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Repeat bid. Following a sometimes hectic first two weeks of the volleyball season, 18th-ranked Seattle Pacific University opens Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. Finishing a run of 10 road matches among the first 12, the Falcons’ (8-2) quest for a second straight conference crown begins Thursday night (Sept. 7) at Alaska Anchorage (3-5). After Saturday’s (Sept. 9) match at Alaska Fairbanks (1-6), SPU returns to Brougham Pavilion to host Western Oregon Sept. 14.

No surprises. Seattle Pacific caught a few teams by surprise last season in capturing its first GNAC crown after being picked to finish fourth in the preseason coaches poll. This year, however, all eyes are on the Falcons, who received all but one first place vote as a near-unanimous pick to repeat as conference champs. They finished last season by winning their final 11 GNAC encounters. Central Washington, which shared the title last season, figures to be SPU’s toughest competitor; the Wildcats received the other first-place vote and have won nine out of their first 10.

Home dominance. One priority for second-year coach Chris Johnson and the Falcons will be taking care of business at home after the team’s success at Brougham Pavilion last season was instrumental in its championship run. Last week, the Falcons won their 11th and 12th straight matches at home, dating back to last year, and did so in dominant fashion. The Falcons averaged more than seven kills per game and out-hit opponents .301 to .124 in a pair of sweeps over Hawaii Hilo and then-13th-ranked Hawaii Pacific.

Complete floor coverage. No, the Falcons do not have multiple players wearing the 11 jersey on the court at once. That’s just one player, Angie Wodrich (Jr., 5-10, Richland, Wa.), covering all areas of the court. In last week’s home wins, Wodrich led SPU with 32 points on 26 kills, a .411 hitting percentage, six service aces and 17 digs. Wodrich’s per game averages rank amongst the GNAC leaders in nearly every major statistical category. She is sixth in points (3.82), seventh in aces (0.53), 10th in blocks (0.82), 11th in kills (2.82), 17th in hitting percentage (.227) and 28th in digs (2.68).

Minding the net. Along with the two home victories, Seattle Pacific also took three of four matches at the Fort Lewis College Labor Day tournament. The high altitude (6521 feet) in Durango, Colo., seemed to adversely affected SPU’s service game. Thirteen service errors were committed in the lone loss, to tournament host and undefeated Fort Lewis. Still, the Falcons’ continued to dominate net play. They nearly doubled the blocking total of their opponents during the tournament. In all six matches last week SPU averaged 15.5 kills and 2.3 blocks and hit .230, while opponents averaged just 11.1 kills and 1.4 blocks while hitting at a .116 clip. Rachel Biornstad (Jr., 6-0, Kent, Wa./Kentlake) was the leader in the middle. She averaged three kills and 1.5 blocks during the tournament and 2.8 kills and 1.3 blocks for the entire week. Biornstad also tallied a .243 hitting percentage. She is currently third in the conference at 1.2 blocks per game.

Freshman impact. With six returning starters in the lineup, Johnson initially thought it might take a while to see his strong recruiting class’ abilities on the court. However, two rookies have already earned regular minutes and have provided strong contributions. Jessica Bettencourt (Fr., 5-11, South Lake Tahoe, Ca.) recorded 16 kills on .324 hitting and nine block assists to help SPU get past future GNAC member Montana State Billings 3-2. Nikki Finley (Fr., 5-9, Highlands Ranch, Co./Mountain Vista) came up with 17 kills on a .289 hitting percentage in a 3-1 win over Dixie State. Bettencourt is second on the team and 15th in the conference with a .228 hitting percentage. She is also fourth on the team and 19th in the GNAC with 0.7 blocks per game. Finley, who had joined the team for spring training, is fourth on the team and 19th in the league with 2.7 kills per game.

Quick sets. In the first AVCA coaches poll for NCAA Division II, the Falcons held their preseason ranking of No. 18. BYU Hawaii, which swept SPU to open the season Aug. 24, entered the top 25 at No. 14, while Cal State San Bernardino and UC San Diego are Nos. 7 and 8...Alyssa Given (Jr., 5-10, Salinas, Ca./Notre Dame) averaged 4.5 kills, 2.7 digs and hit .264 last week. She has reached double figures in kills in all 10 matches this season and has topped 20 kills four times. Given is second in the GNAC in both kills (4.8) and points (5.3) per game…Jenna Von Moos (Sr., 5-10, Stanwood, Wa.) averaged 12.7 assists in climbing to No. 3 all-time at SPU. She also hit at a .328 clip and averaged 2.7 digs and just under a block per game. Von Moos leads the league in assists…Tiffany Butac (Sr., 5-2, Pearl City, Hi./Hawaii Baptist) is fourth all-time in digs…The Falcons lead the GNAC in kills (16.0) and rank second in hitting percentage (.220). Defensively SPU is second in opponent hitting percentage (.128) and third in blocking (2.3)...GNAC teams finished the pre-conference schedule with a 23-21 record against Pacific Region teams. A year ago, GNAC teams were just 12-40 against regional opponents.

SPU coaches. Chris Johnson took the Falcons to their first conference championship and an NCAA tournament berth in his inaugural season as head coach, and was voted GNAC co-coach of the year. Johnson was the team’s top assistant in 2004, and earlier served as an assistant at NAIA powerhouse Westmont from 2001-03. A native of Bellevue and graduate of Interlake High School, Johnson earned his bachelor’s degree in art from Westmont in 2002. He played a total of five years at the collegiate club level, including three at Westmont. Johnson’s staff features two new aides. Gretchen Killebrew, an all-Pac-10 setter at Washington, was the Bellevue Community College head coach a year ago. Johnny Lai was an assistant at BCC for the past three years.

Tickets, please. Ticket prices for all SPU regular season home matches are $5 for general admission, with students and senior citizens $3. Group and team rates are available by phoning (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.