Falcons Begin Year
With a Bang
IN LATE NOVEMBER, the inaugural NCAA
Division II fall Sports Festival will be held in
Pensacola, Florida. There, champions will be
determined in several sports, and it’s possible
that Seattle Pacific University athletes could
fill more than their fair share of hotel rooms.
Four SPU teams were ranked among the
nation’s top 20 going into November, and all
earned postseason berths. Volleyball is enjoying
its best season ever at 24-2, as GNAC
champions, and with a national ranking of
No. 12. Junior Alyssa Given leads the league in
points and kills, while senior Jenna Von Moos
is among the top setters in Division II and was
voted conference Player of the Year. SPU was
unbeaten in conference play and seeded fourth
in the Pacific Regional, November 9–11,
in San Bernardino, California.
Freshman Jessica Pixler is a member of
two outstanding teams: A reserve on the
18th-ranked soccer squad, she also runs cross
country. Pixler won her first four races, including
the GNAC and West Region championships.
The women’s team is ranked 8th in the
country and has already qualified for the trip
to Pensacola after winning the GNAC.
The young women’s soccer team beat
Seattle University in the first round of the
NCAA tournament before being eliminated
by UC San Diego in a rematch of last year’s
regional championship game.
Men’s soccer matched its best start in 12
years, winning nine of the first 11 games. The
program’s 500th win (499 coming under Cliff
McCrath as coach) came on September 22,
and the Falcons won a share of the GNAC
crown. SPU has qualified for the NCAA
tournament a record 30 times since 1971.
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