Despite diving all over the court and giving it all they had, Seattle Pacific University’s women’s volleyball team was unfortunately defeated by Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene in two high energy matches.
After going 1-1 in the previous week on the road, the Falcons were home on Thursday, Oct. 25, and Saturday, Oct. 27. The team played tough matches, but ultimately went 0-2 this week. The Falcons are ranked at No. 6 overall with their 8-8 conference record after these two losses.
“Playing both matches Thursday and Saturday, we knew that each team was tough in its own way,” head coach Abbie Wright said. “So, I think we tried to capitalize on really competing well throughout each one and pick up on the other team’s tendencies.”
In their first match of the week, SPU was up against the No. 3 seed in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Central Washington. Though they played a very physical game, Central Washington beat SPU in a three set sweep, the scores 25-18, 25-17 and 25-15.
From SPU’s side of the net, junior Gabby Oddo and senior Hailey Gaines led the team in kills with 10 each. Senior Symone Tran also stood out with 30 assists and 18 digs. The Falcons hustled with every point, keeping alive some great rallies with great ups from senior Amanda Ganete. Unfortunately, even though they hustled at every point, their errors are what led to the defeat.
“It was hard to convert great defense into points, as we errored a lot,” Wright said.
Saturday’s game against Northwest Nazarene had a similar ending. Though SPU played with great energy and worked hard to have a more positive result than Thursday’s game, Northwest Nazarene came out on top winning the match in three sets. The scores were 25-18, 25-21 and 25-20.
“In Saturday’s game, I thought we defensively were right there and really had the scouting report down.”
Once again in this match Gaines and Oddo led the team kills. Gaines racked in 11 kills followed by Oddo with eight. On the passing side of things, Symone Tran and Amanda Ganete led the team in digs and assist. Tran led the team with 36 assist and 20 digs. Ganete followed with 18 digs.
The Falcons came out swinging with a huge block from senior Shaun Crespi. This created the momentum the girls needed, but it would not lead them to a victory. Similar to Thursday’s game, coach Wright said ultimately their errors led to their loss.
“As coaches, we try to put our kids in challenging situations so that they can be prepared for those situations come game time,” she said.
After a tough week, the Falcons are working hard and are hoping to play harder this week. The Falcons are back in action this week on the road again to play GNAC No. 2 team Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, Nov.1, and No. 4 Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday, Nov. 3.
