Alaska schools within reach. Very little separates fourth place from eighth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball standings, and this weekend Seattle Pacific University hopes to bridge that gap. The Falcons (6-7, 2-3 GNAC), who came within precious few points of upsetting nationally-ranked Western Washington a week ago, look to rebound at home this week against Alaska Anchorage (9-5, 3-3) Friday (Oct. 1) and Alaska Fairbanks (6-7, 3-3) Saturday (Oct. 2). Next week comes a travel venture to Western Oregon and Humboldt State.

Little separation. While preseason league favorites Central Washington, Seattle University and Western Washington are threatening to pull away from the pack, the GNAC standings are thick in the middle. Five teams are separated by just one win, and they are all within two matches of a spot in the top three. The Falcons are tied for seventh in the standings and hope to make a move up with five of their next seven matches at home, after spending 11 of their first 13 away from Brougham Pavilion. With victories, SPU could leapfrog the two Alaska schools.

Vikings extend streak. Less than a week after Western Washington had its 54-match conference win streak snapped, the Vikings were facing their first loss to Seattle Pacific in four years. The Falcons got off to a hot start, winning game one and building a 2-1 lead. SPU had its sights set on closing the match out when Jenna Von Moos (So., Stanwood, Wa.) put the Falcons up 27-26 with a late kill in game four. However, Western rallied with four straight points to force a fifth game. The Falcons rallied from an early five-point deficit in the decisive game to pull within one, 13-12, on a WWU attack error. Chelsey Myers (Jr., Minden, Nv./Douglas) put SPU back to within one at 14-13 with a kill, but Western scored on the next play to finish the comeback and take its seventh straight fin the series.

Battling the best. While SPU stands at just 2-3 in league play, the Falcons have shown they are plenty capable of making a run for the top of the GNAC pack. Seattle Pacific has challenged and taken the GNAC elite to the wire this year. Last week’s narrow loss to Western Washington was a highly impressive performance on the road. Earlier in the season, Seattle Pacific took cross-city rival Seattle University (5-1 GNAC), the league’s No. 2 team, to five games, coming back from a 2-0 deficit for a thrilling, five-game finish.

Coming on strong. Several key players are beginning to assert themselves as the season reaches its halfway point. In the middle, Ralph has connected for 35 kills, totaled 12 blocks (four stuffs) and hit .286 in her last two outings. Aylssa Given (Fr., Salinas, Ca./Notre Dame) is developing into a strong outside, with double figures in kills the past six matches. On the other side, Kathleen Monda (Sr., Woodinville, Wa.) has 50 kills in the last four matches, including a superb 13 (and no errors) in 38 attempts at Western. Defensively, Von Moos has back-to-back career-highs of 20 digs and Tiffany Butac (So., Pearly City, Hi./Hawaii Baptist) is coming off a career-best 34 digs at Bellingham.

Quick sets. With the loss to Western Washington, SPU fell to 2-3 in five-game matches this year. Two of those losses have come when Seattle Pacific has built a 2-1 lead...Three players recorded double figures in kills and digs against the Vikings. Myers had 17 kills and 18 digs in the loss, scoring 20 points. Monda added 13 kills and 20 digs. Given had 10 kills and 18 digs, and Ralph recorded team highs of 18 kills (a career high) and six blocks and scored 22 points, also a team best...Rachel Biornstad (Fr., Kent, Wa./Kentlake) had season bests of seven kills, six digs and four blocks last week...Von Moos continues to pile on the assists. She set a new career high for the third time this season and has eclipsed the 50-assist plateau four times this season. Over the last five matches, she has raised her average nearly two per game and is eighth in the GNAC at 9.48 per game. Von Moos also ranks fourth in the conference with a .327 hitting percentage...Ralph ranks fourth in the conference in blocks with an even one per game and is eighth with a .273 hitting percentage...Given is eighth in the GNAC with 0.43 service aces per game and has taken over the team lead in kills (2.75) and points (3.28) per game...Seattle Pacific is holding teams to a .183 hitting percentage, fourth-best in the GNAC...The Falcons had a season-high 122 digs at Western and tied a high with 12 total blocks (5-14).

SPU coaches. In her first four seasons as a head coach, Kellie Ryan has guided the Falcons to new heights. Under Ryan, SPU earned its first two trips to the NCAA tournament and established a new record for consecutive wins (20) while equaling marks for most wins (24) and fewest losses (6) in a season. She entered Œ04 with a overall mark of 68-40. Ryan, 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 honors as a senior. She remains the SPU record-holder for service aces (142) in a career and single match assists (83). Chris Johnson, assistant for Westmont College in Santa Barbara from 2001-2003, joins the SPU staff this season. Jim Woolace returns for his fourth season as an assistant.

Tickets, please. General admission tickets for all SPU home volleyball matches are priced $5 with students, youth and senior citizens $3 with proper identification. Teams or groups can qualify for discount rates by call (206) 281-2085 in advance.

Missing links. For the latest and best information on Seattle Pacific University athletics, stay where you're at -- on The Falcons Online. For updated standings and statistics, see the Great Northwest Athletic Conference web site.