Falcons on fire. The Seattle Pacific University volleyball team continued its late-season tear with a pair of convincing home victories to move back into sole possession of fourth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Now the Falcons (10-6, 14-10) look to continue climbing the league ladder with a pair of road matches to finish the regular season. SPU visits Northwest Nazarene (9-7, 14-9) Thursday night (Nov. 11), then finishes against cross-city rival Seattle University (11-5, 13-11) Saturday evening (Nov. 13). NCAA Division II tournament invitations will be announced Sunday (Nov. 14) and the Pacific Regional is Nov. 18-20.

Late playoff push. With eight Pacific Region playoff berths available for the NCAA tournament, Coach Kellie Ryan’s Falcons realize that they are still in the hunt. Seattle Pacific has claimed seven of its last nine matches, including three straight victories by sweeps and a total of six during its recent hot streak. Yet, after a 7-8 start, SPU will need to close the season with victories in its final two matches and probably need some help to earn a postseason berth. Seattle University is currently ranked 11th in the region. With a victory, the Falcons would either tie or pass the Redhawks for third in the GNAC and possibly pass them in the regional rankings as well. A pair of Western Washington losses could also position the Falcons to tie the Vikings for second in the league. Western is currently ranked ninth in the region, and matching the Vikings in the GNAC standings may bear some weight.

Winning in dominant fashion. Seattle Pacific’s victories last week were its two most dominant performances of the 2004 campaign. SPU hit for a .302 percentage as a team and held Humboldt State and Western Oregon to a combined negative .007 attacking percentage. In Saturday’s match, WOU did not hit in positive figures in any of the three games and the Wolves were held to negative figures in the first two. Seattle Pacific had a combined 107 kills in the two matches, while HSU and WOU combined for just 54. The Falcons also had a 20-7 edge in blocks.

Ralph named GNAC Player of the Week. Middle hitter Katie Ralph (Jr., Port Orchard, Wa./South Kitsap) was named the GNAC player of the week after recording team highs of 24 kills and 10 blocks in the victories over Humboldt State and Western Oregon. Ralph hit at a .500 clip (only one error) and also had 11 digs. Against the Lumberjacks Ralph had 16 kills on a .640 hitting percentage and three block assists. The following night, she tallied eight kills and seven block assists to help lead the Falcons to their second and third straight victories by a 3-0 sweep. Along with her 10 blocks, Ralph seemed to get her hands on nearly every opponent attack, leading to countless easy digs for Seattle Pacific.

Quick sets. Seattle Pacific’s defense has been instrumental during its recent winning streak. The Falcons lead the GNAC in both blocks (2.45 per game) and opponents’ hitting percentage (.146)...Ralph is leading the way with a GNAC-best 1.19 blocks per game. Whitney Dibble (So., Reno, Nv./Galena) is ninth at 0.94...Tiffany Butac (So., Pearl City, Hi./Hawaii Baptist) leads the back line with 4.48 digs per game, 11th in the GNAC. If that average holds for the remainder of the season, it would eclipse the record of 4.29, set by Nami Teramae in 1994...Setter Jenna Von Moos (So., Stanwood, Wa.) had 13 kills on a .632 hitting percentage, 79 assists, 24 digs and six blocks in the two victories last week. She ranks fourth in the GNAC in hitting percentage (.305), fifth in assists (10.58) and 20th in blocks (0.73)...Chelsey Myers (Jr., Minden, Nv./Douglas) is the team leader and 15th in the GNAC in kills average (2.85)...With last week’s wins, SPU clinched a winning record for the fourth time in Ryan’s five years and 11th time in the program’s 18 years...UC San Diego was the No. 1 team in the Pacific last week, followed by Cal State San Bernardino, Central Washington, Hawaii Pacific, Cal State L.A., Chaminade, Cal State Bakersfield and Cal Poly Pomona, which Seattle Pacific defeated in Pomona Sept. 1. UCSD, San Bernardino, Central and CSLA account for five of the Falcons’ losses.

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.