Complete Box Score

SEATTLE (Sep. 23) Shelby Gihring had a career-high 26 kills and Seattle Pacific moved into sole possession of first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 3-1 victory over cross-city rival Seattle University in women’s volleyball action Saturday night at SU’s Connolly Center.

Coupled with Central Washington’s loss to Western Washington, the Falcons (6-0 GNAC, 14-2) remain the only undefeated team in league play. Central Washington, who the Falcons face next Saturday in Ellensburg, and Western Washington both have one conference loss. The Redhawks fell to 10-6 overall, but are just 1-4 in league play.

Gihring (Sr., 5-10, Kent, Wa./Kentlake) and fellow outside hitter Alyssa Given (Jr., 5-10, Salinas, Ca./Notre Dame) combined for a whopping 51 of SPU’s 69 kills in the match. Seattle University totaled just 38 kills as a team.

Girhring also led the Falcons with a .392 hitting percentage. Given had 25 kills on .382 hitting to go along with three service aces and 18 digs.

The Falcons hit .263 as a team, and held the Redhawks to just .087 for the match. SPU nearlu doubled SU in kills (69-38).

Jessica Bettencourt (Fr., 5-11, South Lake Tahoe, Ca.), Rachel Bironstad (Jr., 6-0, Kent, Wa./Kentlake) and Angie Wodrich (Jr., 5-10, Richland, Wa.) all had five kills each in the win, and Jenna Von Moos (Sr., 5-10, Stanwood, Wa.) finished with three kills, 57 assists and 10 digs.

Senior libero Tiffany Butac (Sr., 5-2, Pearl City, Hi./Hawaii Baptist) led the Falcons with 24 digs to move into third place on the school’s all-time list with 1,209 for her career.

Emily Powell led the Redhawks with 11 kills. Nikole Thompson added 10 kills in the loss, SU’s fourth in its past five matches. Melissa Mulick tallied a match-high 30 digs in the loss.

The Falcons next head south to Lacey, Wa. for a GNAC match against Saint Martin’s at 7:00 p.m.

Seattle Pacific def. Seattle University 30-16,25-30,30-17,30-22
Seattle Pacific (14-2, 6-0 GNAC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Gihring,Shelby 26-1-0; Given,Alyssa 25-3-0; Wodrich,Angie 5-1-2; Bettencourt,Jessica 5-0-2; Biornstad,Rachel 5-2-2; Von Moos,Jenna 3-1-2; Mount,Torii 0-1-0; Totals 69-9-4.0. (Assists) - Von Moos,Jenna 57. (Dig leaders) - Butac,Tiffany 24; Given,Alyssa 18; Mount,Torii 17; Wodrich,Angie 10; Von Moos,Jenna 10
Seattle University (10-6, 1-4 GNAC) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Powell,Emily 11-2-2; Thompson,Nikole 10-0-0; Burrows,Jenny 6-0-4; Christiansen,Josie 4-0-0; Ross,Tori 2-3-0; Campbell,Lauren 2-0-1; Kauhane,Owena 1-0-0; Graff,Libby 1-0-1; Gunderson,Jessica 1-0-0; Vierra,Marisa 0-3-0; Mulick,Melissa 0-1-0; Totals 38-9-5.0. (Assists) - Ross,Tori 29. (Dig leaders) - Mulick,Melissa 30; Ross,Tori 12
Site: Seattle, Wash. (Connolly Center). Date: Sep 23, 2006. Attend: 182. Time: 1:50. Referees: Ric Lomibao, Allan Chinn.