"We played very consistently tonight," said head coach Shannon Ellis. "We had a lot of fan support, it was great to play in Connolly, and a good way to send off our three seniors."
Seattle U came out strong on the net, powered by Janet Beckerman (Bellevue, Wash.) and Jordan Keller (Mukilteo, Wash.) blocking two Roadrunner attacks in a row to start the first set with a 6-1 lead. Richards served two aces in a row for a 9-2 lead, and Seattle U continued to dominate the net with 5.5 total blocks and 11 kills in the set. CSUB made a short run, led by Danielle Gong and Lindy DeGeare's serving expertise, but the set ended with a kill by Julia Bonadio (Phoenix, Ariz.) 25-17.
Allison Farley (Happy Valley, Ore.) opened up the second set with eight straight serves, complemented by two kills by Richards, to take Seattle U to an 8-0 lead in the second set. Play went back and forth a few times, but Keller and Beckerman had four kills each as the Redhawks made the set a quick one, finishing with a score of 25-12.
The third and final set opened with Cal State Bakersfield grabbing its first lead of the night with a service ace by Gong. The Redhawks quickly responded and brought the score to a tie at 2, and the match was played evenly up until Bonadio won a side out with a kill and took up the serving for a 5-0 run to get SU up 12-7. Bonadio had five kills throughout the set as Seattle U continued to control the tempo, and the set and match ended with the score of the third set 25-16.
Mellies added another 30 assists to her record-setting all-career total of 4,066. Beckerman had a match-high ten kills and added three blocks to the net, while MVP Richards added eight, bringing her total for the weekend to 25. Richards also had seven digs and two aces in the match. Bonadio added another eight kills, and Keller was a force at the net with six kills and five blocks.
For Cal State Bakersfield, Smith led with eight kills. Haleigh Haratyk had six kills, and Lindsay Toone had nine digs to lead the Roadrunners defense. Setter Gong had 25 assists in the match and served three aces for CSUB.
The Redhawks (17-12) will travel for their final matches of the season at the Long Beach State Tournament in Long Beach, Calif. Seattle U will face off against Akron on Friday, Nov. 26th at 5:00 p.m.