HOME SWEET HOME: The Seattle University volleyball team returns to Seattle for three straight contests, beginning with a "road" match at the University of Washington, the shortest road trip of the season for the Redhawks at four miles between the Connolly Center and Alaska Airlines Arena. Seattle U will welcome Fresno State to the North Court Saturday night, the first of two straight home matches for the Redhawks.
THE OREGON TRIP: Seattle U opened its week-long road trip through the state of Oregon at Portland State Aug. 31. The Redhawks rallied from behind in the first set, winning the last five points, and also took the second set for a 2-0 match lead over the Vikings. That would be the high point of the trip for Seattle U, as Portland State came back for a 3-2 victory (24-26, 23-25, 25-19, 25-16, 15-12). Sarah Jaeckel led the Redhawks with 16 kills, while Alec Goodrie made her first appearance in a collegiate match and responded with 10 kills and six total blocks. Seattle U faced its first ranked opponent of the season, losing to #16 Oregon, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-22). Jaeckel again led the offense with 10 kills, while Jacquie Brice played a solid match, finishing with 15 assists, four kills, and four digs. The Redhawks headed to Corvallis for the Active Ankle Challenge over Labor Day weekend. Despite another 10-kill performance by Jaeckel, Seattle U lost its first match of the tournament to Loyola Marymount, 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-19). Later that Sunday, the Redhawks had their chances, but Cal State Bakersfield seemed to win the important points in each set on its way to a 3-0 win (25-23, 25-23, 25-23). Jaeckel collected 13 kills, Goodrie added eight kills, and Megan Augustavo dished out 26 assists to go along with three kills and four digs. On Labor Day, Seattle U fell to Oregon State, 3-0 (25-10, 25-17, 25-20). With another double-digit kill performance, Jaeckel earned All-Tournament Team recognition, and Karli Pedone made her first collegiate start, finishing with nine kills. The trip ended Sept. 6 with Portland defeating Seattle U, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-18).
LIVE EVENTS: There will be a live blog available during Thursday's match at Washington, with volleyball SID Jason Behenna reporting live from courtside at Alaska Airlines Arena. Saturday's match against Fresno State will be video streamed for free on GoSeattleU.com.
SCOUTING WASHINGTON: The Huskies, currently ranked fifth in the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll, enter Thursday's match with a perfect 6-0 record, dropping only one set so far this season. As a team, Washington is hitting .328 and is averaging 3.45 blocks per set. Krista Vansant leads the team with 69 kills, plus she has posted a .367 hitting percentage and is second on the squad with 39 digs. Kylin Munoz has earned 63 kills, a team-high seven service aces, and 33 digs so far this season. Evan Sanders has emerged as the team's starting setter, notching 174 assists so far this season. Bianca Rowland leads the team with 31 total blocks, while Jenna Orlandini paces the backline with 77 defensive digs.
SEATTLE U VS. WASHINGTON: The crosstown rivals will be meeting for the third time on the volleyball court, with Washington winning the first two meetings. On Sept. 18, 2008, also coming off a trip to Oregon, Seattle U fell to the Huskies at Hec-Ed Pavilion, 3-0 (25-9, 25-14, 25-11). Libby Graff led the Redhawk offense with seven kills, and Emily Deleissegues posted a team-high 14 defensive digs. Washington made the trip to the Connolly Center Aug. 29, 2009, and defeated the Redhawks, 3-0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-18). Cristin Richards led the way for Seattle U with nine kills and 12 digs, while Deleissegues again led the defense with 13 digs. Bianca Rowland went 8-for-10 in attack attempts without an error and also collected five total blocks.
SCOUTING FRESNO STATE: The Bulldogs are 3-3 after the first two weekends of the season. Fresno State will face Washington Friday night before coming to the Connolly Center Saturday night. Fresno State has defeated Long Island, Sacramento State, and Marist, but it has suffered losses to Cal Poly, San Diego, and Cal State Northridge. Marissa Brand leads the team with 86 kills, averaging 4.10 kills per set, and is second on the squad with 67 digs. Brianna Clarke is second on the team in kills with 56 and also leads the squad with 26 total blocks. The setting duties have been split between Barbara Alcantara (118 assists) and Christina Lee (105 assists). Alcantara also leads the Bulldogs with 10 service aces, and Korrin Wild paces the squad in the back with 111 defensive digs. This will be the first meeting all-time between Seattle U and Fresno State.
TRACKING A MILESTONE: Seattle U head coach Shannon Ellis enters the weekend needing five victories to officially reach the 100-win mark for her career. Although Seattle U tallies up 96 career wins for Ellis, the NCAA does not count a victory over Trinity Western Oct. 1, 2009, that was counted in the regular season that year. Therefore, in the eyes of the NCAA, Ellis currently has 95 career wins.
JAECKEL HONORED: Sophomore outside hitter Sarah Jaeckel was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Active Ankle Challenge, hosted by Oregon State over Labor Day weekend. In matches against Loyola Marymount, Cal State Bakersfield, and Oregon State, Jaeckel collected 34 kills and 17 defensive digs. She now leads the Redhawks with 98 kills and is third on the squad with 46 digs and 14 total blocks.
ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Senior Cristin Richards added another honor to her resume, earning All-Tournament recognition at the 2011 Seattle U Fall Volley. Richards finished the weekend with 51 kills, averaging 4.64 kills per set. She made only eight attack errors in 113 attempts for a .381 hitting percentage, plus she collected 25 defensive digs. During the second set of the season-opening match against Eastern Washington, Richards passed Nikole Thompson for second place on the school's all-time kills list. Richards needs 204 kills to pass Sarah Sommerman and become the all-time kills leader. Richards is also seventh all-time in service aces and eighth in total blocks, plus she is 18 digs away from the career top-ten list in that category.
SPEAKING OF THE WAC: Seattle University accepted an invitation to join the Western Athletic Conference starting July 1, 2012. The WAC in 2012-13 will consist of 10 members: Denver, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico State, San Jose State, Seattle U, Texas-Arlington, Texas-San Antonio, Texas State, and Utah State.