BURNABY, BC – Trailing two games to none and then down 8-1 in the fifth set, Simon Fraser University staged an epic comeback to take down Seattle Pacific University and win its Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's volleyball home opener Thursday evening in the West Gym.
 
Simon Fraser beat the Falcons in five sets (19-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-20, 16-14) before a crowd of 475 fans who were celebrating Red Night, the Clan's conference home opener.
 
"Our ability to be resilient and keep fighting carried us tonight," said head coach Gina Schmidt. "We are a fun brand of volleyball to watch and we gave the crowd an entertaining game."
 
"This is a new group and we saw people step up and we are starting to find that chemistry," she continued. "The more five setters we play the more character we develop."
 
WATCH ON-DEMAND: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=3&v=vMFRGXMEFxM

The fifth set is where the Clan really showed their strength. While the Falcons took an initial 8-1 lead, the Clan didn't give up and chipped away at the score point by point. Freshman Tessa May went on a short serving run and the Clan finally tied the game, 12-12. The score was even at 14 apiece when Tamara Nipp set up Devon May for a kill, and then after a timeout, SPU's Lexi Biondi was blocked by Madison Power and Christine Howlett for the winning point.
 
""The crowd was great and it definitely helped us in that fifth set," said Schmidt. "I was a little concerned on the flip but having seen our team perform in fifth sets before you can never count us out.  We just seem to have the ability to gut it out.
 
SFU is now 3-2 overall in five set matches and 5-4 overall.
 
Howlett led the Clan with 18 kills while the May sisters, Devon and Tessa, had 17 and 12, respectively.
 
SPU outside hitter Biondi led all players with a match-high 25 kills while Symone Tran had a match high 51 assists.
 
The Clan started the match slowly, losing the first two sets with Biondi having 11 kills and Dani Johnson 7. SFU faced a point deficit early on in the first set that carried the Falcons through for a 25-19 win in the opener and a 25-22 in the second set.
 
Those losses didn't tear the Clan down.
 
Captains Devon May, Alison McKay and Danielle Curtis rallied the Clan together to fight back and to take the third and fourth sets. In the third set SFU kept the sets tight with big blocks contributed by middle and right side blockers as well as a smooth offense run by setters Danielle Curtis and Tamara Nipp.
 
SFU clinched the sets at 25-21 and 25-20 setting the stage for the fifth set comeback.
 
SFU continues on this weekend with an exhibition match Friday night at Trinity Western University, and then the Clan hosts St. Martins University Saints in the West Gym on Saturday night at 7:00 PM.