Falcons took home the victory with a score of 25-20. The match ended after a kill from fifth-year outside hitter Maddie Batiste. Batiste has the most kills on the team for the season, with 122. Hair is in second with 106 kills. 

After this victory, the Falcons move on to another away game on Thursday, Oct. 14. They will take on the Western Washington University Vikings. 

CROSS COUNTRY:

The cross country team traveled to the Western Washington University Bill Roe Cross Country Classic on Saturday, Oct. 9.  For the first time this season, the Falcons had the opportunity to experience the intensity of a high-caliber race. 

They faced not only regionally ranked opponents but also nationally ranked ones. 

The women ran alongside the national No.5 ranked Chico State University and the No.17 ranked Simon Fraser University. These teams are also ranked within the top two teams in the West region, with Simon Fraser taking the leading spot. 

The Falcons fought hard as they ran the outdoor path at the Sudden Valley Golf Course but fell short against the tough competition. 

In the women’s 6k, sophomore Annika Esvelt lost her first race of the season despite her best efforts to run side-by-side with the top group of runners.

Esvelt lost speed in the last lap of the race and fell behind the leaders. Esvelt placed 19th with a time of 23:08. Sophomore Ellie Rising ran second for the women’s team and placed 28th with a time of 23:27. She was only 19 seconds behind Esvelt. 

In the men’s 10k, the Falcons only entered one runner. Senior Colin Boutin was the sole runner for the men and came in 57th place with a finishing time of 34:28. 

The women’s team finished seventh overall out of ten teams with 176 points, and the men’s team did not place. 

This was the Falcons’ last race before the postseason. On Saturday, Oct. 23, the Falcons will be back in action as they travel to the GNAC Cross Country Championship in Lacey, Washington. 

MEN’S SOCCER:

On Thursday, Oct. 7, the Falcons kept their four-game winning streak alive as they faced the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks. 

Twenty-three minutes into the first half, senior forward Alden Massey scored the first goal. The ball soared into the right side of the net. Sophomore Judah Johnston and junior midfielder Tyler Speer assisted Massey’s goal. 

No other goals were scored in the first half by the Falcons or the Nighthawks. 

In the second half, a foul was called on Northwest Nazarene’s Brandon Parsio. The foul on Parsio gave the Falcons a chance to score on a penalty kick, and senior defender Nik Reierson took the opportunity as he scored the Falcon’s second goal. 

The Falcons tried to hold off the Nighthawks for the remaining 28 minutes of the game but were unsuccessful. The Nighthawks scored their first goal of the game after a foul on SPU senior forward Musa Ali. 

The Falcons did not allow the Nighthawks to score again within the remaining time of the match. They won the game, 2-1. 

The men continued their winning streak on Saturday, Oct. 9. They shut out Saint Martin’s University, 6-0.

Senior forward Alex Mejia began the game explosively as he scored two goals within 11 minutes. Meija scored his second goal of the game three minutes later. The final goal of the half was scored by senior forward Alden Massey.

In the second half, SPU scored three more goals, and Mejia scored his third goal of the game.

The three goals Mejia scored brought his season total to 11 goals. He continues to lead the team in the number of goals scored. Massey follows behind Mejia with six goals total for the season. 

The fifth goal for the Falcons was scored by sophomore forward Judah Johnston. The final goal of the game was scored by sophomore defender Joey Van Horn in the final two minutes of the game. This was Van Horn’s first goal of the season.

The Falcons now hold a six-game winning streak and an overall record of 9-1. They look to continue the streak as they travel to Western Washington University on Thursday, Oct. 14. 

WOMEN’S SOCCER:

The women’s soccer team faced off against Simon Fraser University on Thursday, Oct. 7. The Falcons would take home a shutout victory, 2-0. 

Fourteen minutes into the first half, junior midfielder Chloe Gellhaus scored a six-yard goal to the right side of the net following a pass from the left side of the field by senior midfielder Claire Neder. 

The remainder of the first half would go scoreless as SPU and Simon Fraser battled aggressively against each other. Both teams’ defenses stayed strong going in the second half. Neither team was able to score a goal until only 12 minutes were left in the game. 

As the time ticked down, sophomore Jacqueline Blakeley scored the final goal of the game with a goal-line tap to the right side. Her goal was assisted by both sophomore Lauren Forster and Gellhaus. Blakeley’s goal increased the Falcons’ lead and ended the game on a high note. 

On Saturday, Oct. 9, the Falcons played the Western Washington Vikings where they won yet another home game. The game was highly competitive as the teams battled for the regulated time of 90 minutes without a single goal scored. The game was forced into overtime to decide the winner. 

During overtime, a foul was called against junior midfielder Toni Miranda, which caused the Vikings to earn a penalty shot. Western Washington’s Darby Doyle took the penalty shot, but senior goalkeeper for the Falcons Riley Travis stopped the shot from soaring into the net.

After Travis’ save, the Falcons would take advantage and score a golden goal to win the game. Senior midfielder Claire Neder scored the goal with a six-yard punch into the left side of the net with assists from Forster and Gellhaus. 

The Falcons hold a home record of 4-0 and an overall season record of 8-1. The team now prepares for their next four away games, starting at Central Washington University.