Coming Up – Seattle Pacific (October 24, Lacey, Washington, 7:00 p.m.), Montana State Billings (October 26, Lacey, Washington, 7:00 p.m.).
COMPLETE MEDIA GUIDE
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Saints Power Past Alaska In Dominating Fashion –Behind
Rebecca Mitchell's double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs, the Saints powered past the University of Alaska in four sets to tie the school record in wins in the NCAA era. The Saints jumped out to an early lead in the opening set with two kills from Mitchell and
Megan Vernoy each along with a service ace by
Hannah Neumann. Alaska collected two points to cut the lead to 7-5 before the Saints went on a 6-1 run to establish a 13-6 edge.
Rachel Gondrezick capped off the run with back-to-back kills. The Saints followed it with an 8-3 stretch to extend their commanding lead to 21-10, highlighted by kills from four Saints and two service aces. The Nanooks cut the score to within six before
Liz Larson sealed the set victory with a kill. SMU took the early lead once again, 6-4, before Alaska used a 6-2 run to take their first lead of the set at 11-8. Alaska, fueled by a .367 hitting percentage as a team, extended their lead out to six points before the Saints rallied to cut the score to within one point at 19-18. However, the Nanooks held off the Saints' attack and tied the match at 1-1. An 8-0 run for Saint Martin's, powered by three kills from Mitchell, boosted the Saints to a quick 10-3 lead in the third set. A 6-1 run in favor of SMU helped extend the score to 17-8, and finally another 6-0 run clinched the set victory and forced the Nanooks into an elimination set. Six different Saints contributed with kills while the Nanooks struggled offensively with a -.083 hitting percentage in the set. Saint Martin's dominated the early goings of the set once again, taking another commanding lead at 13-3, led by back-to-back service aces for
Courtney Misner. The Nanooks did not go quietly into the night, mounting an impressive 13-4 swing to cut the Saints' lead to 17-16. After kills by Gondrezick and Mitchell looked to end Alaska's run, the Nanooks rallied to score seven of the next nine points to push within two points of forcing a decisive fifth set. Trailing 23-21, Larson and
Emily Gooding combined for a block and the Saints tied the match on the following service ace by Mitchell. Larson came through once again for the Saints on the net with a solo block to force match serve for SMU. The Saints clinched the victory on a Gondrezick kill from Mitchell on the following serve. With the victory, the Saints' win total improved to eight, tying the school record for most wins in a single season since the Saints joined the NCAA in 1998. Also, all eight wins have come against D-II opponents, the most D-II wins in school history in a single season.
Leading the way for the Saints was senior
Rebecca Mitchell with her 15 kills, .389 hitting percentage, 10 digs, along with four blocks and four service aces. Gondrezick (11), Gooding (10) and Vernoy (10) each reached the double-digit mark in kills while Gooding posted a match-high .474 hitting percentage.
Nicolette Nesbitt (25) and
Jordan Keane (19) combined for 48 assists while Gooding led the Saints with seven blocks, part of the Saints' 14 total blocks.
Hannah Neumann tallied 17 digs while four other Saints recorded five digs or more.
Saints Take Set From Alaska Anchorage At Home –After taking the first set off of Alaska Anchorage, 25-19, the Seawolves stormed back to win the next three sets to clinch the four set victory over Saint Martin's (19-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-17) on Saturday night. Alaska Anchorage took the quick 8-5 lead before a kill from
Jordan Keane and back-to-back service aces by
Emily Gooding tied the match at 8-8. The Saints gained their first lead (12-10) of the set after a short 4-0 run, with kills from
Kamille Langford,
Megan Vernoy and
Rachel Gondrezick. After trading points back-and-forth throughout the set, the Seawolves trimmed the Saints' lead to 19-18. Gondrezick sparked the closing 6-1 run with a kill and block before
Courtney Misner's service ace and Vernoy's kill clinched the 25-19 set victory. The Saints jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the second set with another service ace by Misner and kills by Langford, Vernoy and Gondrezick. SMU extended their lead to 10-5 before Alaska Anchorage mounted an impressive 11-1 run to seize control of the set. Despite falling behind, the Saints continued to battle and slowly trim the lead down to 20-18 after a kill from
Rebecca Mitchell. However, Alaska Anchorage ended the set on a 5-1 run to win the second set 25-19. Coming out of the break, the Seawolves struck first, going on a 11-5 run to open up the third set. Blocks by Langford and Gondrezick pushed the Saints back into the match, with SMU eventually cutting the UAA lead to 14-12. Alaska Anchorage responded by going on a 6-1 run to reopen their lead to 20-13 before a kill by Gooding, followed by a Gooding service ace attempted to start a Saints' comeback. Alaska Anchorage closed out the set with three unanswered points to push the Saints to an elimination set. In the final set, both teams struggled to gain any serious advantage, with the score remaining close at 11-10 after a kill by Vernoy. Alaska Anchorage used two short runs of 4-0 and 5-0 to gain the edge over the Saints at 21-14. The Saints' offense struggled the closing points, with 10 attack errors in the set, as the Seawolves finished off the Saints 25-17.
Rebecca Mitchell,
Megan Vernoy and
Kamille Langford combined for 23 kills while Country Misner and
Emily Gooding recorded four and three service aces respectively.
Nicolette Nesbitt led the team with 22 assists with
Jordan Keane adding 12 assists. Defensively, Langford managed three blocks while
Hannah Neumann dug 21 attacks, followed by Misner at 11 digs.
Seattle Pacific Preview – The Falcons enter match on a three-game losing skid after falling to both Alaska schools last weekend. Seattle Pacific edged out the victory over the Saints in their first meeting, in the fifth set in Seattle. Gabby Oddo (287 kills, .215 attack percentage), Olivia Turner (188 kills, .171 attack percentage) and Hannah Lautenbach (210 kills, .170 attach percentage) make up the majority of the Falcons' kills. Assisted them is Symone Tran who leads the team with 823 assists and 9.68 assists per set. Nicole Tchabanov leads the team in blocks with 80 including 12 solos. The Falcons feature four players with 200 digs or more with Amanda Ganete leading the pack with 321.
Montana State Billings Preview – The Yellowjackets of Montana State Billings will face the Saints before traveling to Seattle Pacific on Saturday. The Yellowjackets enter the week on a six-game losing streak after dropping matches against Western Washington and Simon Fraser at home. Maddie Vigil leads the team in almost every offensive category including kills (240), kills per set (3.38), points (261.5), and is second in attack percentage (.186). Backing her is Bayli Monck who ranks second on the team in kills (178), kills per set (2.93), and points (199.5), while leading the team in attack percentage (.192). Setter Kylee Clarke fuels the offense with a team leading 381 assists while Izela Alvarez has recorded 24 service aces. Alvarez also leads MSUB in digs with 385 while Hali Ehresmann and Monck have combined for 77 blocks.
GNAC Review – The surging Vikings of Western Washington (winners of ten straight) and the newly named Nighthawks of Northwest Nazarene sit atop the GNAC standings at 11-1 in conference play. After being voted in the top-25 poll this week, No. 25 Central Washington comes in a third with an 10-2 record, followed closely by Alaska Anchorage at 9-3. Simon Fraser (6-6) took a one game lead over Seattle Pacific (5-7) for fifth with Concordia at 4-8, one game behind them in the standings. Saint Martin's and Alaska move up, tied for eighth at 3-9 with Western Oregon and Central Washington both at 2-10.
