Back-to-back. Seattle Pacific University's volleyball team, returning to the NCAA Division II tournament for the second time in as many years, faces some imposing opponents at this week's Pacific Regional. The Falcons (20-7), seeded No. 5, face defending national champion, Pacific West Conference champion and No. 15-ranked Hawaii Pacific (18-4) in a first-round match Thursday (Nov. 15). The victor advances to Friday night's (Nov. 16) semifinal to face top-seeded, No. 5-ranked and tournament host Cal State San Bernardino (28-2). The championship match is Saturday night (Nov. 17) with the regional winner facing the Atlantic Region representative in the NCAA Championships Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at a site yet to be determined.

Field of dreams. If history is any harbinger, the Pacific Regional makes the NCAA finals look like a coronation ceremony. The region's winner has gone on to take the national title each of the last three years and 13 of the 20 years in which there's been a Div. II tournament. Hawaii Pacific is bidding for its third NCAA crown in four years. BYU Hawaii upset the Sea Warriors in the 1999 regional final en route to the championship. Four of the six teams in this year's Pacific regional were nationally-ranked last week and a fifth ranked team was bypassed. Rounding out the other half of the bracket are No. 23 Western Washington (23-4) and Cal State L.A. (19-10), with the winner facing No. 2 seed and 18th-ranked UC San Diego (22-6). Cal State Bakersfield, ranked 20th, was the odd team out after falling at home to Cal State L.A. last week.

Tough enough. One reason the Falcons made the playoffs despite four fewer wins than a year ago was their strength of schedule. SPU was 2-3 in matches versus teams which made the 48-team national bracket, defeating both New York Tech and Cal State L.A. in the first two weeks of the season. The three losses were to No. 6 Barry (Fl.) and Western Washington (twice), all by a 3-1 score.

On an upswing. Seattle Pacific moved into the region's No. 5 spot Oct. 10 and did not relinquish it, winning five of its final six outings. Plagued by injuries earlier in the season, the Falcons nevertheless posted their fourth consecutive 20-win campaign. That fact was assured by last week's road sweep of Simon Fraser, the local NAIA regional winner. A tough, four-set loss to Western Washington in the regular season finale´ was only the second home setback since 1999. All four games with the Vikings were decided by five points or less. Western won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with an unblemished league mark while SPU tied for second place.

Balanced, experienced. Unlike last year, this time around Coach Kellie Radloff's squad features a much more experienced lineup and balanced attack. There are four seniors in the starting lineup and five players average more than two kills per game. Leah Wiiest (Sr., Spokane, Wa./Deer Park-Cornell) tops the team in both kills (3.63) and blocks (0.85) while Cathleen Price (Fr., Gresham, Or./Sam Barlow), a top contender for GNAC newcomer of the year, owns the best attack percentage (.266) and is second in kills (3.43), service aces (0.47) and blocks (0.83). Leilani Kamahoahoa (Sr., Oregon City, Or./Canby), who missed six midseason matches with knee and ankle injuries, returned to lead SPU in digs (3.40) and aces (0.51).

Quick Sets. Seattle Pacific finished the regular season ranked second among GNAC teams in kills (15.01) and digs (17.27) and fourth in hitting percentage (.205)...Individually, setter Katy Higgins (So., Kirkland, Wa./Redmond) is second in assists (11.84); Kamahoahoa is fourth in digs and fifth in service aces; Wiiest is sixth in kills and 11th in hitting; Carri Colvin (Jr., Vancouver, Wa./Prairie) is sixth in digs (3.04); Andrea Dettorre (So., Vancouver, Wa./Prairie) is seventh in service aces (0.44) and Price is eighth in kills and 10th in hitting percentage...Kamahoahoa, already the leader in career kills and digs, is 11 aces away from overtaking Radloff as the record-holder...Higgins remains on pace to break the season assists average record of 11.69 set by Deri Paulson in 1988...Wiiest's career kills average (3.48) is within range of the record of 3.51 set by assistant coach Hannah Walker...Lesley Kamphouse (Sr., Sumas, Wa./Nooksack Valley) had 13 kills and Wiiest 14 vs. Western Washington. The Falcons had a season-high 116 digs, including 31 by Kamahoahoa...SPU hit .340 Simon Fraser with Price hitting nine kills and Colvin finishing six of her eight opportunities.

Opponent & series notes. Hawaii Pacific is 4-0 and has never dropped a game to the Falcons, including a 3-0 sweep in the PacWest championship match last season. The Sea Warriors are led by setter Nia Tuitele, the PacWest player of the year, and Andrea Wean, who leads the team in hitting (.362) and is second in kills (4.54). HPU has been idle since Nov. 5...Cal State San Bernardino, which extended Hawaii Pacific to five games in the 2000 regional final, eliminated SPU in the first round. The Coyotes are 11-0 at home, losing only two games. Kim Morohunfola averages 4.42 kills and hits .486...The Falcons are 0-2 all-time against UC San Diego, 14-26 versus Western Washington, and 1-1 against CSLA, including a 3-1 victory at the SPU Invitational Aug. 30.

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.