Lonely on top. Picked to finish first and and proving itself worthy of such preseason praise in the first eight matches, 23rd-ranked Seattle Pacific University begins the long and arduos process of going after the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball championship this week, with the first two of 18 league matches being played on the road. The Falcons (7-1), winners of four in a row, visit Western Oregon (3-4) Thursday night (Sept. 6) and Humboldt State (2-6) Saturday night (Sept. 8).

Finally, they noticed. Always at or near the top of their conference, the Falcons have been awaiting affirmation from the pollsters for quite awhile. That made this week's release of the America Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll all the more enjoyable. For the first time since the season-ending poll of 1995 SPU broke into the top 25. The team's sole loss this season was to Barry, now 10th among NCAA Division II programs. An indication of how what fierce competition Seattle Pacific faces is the fact that five teams from the Pacific Region are among the top 20, including No. 1 Hawaii Pacific and No. 3 Cal State San Bernardino. Those two teams dealt SPU postseason defeats last season and the Sea Warriors went on to win the NCAA title.

Firsthand scouting. The Falcons got a good look at Western Oregon during the Wolves' trip to Seattle last weekend for the SPU Invitational. After pulling off an upset of then-nationally ranked Cal State L.A. on the opening weekend of the season, a young WOU went 1-2 at Brougham Pavilion, splitting five-setters with Cal Poly Pomona and Grand Canyon and losing in four games to Cal State L.A. Western Oregon was picked to finish seventh and Humboldt State 10th in the GNAC preseason poll. Seattle Pacific and Western Washington, which was No. 2 in the poll, were the only teams to emerge undefeated during last week's tournament. GNAC teams were a combined 6-2 versus California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) teams.

Ruling the roost. Off the court, Coach Kellie Radloff & Co. were gracious tournament hosts. But on the court, the Falcons were anything but accomodating. SPU won nine straight games at one point in successive wins over Cal State L.A., Grand Canyon and Cal Poly Pomona before being extended to five games by Ferris State. Those victories extended the winning streak in Brougham Pavilion to 16 matches over three seasons.

All hail Leilani. Seattle Pacific begins GNAC play with not only the best overall record in the conference but also with the co-player of the week. Record-setting outside hitter Leilani Kamahoahoa (Sr., Oregon City, Or./Canby) was selected for the award after slamming 56 kills and attacking at a .309 percentage. In so doing, Kamahoahoa surpassed both Stephanie Huffman (1135) and Tosca Lindberg (1141) to become the school's career record-holder for kills, currently with 1164. She also added 12 blocks, 13 service aces and 55 digs last week. Kamahoahoa is the team's season leader in digs per game (3.17) and ranks fourth among GNAC players in service ace average (0.63).

Wiiest voted MVP. Wreaking havoc on teams throughout the tournanment was Leah Wiiest (Sr., Spokane, Wa./Deer Park-Cornell), who was voted the most valuable player after leading the team in blocks (19) and hitting for 43 kills. Joining Wiiest on the all-tourney team were Kamahoahoa and setter Katy Higgins (So., Kirkland, Wa./Redmond), who recorded a tournament-high 157 assists.

Opponent & series notes. Three of the last four meetings with Western Oregon have gone the full five games. The Falcons trail the series 7-5 but have won four of the last six meetings, including a sweep last season...Humboldt State managed to score just 44 points against SPU in two matches in 2000, losing both meetings between the two teams in three-game sweeps. Overall, Seattle Pacific has won the last seven in the series to take a 10-6 lead.

Quick sets. Kamahoahoa is just 108 digs shy of Huffman's career record and 29 aces short of the mark set by Radloff during her career...Despite not having players among the hitting percentage leaders, SPU leads the GNAC with a .231 team average. Individually, Wiiest is fourth in blocking (1.27) and Higgins is fifth in assists (10.07)...Outside hitter Lesley Kamphouse (Sr., Sumas, Wa./Nooksack Valley) is off to a career year, surpassing last season's marks for games played, kills, assists, service aces, digs and blocks in just eight matches...In a pair of five-set wins so far this season, the Falcons rebounded after losing the momentum-shifting fourth game...For last week's tournament, Kamahoahoa and Wiiest combined for 99 kills and the team served 43 aces to the opponents' 23. Defensively, SPU held opposing attackers to a dismal .075 hitting percentage...Andrea Dettorre's (So., Vancouver, Wa./Prairie) eight service aces helped bring back SPU fron a 0-1 defecit versus Cal State L.A...Monica Abrahamson (Sr., Spokane, Wa./Rogers) returned to the lineup after missing two matches in Miami and contributed 14 blocks (0.93 average) and 28 kills...Cathleen Price (Fr., Gresham, Or./Sam Barlow) totaled 40 digs and 37 kills last week.

SPU Coaches. In her first season as a head coach, Kellie Radloff's team earned its first trip to the NCAA tournament, won its division in the Pacific West Conference and advanced to the conference semifinals for the first time. It set a school record with 20 consecutive wins and equaled the marks for most wins (24) and fewest losses (6) in a season. Radloff, whose past collegiate experience included two years under JoAnn Atwell-Scrivner at SPU (1994-95) and one year at Syracuse, was the Falcons' starting setter from 1989-91, earning all-conference as a senior. She remains the SPU record-holder for service aces (142) in a career and single match assists (83). Hannah (Bradford) Walker is in her first season as an assistant coach. She was an assistant at Whitworth College for two seasons and owns the SPU career record for kills average (3.5). Antonela Secer, a native of Croatia, also joins the staff along with Jim Woolace, formerly a high school coach in Fairbanks.