The young Seattle University volleyball team had its chances to extend Sunday’s match against the University of Nevada, but the Wolf Pack made enough plays at the right times to defeat the Redhawks, 3-1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-23, 25-21), in the third and final match of the Nevada Tournament at Virginia Street Gym.
The fourth set was tight, with neither team able to put any distance between itself and its opponent. After a Jamie Mellies (, ) kill tied the set 16-16, scored eight of the next 11 points to bring about match point. Back-to-back kills by Cristin Richards () held off the home team, but the Wolf Pack would finally close the deal on a kill by Kylee Vance.
The third set was a battle, as again took the early lead at 7-2 with making a comeback. After several efforts, the Redhawks finally tied the set 18-18, but the Wolf Pack earned two straight kills to retake the lead. The rest of the set went back and forth with nine consecutive sideouts, allowing to win the set and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the first set, jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but went on a 5-1 run to take the advantage. Later in the set, the Wolf Pack outscored the Redhawks 9-2 to extend their lead to 21-13 and would eventually take the set. posted a .400 hitting percentage and took advantage of five Redhawk service errors.
The home team would be the one making the mistakes in set two, hitting at a negative percentage thanks to 14 attack errors. After falling behind 6-1 because of three straight attack errors of its own, chipped away at the lead, going ahead for good at 19-18 and extending the lead with consecutive kills by Jordan Keller (, ) and Kaytlyn Dill (). Keller was also part of back-to-back blocks that finished off the second set in ’s favor.
Richards and Dill each finished with ten kills and two block assists, while junior Emily Powell () notched nine kills and five total blocks. Mellies, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, had another solid all-around match with 31 assists, three service aces, and 16 defensive digs. At the net, Keller also finished with five total blocks, and Libby Graff () contributed four blocks to go along with her four kills.
(2-3) was led by Lindsay Baldwin, who collected 15 kills, three service aces, and five total blocks in the match. Kylie Harrington had 12 kills and eight digs during the afternoon, while Allison Hernandez earned ten kills and a team-high 14 digs. Setter Sonnie Sei notched 41 assists and three total blocks, and Nicole Link also helped the defense with 12 digs.
(1-6) heads to next weekend, first to face , , and at the Portland State Volleyball Showcase Friday and Saturday, Sept. 12-13. The Redhawks will then travel to , to face the Ducks of Oregon next Sunday, Sept. 14, at 1 p.m. The team returns to Seattle for three straight matches, traveling across town to face the ninth-ranked University of Washington on Sept. 18 before hosting the Zhejiang Club Team on Sept. 19 and #21 San Diego on Sept. 20.