Once again the Seattle University volleyball team showed its ability to come from behind, avoiding sweeps in both matches Friday in the ASU Sheraton Classic at Wells Fargo Arena, but the Redhawks could not complete either comeback, as the host Arizona State Sun Devils won the afternoon contest, 3-1 (25-19, 25-21, 16-25, 25-13) and the Utah State Aggies pulled out the evening match with a 3-2 victory (25-20, 25-14, 20-25, 14-25, 15-11).
In the evening match, junior Cristin Richards (Olympia, Wash.) earned her fifth double-double in as many matches with 19 kills and 12 digs, while freshman Sarah Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) finished with 17 kills. Janet Beckerman (Bellevue, Wash.) contributed seven kills and six total blocks, and Jordan Keller (Mukilteo, Wash.) and Kelly Biette (Brighton, Colo.) each finished with four kills and five block assists. Setter Jamie Mellies (Henderson, Nev.) collected 43 assists along with three kills, two service aces, five digs, and two total blocks, and libero Emily Deleissegues (Aromas, Calif.) led the Redhawks with 18 defensive digs.
After losing the first two sets to Utah State (5-0), Seattle U scored four unanswered points early in the third set to take a 7-4 lead. A 5-0 run late in the set brought about set point, and after two Aggie blocks, Jaeckel finally ended the set with a kill to extend the contest. The Redhawks made only one attack error in the fourth set, making up an 8-3 deficit with five straight points and then putting the set away by outscoring the Aggies, 16-4.
A kill by Liz McArthur gave Utah State a 2-1 lead, an advantage it would not relinquish. Three kills by Jaeckel brought Seattle U within two at 9-7, but a Utah State block followed by a Seattle U ball-handling error gave the Aggies the cushion they needed, and they closed out the match with McArthur's 22nd kill of the contest.
"I am very proud of my team for playing hard all day. We fought against Utah State, but just could not get things going in the fifth set. This is a great experience for our younger players, especially Sarah Jaeckel, who made a big impact today, and we are really excited about what our team can do going forward," head coach Shannon Ellis said.
Arizona State (2-3) won the first two sets of the afternoon match before Seattle U charged back in the third set, going on a 7-2 run to take an 11-6 lead and force the Sun Devils to call timeout. Three kills by Richards and a service ace from Mellies further extended the lead to 15-8, and the Redhawks took advantage of three straight Arizona State errors to win four of the last five points of the set. Scoring runs of 7-2 and 6-0 allowed the Sun Devils to cruise to the fourth-set victory, clinching the match.
Richards earned a double-double with 19 kills and 10 digs. Beckerman finished with 10 kills, while Keller collected seven kills and five total blocks. Mellies dished out 45 assists to go along with seven digs and two block assists, and Deleissegues led all players with 19 defensive digs.
With 37 digs in the two matches, Deleissegues is now only 15 defensive digs away from becoming the fifth player in Seattle U volleyball history to reach the 1,000 career dig mark. Meanwhile, Richards continued her ascent up the Seattle U all-time kills list, passing both Janeen Fitzgerald (Rainey) and Libby Graff into fifth place on the list with 782 career kills.
Seattle University (2-3) will look to finish off the weekend strong as it faces San Diego State in the final session of the ASU Sheraton Classic Saturday, Sept. 4, at 10 a.m. The Aztecs, now 4-1 in the young season, split their Friday matches, losing 3-1 to Utah State before defeating Arizona State 3-1.