Seattle Pacific women’s volleyball had their final regular season games against Saint Martin’s University on Thursday, Nov. 14, and Western Oregon University on Saturday, Nov. 16. The Falcons defeated SMU in three straight sets and WOU in three sets out of four.
Seattle Pacific won the first set against the Saint Martin’s Saints 25-23. The Saints had the lead originally, but SPU found momentum off of kills by fifth-year middle blocker Allison Wilks and fifth-year opposite Erin Smith to go on two scoring runs and secure the set. The Falcons gained early leads and never conceded to win the second and third sets 25-16 and 25-15.
Fifth-year outside hitter Syndey Perry and fifth-year middle blocker Hannah Hair led the team in kills with 11 and nine respectively. Hair also led the team in blocks with six.
The Western Oregon Wolves fell early to the Falcons in the first set 25-23. Seattle Pacific gained an early lead that was never conceded. The Falcons were at set point at 24-18, but five consecutive points from the Wolves stalled the win. The set finally ended with a kill by freshman outside hitter Eva LaRochelle.
After three ties, Western Oregon pulled ahead on a five-point run in the second set, leading to a 25-17 win for the Wolves. The third set was a close battle until Perry’s tie-breaking kill won the set 25-22. Seattle Pacific fell behind in the fourth set but jumped into the lead with five consecutive points and secured the final set 25-18.
LaRochelle led with a career-high 15 kills. Smith followed with 14 kills and a career-high seven blocks. Hair collected seven kills and four blocks, now bringing her career total to 608 career blocks and 912 career kills. Senior setter Emily Tulino recorded her 13th double-double of the season and 37th of her career with 39 assists and 10 digs.
Seattle Pacific is fifth in the overall GNAC standings with a 9-8 conference record and a 9-16 overall record. Their final game is against Montana State University Billings on Saturday, Nov. 23, in Royal Brougham Pavilion at 2 p.m.
Head Coach Jason Rhine said these final games are transition points for the team’s changing roster.
“At this point, unfortunately, the postseason is [unlikely] for us,” Rhine said. “These last few games are a chance for us to enjoy being together as a team and continue to display what we’ve been working on together. We have a big group this year, so there’ll be a lot of new faces and new talent to follow in the footsteps of Hannah and Allison and Sydney and Emily.”
The Falcons’ final game will be preceded by their Senior Night ceremony, celebrating Smith, Perry, Tulino, Hair, Wilks, outside hitter Sarah Brachvogel and liberos Abigail Cunningham and Zoe Shuckhart.
“All the work that they’ve put in throughout their time and how much they’ve invested into the program and the players for the future [is] something special,” Rhine said. “I know [the team] appreciates the leadership, the friendship [and] the examples on the court that our [seniors] have been this year.”
