ROAD WARRIORS: The Seattle University volleyball team hits the road Monday afternoon for a trip that will resemble the conference road trips the Redhawks will take next season as part of the WAC. This time, it is two Mountain West Conference foes Seattle U will face. The trip starts with Boise State Tuesday night and ends at Colorado State Thursday night. This begins a month in which the Redhawks will play seven road matches and no home contests, not returning to the Connolly Center North Court until November 4.
THE TRINITY WESTERN MATCH: Seattle University put together a solid hitting night as it prepared for its upcoming seven-match road swing with a 3-0 victory (25-23, 25-17, 25-14) over Trinity Western University last Thursday night in an exhibition match at the Connolly Center. Cristin Richards and Kaytlyn Dill led the way with 13 kills apiece, with both players posting a .500 hitting percentage. Richards also collected six digs, while Dill earned a service ace and three total blocks in the match. Megan Augustavo dished out 39 assists as the Redhawks hit .387 as a team, Allison Farley went 6-for-8 in attack attempts, and Allie Hoskins led the backline with eight defensive digs. Trinity Western slowly pulled out to a four-point lead late in the first set, with Amy Leschied hitting at 1.000 with a perfect 5-for-5 attack performance in the opening set. Down 21-17, Seattle U started its comeback with a kill by Jordan Keller, followed by a service ace from Dill and a kill by Richards. After a kill by TWU's Kelci French, the Redhawks won five of the final six points of the set to take the early match lead. In the second set, Seattle U went on a 7-2 scoring run to pull ahead, 13-9. The Spartans won four of five points to pull to within one at 15-14, but a 10-3 scoring run for the Redhawks closed out the second set and gave the home team a 2-0 lead at intermission. A 5-1 run for Seattle U early in the third set allowed the Redhawks to go ahead, 8-4, and Seattle U cruised to the set and match victory, punctuated by back-to-back kills from Sarah Jaeckel.
FACING RANKED OPPONENTS: Colorado State will be the third opponent currently ranked in the Division I AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll that the Redhawks will face in 2011. Seattle U previously played against Oregon, ranked 16th at the time, and Washington, ranked fifth when the two teams played each other. Since moving up to Division I in 2008, Seattle U has faced a ranked team 11 times heading into Thursday's contest.
SEATTLE U VS. BOISE STATE: Boise State is the answer to the trivia question "Who was the first Division I team Seattle University defeated in volleyball?" On August 29, 2008, the Broncos hosted the Redhawks in the Bronco Invitational. It was the collegiate debuts for Cristin Richards and Kaytlyn Dill, and the outside hitters immediately showed what they were capable of, leading Seattle U to a 3-0 victory (25-21, 25-18, 25-19). Richards notched a double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs, while Dill finished with nine kills. Setter Jamie Mellies earned 31 assists and four total blocks, while Emily Deleissegues also collected 10 digs in the match.
SCOUTING COLORADO STATE: The Rams come into Thursday's match with a 10-3 overall record, including a perfect 4-0 record so far in the Mountain West Conference. The 23rd-ranked Rams are 5-1 at home and average almost 2,500 fans per match. Katelyn Steffan, the current Mountain West Co-Player of the Week, leads the team with 178 kills, averaging 4.05 kills per set. Setter Deedra Foss leads the team with 498 assists and 16 service aces. Megan Plourde leads the team defensively at the net with 67 total blocks, while Izzy Gaulia paces the squad in the back with 202 defensive digs. This will be the first meeting all-time between Seattle U and Colorado State.
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.
COACHING PURSUIT: With 97 career victories, Shannon Ellis is three wins away from reaching the 100-win mark for her career. Ellis led the Redhawks to an 18-13 record during the 2010 season, the program's first winning record since making the transition to Division I.
ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Senior Cristin Richards continues to expand her volleyball resume, earning All-Tournament recognition at both the 2011 Seattle U Fall Volley and the UC Davis Aggie Invitational. At the 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. At the Aggie Invitational, Richards collected 53 kills, 23 defensive digs, a .315 hitting percentage, and five total blocks.
MILESTONE WATCH: A couple players are resuming their pursuits of school career records. Senior middle hitter Jordan Keller passed Lizzy Safranski for most career block assists during the UC Davis match. Keller needs just four total blocks and six solo blocks to move past Safranski in those categories. Cristin Richards is now 125 kills away from becoming Seattle U's all-time kills leader, with Sarah Sommerman currently holding the school record with 1,461 career kills. With 208 more attack attempts, Richards will pass Nikole Thompson to become the school's all-time leader in that category. The senior outside hitter is also in the career top-ten lists for service aces, digs, solo blocks, block assists, total blocks, and sets played.
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.
SCOUTING BOISE STATE: The Broncos enter Tuesday's match with a 10-7 overall record after losing Mountain West matches to TCU and New Mexico over the weekend. Liz Harden leads the team offensively with 181 kills, followed by Fiona Jones with 161 kills. The setting duties have been split between Breann Nesselhuf (520 assists) and Casey Rose (218 assists), with Rose also leading the team with 24 service aces. Amanda Remy is second on the squad with 21 service aces, plus she leads the team with 288 defensive digs. At the net, Brittany Reardon paces the team with 49 total blocks, with Darlene Nwagbuo right behind her with 48 total blocks.