After rallying from a 2-1 deficit to defeat North Dakota in five sets (18-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-22, 15-13), the Seattle University volleyball team took a 2-0 lead but allowed Houston Baptist to come back for a 3-2 win (20-25, 13-25, 25-21, 25-10, 15-13) Friday night at the Chace Center on the campus of Bryant University.
The match between Seattle University and Houston Baptist did not end until 11:08 p.m. Eastern time due to a fire alarm caused by a smoking dryer that forced the evacuation of the gym for approximately 35 minutes. Once play resumed in the fifth set, the Redhawks took a 12-10 lead, but Houston Baptist earned three straight kills to jump ahead, 14-12, and finished off the match with a kill by Ligia Clemente.
Cristin Richards (Olympia, Wash.) led Seattle University with 12 kills, plus she collected eight digs, while Kaytlyn Dill (Bothell, Wash.) earned eight kills, two service aces, four digs, and three total blocks. Janet Beckerman (Bellevue, Wash.) had a solid match with nine kills, a .500 hitting percentage, and seven block assists. Setter Jamie Mellies (Henderson, Nev.) collected 30 assists, 12 digs, and four blocks, and libero Shelly Anderson (Bothell, Wash.) earned 21 digs in the match.
In Seattle’s first match of the day, the Redhawks went on a 7-1 run early in the fourth set to take an 8-4 lead. North Dakota rallied late in the set, scoring four straight points to come within one at 23-22 before Dill earned a kill and the Fighting Sioux were unable to execute their offense on the next point, forcing the deciding fifth set.
With the score tied at 8-8 in the fifth set, North Dakota committed a service error and an attack error, and a Beckerman kill allowed Seattle University to go ahead, 11-8. Richards figured into the last three points, earning a kill to give the Redhawks match point, followed by an attack error and her match-high 23rd kill to finish the match in Seattle’s favor.
Besides the 23 kills, Richards also had 13 digs in the match. Dill collected 19 kills, six service aces, 12 digs, and two block assists. Senior Libby Graff (Beaverton, Ore.) contributed 12 kills and seven digs, while Mellies notched 55 assists and 17 digs and Anderson led her team with 33 defensive digs.
Seattle University (10-22) will look to finish in third place in the six-team tournament when it faces Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Saturday morning at 10 a.m. local time. With 11 more assists, Mellies will become the third player in Seattle University history to earn at least 1,000 assists in a season, and she will reach the 2000-assist mark for her career with 23 more assists.