BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The No. 18 Seattle Pacific University volleyball team has endured only two conference losses this season…and both have been to the Western Washington University Vikings.
The Vikings defended their home court in Carver Gym Saturday night defeating the first-place Falcons in four sets 21-25, 25-19, 25-23, 25-19. WWU completed a perfect 2-0 week after a 3-0 sweep of Montana State Billings on Thursday to improve to 9-5 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play (9-13 overall). SPU slipped to 19-4 overall and 13-2 in GNAC play snapping a seven-match winning streak, with both losses coming against WWU.
Western recorded a season-high 12 service aces and held a 12.0-to-8.0 edge in total blocks to record the home victory, improving to 5-2 on WECU Court this season.
Sophomore outside hitter Delaney Speer provided an all-around effort to lead the team with 15.0 points, contributing nine kills, three service aces, seven digs and six blocks. Junior opposite Gabby Kepley paced the offense with 11 kills on a .364 hitting percentage and redshirt freshman middle Emily Vossenkuhl led all players with eight blocks.
"Our serve-and-receive game was on-point tonight," said WWU head coach Diane Flick-Williams. "Abby ay was an anchorage in our serve-receive. Gabby (Kepley) didn't start off like we would have liked, but battled the whole night and led us on the offensive end. Our offense got better with every set as we were able to move the ball around and get contributions from every position."
Setters Adele Holland (18 assists) and Caroline Hansen (16 assists) quarterbacked an balanced offense with five players recording six-or-more kills with the team hitting at a .211 clip.
Sarah Brachvogel led SPU with a match-high 16 kills and recorded a double-double by also leading the Falcons with 11 digs. Sydney Perry added 13 kills.
WWU (9-13, 9-5 GNAC) are back on the road next week traveling to play Western Oregon on Thursday (7 pm) and Saint Martin's on Saturday (1 pm). The Vikings close out the season the following week hosting Northwest Nazarene (Nov. 156) and Central Washington (Nov. 18). The complete 2023 WWU Volleyball schedule, with links to statistics, webcasts, live stats and more can be found online at wwuvikings.com/VB.
Kills – Kepley (11), Speer (9), Oestreich (8)
Aces – Speer (3), VanderYacht (2), Oestreich (2)
Blocks – Vossenkuhl (8), Speer (6), Tri (4)
Assists – Holland (18), Hansen (16)
Digs – Oestreich (12), May (11), Speer (7)
Points – Speer (15.0), Kepley (12.0), Oestreich (11.0), Vossenkuhl (10.0), Tri (10.0)
WWU swept the season series vs. Seattle Pacific also dealing the Falcons a 3-0 sweep on the road on October 5…the Vikings have dealt the Falcons their only two conference losses this season…WWU is now 62-28 all-time vs. SPU with a 26-3 record in the last 29 meetings…the Vikings extended their home winning streak to 11 consecutive matches vs. SPU dating back to 2014.
Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and SPU:
|
COMPARISON
|
WWU
|
SPU
|
|
Attack Pct.
|
.211 (43-17-123)
|
.202 (53-27-129)
|
|
Kills
|
43
|
53
|
|
Assists
|
41
|
51
|
|
Service Aces
|
12
|
3
|
|
Solo Blocks
|
0
|
1
|
|
Block Assists
|
24
|
14
|
|
Total Blocks
|
12.0
|
8.0
|
Here is a look at Western's record breakdown for the 2023 season:
|
2023 RECORD BREAKDOWN
|
|
Overall Record
|
9-13
|
|
Streak
|
W2
|
|
Home
|
5-2
|
|
Away
|
4-5
|
|
Neutral
|
0-6
|
|
GNAC Record
|
9-5
|
|
Non-Conference
|
0-8
|
|
3-Set Matches
|
4-6
|
|
4-Set Matches
|
3-4
|
|
5-Set Matches
|
2-3
|
|
Ranked Opponents
|
2-7
|
|
Winning First Set
|
6-5
|
|
Dropping First Set
|
3-8
|
|
Record by Jersey
|
|
White
|
4-4
|
|
Light Blue
|
0-3
|
|
Dark Gray
|
0-2
|
|
Navy Blue
|
5-4
|
Here is a look updated records for the 10 GNAC volleyball programs through matches played on Saturday, with the Vikings remaining tied for 3rd place in the standings with Simon Fraser:
|
GNAC VOLLEYBALL
|
CONF
|
PCT
|
OVERALL
|
PCT
|
HOME
|
AWAY
|
NEUTRAL
|
STREAK
|
|
1.
|
Seattle Pacific
|
13-2
|
.867
|
19-4
|
.826
|
6-1
|
8-2
|
5-1
|
L1
|
|
2.
|
Central Washington
|
10-4
|
.714
|
16-6
|
.727
|
5-2
|
6-3
|
5-1
|
W4
|
|
3.
