Less than 12 hours after completing its second five-set match Friday night, the Seattle University women’s volleyball team hung with Southern Illinois-Edwardsville but eventually fell, 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 31-29), Saturday morning in the third-place match of the National Transitions Challenge hosted by Bryant University at the Chace Center.
Kaytlyn Dill (, ) led the way for with 12 kills and two service aces, plus she also earned seven digs and two total blocks. Jordan Keller (, ) finished with eight kills and five blocks assists, while fellow middle hitter Janet Beckerman () collected five kills and four block assists in the match.
Cristin Richards (, ) and Libby Graff () each earned six kills with Richards also posting seven digs and Graff, in the final match of her collegiate career, leading all players with seven block assists. Setter Jamie Mellies (, ) notched 34 assists, two service aces, and ten digs, and libero Shelly Anderson () led all players with 32 digs, her fourth match of the season with at least 30 digs.
In the first set, Seattle University took an early 10-7 lead before Sydney Winslow notched three straight kills for Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, followed by a kill by Kelsey Hubert and a service ace from Tiffany Turner. With the set tied, 19-19, Winslow had three more kills and a block assist to give the Cougars a 24-19 lead, and then finished off the set with another kill.
Mallory Clements helped SIU-Edwardsville take the lead in the second set with a kill and a service ace that started a 4-0 run. An ace by Mellies would tie the set, 17-17, but the Cougars earned four straight kills, two of them by Winslow, to retake the lead. A kill by Beckerman brought the Redhawks within two, but a kill by Hubert and a attack error concluded the second set in the Cougars’ favor.
took an early 5-1 lead in the third set, but four unanswered points by Southern Illinois-Edwardsville brought about a 13-13 tie. A kill and two aces by Dill allowed the Redhawks to go on top, 23-21, but the Cougars fought back to extend the set. A block by Dill and Keller gave set point at 29-28, but kills by Samantha Schulte, Winslow, and Brittni Birkey ended the set and the match for SIU-Edwardsville.
Winslow led the Cougars with 17 kills, with Hubert posting 14 kills. Clements nearly earned a triple-double with nine kills, 42 assists, and 16 digs, while Emily Rahn earned eight kills and a team-high 20 digs and Turner added 19 digs to the winning cause.
Dill was named to the All-Tournament Team after earning 39 kills, ten service aces, 23 defensive digs, and seven total blocks in the three matches over the weekend. Houston Baptist defeated South Dakota, 3-2, to win the National Transitions Challenge, while North Dakota earned a 3-2 victory over Bryant University in the fifth-place match.
Seattle University finishes the 2008 season with a 10-23 record, but faced six teams that has been ranked in the AVCA Top 25 at least once this season (Washington, Oregon, UCLA, San Diego, Oregon State, San Francisco). The Redhawks, victorious over WAC schools Boise State and Idaho, Ivy League member Pennsylvania, Atlantic Sun school North Florida, and fellow reclassifying school North Dakota twice, can return all but one player from this year’s roster for the 2009 season.