Knowing that a victory was essential to remaining in contention for a berth in the WAC Tournament, the Seattle University volleyball team rallied from an 0-2 deficit to defeat UT Arlington, 3-2 (17-25, 15-25, 25-19, 25-13, 17-15), Thursday night at the Connolly Center.
Kaytlyn Dill (Bothell, Wash.) notched her 10th double-double of the season with 18 kills and 12 digs, plus she earned four service aces. Allison Farley (Happy Valley, Ore.) and Karli Pedone (Granite Bay, Calif.) finished with 10 kills apiece, with Farley also picking up five total blocks, as did Karina Miastkowska (Northbrook, Ill.) to go along with seven kills. Jacquie Brice (Fullerton, Calif.) collected 50 assists, eight digs, and two block assists, and Lani Beadle (Seattle, Wash.) continued her solid play in the back, finishing with a match-high 29 digs, with defensive support of 17 digs from McKenzie Daniels (Edmonds, Wash.).
Seattle U started the rally in the third set, coming back from a four-point deficit with five unanswered points to take a 10-9 lead. A kill and a block assist from Pedone gave the Redhawks a 15-13 advantage, but the Mavericks responded with four straight points to pull ahead, 17-15. The Redhawks would close out the set on a 10-2 scoring run, thanks in part to two kills and a block assist from Miastkowska.
The Redhawks rallied again in the fourth set after UT Arlington took an early 7-5 lead, as a kill from Andi Lowrance (Phoenix, Ariz.), followed by a service ace and a kill from Sarah Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.), wiped away the Maverick advantage. A kill by Miastkowska gave the Redhawks the lead for good in the set, as Seattle U outscored UT Arlington 17-5 to tie the match and bring about the deciding fifth set.
UT Arlington (8-20, 4-12 WAC) scored the first three points of the fifth set thanks in part to a block assist and a kill by Charmaine Whitmore, and the Mavericks held onto a slight advantage continually until the score was 12-9. Farley started a 5-0 run with a kill and a service ace, but Seattle U could not close out the match on its first three match point opportunities. Finally, on the fourth chance to complete the comeback, Jaeckel earned her third service ace of the night, keeping the Redhawks' postseason chances alive.
"I think there was a really big sense of camaraderie that we knew that we needed to win this next (match) to remain eligible for the (WAC) tournament, so we came together and fought as a team," Beadle said. "We definitely had the momentum going into the fifth set, so as a team, it just clicked; everything worked, everything went well, and we finally played to our potential tonight."
In the first set, a service ace by Dill put the Redhawks ahead, 6-5, before the Mavericks scored four straight points, two of them on kills by Stacey Koch, to take the 9-6 lead. Koch started a 5-0 run with a kill, punctuated by two kills and a block assist from Shelby Dickson, to extend UT Arlington's lead to 15-8. The Redhawks closed the deficit to four on a service ace and a kill from Dill, but kills by Dickson and Koch clinched the first set for the visitors.
Valerie Stetzer notched a service ace to give UT Arlington an early 5-2 lead in the second set, but Seattle U responded with four straight points, featuring kills by Lowrance and Jaeckel as well as a service ace by Beadle. Back-to-back service aces by Taylor Gross put the Mavericks ahead for good, but Seattle U stayed close, with three kills by Pedone and two kills from Dill pulling the Redhawks to within one at 14-13. UT Arlington would close out the set with a 11-2 scoring run, starting with three kills by Whitmore and concluding with two Redhawk attack errors.
Dickson led the Mavericks with 14 kills, plus she picked up 16 digs for a double-double. Gross, Whitmore, Koch, and Karli Nanny collected six kills apiece, with Whitmore also leading the team with four total blocks. Amanda Welsh became the main setter as the night went along, finishing with 32 assists and eight digs, Amy Davault led the Mavericks with 20 digs, and UTA libero Megan Casey finished with 17 defensive digs.
Seattle U excelled in the service game with 11 aces, the second-highest total of the season and the most since the opening match of conference play against New Mexico State. The Redhawks also earned more team blocks than their opponent (9.5 to 7.0) for only the third time this season. It was also the fifth time this season that Seattle U came back from a match deficit to win a five-set contest.
Seattle University (8-18, 3-13 WAC) will host Louisiana Tech in the final home match of the 2012 season Saturday, Nov. 10, starting at 7 p.m. Before the match, seniors Kelly Biette (Brighton, Colo.), Dill, and Miastkowska, along with Beadle, who is receiving her degree in three years, will be honored in Senior Night ceremonies for their contributions to the Redhawk volleyball program.