In the last two games of their four-game homestand, Seattle Pacific University’s women’s volleyball team played against Central Washington University on Thursday, Oct. 24, and Northwest Nazarene University on Saturday, Oct. 26, at Royal Brougham Pavilion.
Seattle Pacific won three sets out of four against Central Washington.
Central Washington took the lead in the first set 4-2. Solid power and defense on both teams led to them trading the lead four times. Central Washington pulled ahead 16-15 after the set’s fifth tie and won 25-21.
Seattle Pacific fell behind 9-6 at the start of the second set but pulled ahead after a kill from freshman outside hitter Eva LaRochelle tied the score 10-10. Seattle Pacific held the lead and won the set 25-23. In the third set, SPU stayed ahead by a four-to-three-point margin. Central Washington stayed close behind but could not get on a solid run. Seattle Pacific won the third set 25-21.
The fourth and final set saw the score tie eleven times. Seattle Pacific held the initial lead, but CWU pulled ahead 11-9. Central Washington remained in the lead until a 22-22 tie broke in the Falcons’ favor off a CWU service error. Seattle Pacific won the set off of a kill from fifth-year outside hitter Erin Smith.
Seattle Pacific’s win against Central Washington was their third straight and fifth of the season. Smith said the team’s confidence has improved over their last few games.
“We had a rougher season than we expected, but having these wins builds a lot of confidence for us,” Smith said. “It makes us really excited to come into practice in the following weeks and grind and work hard together. It’s all the blood, sweat and tears that we go through that makes these wins really exciting and fun for all of us.”
Head Coach Jason Rhine said the win over Central Washington reflects how far the team has progressed since their last meeting on Sept. 28, when SPU lost three sets out of four.
“It shows that we’ve continued to make progress. We’ve been trying to get better and we had time to make a few small adjustments and figure out how to squeak out a couple of extra points, and that might have made the difference [in] those last couple of sets,” Rhine said.
Seattle Pacific defeated Northwest Nazarene in three straight sets on Saturday, Oct. 26.
The Falcons held the lead in the first set from start to finish. Northwest Nazarene tied the score four times but was unable to pull ahead. Seattle Pacific went on a five-point run from 13-13 to 18-13 and soon won the set 25-19.
Northwest Nazarene started with a 5-1 lead in the second set and maintained a six-point gap ahead of SPU. Seattle Pacific recovered with a seven-point run to reach 20-19. Northwest Nazarene tried to regain the lead but lost the set 25-23.
The third set started similarly with Northwest Nazarene holding the lead by a three-point margin. Seattle Pacific tied the score four times before breaking ahead 15-16. The score would tie three more times before SPU had the lead again at 21-18. They stayed ahead to match point when fifth-year outside hitter Sydney Perry hit the winning kill, closing the set 25-21.
Starting the second half of the season with two wins has fifth-year libero Zoe Shuckhart excited for the team to find more success.
“We’re excited for the second half of the conference, and we’re excited to turn it around and get off to a good end to the season. I’m in my fifth year, so I’m really excited to just win and play really good and have fun,” Shuckhart said.
The Falcons are fifth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference’s team standings. Their conference record is 6-5, and their overall record is 6-13. Women’s volleyball flies to Alaska for their next two games. First, against the University of Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, Oct. 31, in Anchorage, Alaska, at 8 p.m. Pacific Standard Time and then on Saturday against University of Alaska Fairbanks in Fairbanks, Alaska, at 3 p.m. PST.