|
Western Washington
|
9-5
|
.643
|
9-13
|
.409
|
5-2
|
4-5
|
0-6
|
W2
|
|
|
Simon Fraser
|
9-5
|
.643
|
14-8
|
.636
|
5-2
|
6-5
|
3-1
|
W1
|
|
5.
|
Saint Martin's
|
8-6
|
.571
|
15-9
|
.625
|
6-2
|
5-4
|
4-3
|
L1
|
|
6.
|
Alaska Anchorage
|
7-8
|
.467
|
15-15
|
.500
|
7-5
|
5-4
|
3-6
|
W3
|
|
7.
|
Northwest Nazarene
|
6-8
|
.429
|
10-12
|
.455
|
3-4
|
4-6
|
3-2
|
L2
|
|
8.
|
Alaska Fairbanks
|
6-9
|
.400
|
13-16
|
.448
|
7-9
|
3-4
|
3-3
|
L3
|
|
9.
|
Western Oregon
|
3-11
|
.214
|
9-13
|
.409
|
1-6
|
3-6
|
5-1
|
W1
|
|
10.
|
Montana State Billings
|
1-14
|
.067
|
3-22
|
.120
|
3-8
|
0-11
|
0-3
|
L7
|
|
This Week's GNAC Schedule
|
|
Thursday, November 2:
at Western Washington 3, Montana State Billings 0
Seattle Pacific 3, at Simon Fraser 2
at Alaska Anchorage 3, Western Oregon 0
Saint Martin's 3, at Alaska Fairbanks 0
Saturday, November 4:
Central Washington 3, at Northwest Nazarene 0
Western Oregon 3, at Alaska Fairbanks 1
at Alaska Anchorage 3, Saint Martin's 1
at Simon Fraser 3, Montana State Billings 0
at Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 1
|
Here is a match-by-match look at the 2023 season with current results and the schedule:
|
Date
|
Opponent
|
|
Score
|
Score-by-set
|
|
Yotes Classic Showcase (San Bernardino, CA)
|
|
8/31
|
Regis (#18)
|
L
|
3-1
|
22-25,25-20,15-25,20-25
|
|
8/31
|
Cal State San Bernardino (#19)
|
L
|
3-0
|
22-25,11-25,17-25
|
|
9/1
|
Cal State LA (#9)
|
L
|
3-0
|
17-25,15-25,18-25
|
|
9/2
|
MSU Denver (#3)
|
L
|
3-0
|
19-25,11-25,15-25
|
|
Colorado Premier Challenge (Denver, CO)
|
|
9/8
|
Ferris State (RV)
|
L
|
3-0
|
13-25,22-25,11-25
|
|
9/8
|
Concordia St. Paul (#2)
|
L
|
3-1
|
25-16,15-25,20-25,23-25
|
|
9/9
|
MSU Denver (#6)
|
L
|
3-0
|
20-25,14-25,13-25
|
|
9/9
|
Texas-Tyler (RV)
|
L
|
3-1
|
26-24,17-25,23-25,26-28
|
|
Great Northwest Athletic Conference
|
|
9/14
|
@Central Washington (#13) (GNAC)
|
L
|
3-1
|
15-25,15-25,25-22,23-25
|
|
9/16
|
@Northwest Nazarene (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-2
|
18-25,19-25,25-21,25-16,15-12
|
|
9/21
|
Alaska Anchorage (RV) (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-1
|
18-25,25-23,25-20,27-25
|
|
9/23
|
Alaska Fairbanks (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-2
|
25-11,16-25,25-19,18-25,15-11
|
|
9/30
|
@Simon Fraser (RV) (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-22,25-22,25-22
|
|
10/5
|
@Seattle Pacific (#21) (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-22,25-20,25-22
|
|
10/7
|
@MSU Billings (GNAC)
|
L
|
3-2
|
25-16,24-26,21-25,25-22,13-15
|
|
10/12
|
Saint Martin's (GNAC)
|
L
|
3-2
|
25-22,25-23,22-25,18-25,10-15
|
|
10/14
|
Western Oregon (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-1
|
25-22,12-25,25-17,25-20
|
|
10/19
|
@Alaska Fairbanks (GNAC)
|
L
|
3-0
|
13-25,20-25,15-25
|
|
10/21
|
@Alaska Anchorage (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
26-24,25-23,25-16
|
|
10/28
|
Simon Fraser (GNAC)
|
L
|
3-2
|
25-22,18-25,25-16,18-25,6-15
|
|
11/2
|
MSU Billings (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-0
|
25-15,25-15,25-16
|
|
11/4
|
Seattle Pacific (#18) (GNAC)
|
W
|
3-1
|
21-25,25-19,25-23,25-19
|
|
11/9
|
@Western Oregon (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Monmouth, OR
|
|
11/11
|
@Saint Martin's (GNAC)
|
|
|
1:00 pm – Lacey, WA
|
|
11/16
|
Northwest Nazarene (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Carver Gym
|
|
11/18
|
Central Washington (GNAC)
|
|
|
7:00 pm – Carver Gym
|
