PACKING UP AGAIN: After splitting its matches during the opening weekend of conference play, Seattle University hits the road for a three-match WAC road trip over the span of five days. The Redhawks first head to Phoenix to face Grand Canyon before heading to southern Texas for a contest against UT Pan American. The trip concludes in Las Cruces with a Sunday matinee against New Mexico State. Seattle U has won two of its last three matches and looks to continue the positive momentum this week away from home.
LAST WEEKEND: Seattle University opened the 2013 Western Athletic Conference portion of the schedule on fire, hitting .526 in the first set Thursday night against Bakersfield. However, the Roadrunners rebounded to win the next three sets to hand the Redhawks a 3-1 loss (13-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-18). In her first full match after recovering from an injury, sophomore Martina Samadan collected 11 kills in 14 attempts through the first three sets. However, she hurt her ankle on a block attempt in the third set and missed the rest of Thursday’s match as well as all of Saturday’s contest. Iris Ivanis contributed 10 kills and nine digs, while Matea Mamic finished with eight kills, three service aces, three digs, and two total blocks. Saturday night, the Redhawks played a tight match against the Utah Valley Wolverines, as there were 22 ties and nine lead changes throughout the five sets. Seattle U held on for a 3-2 victory (25-22, 14-25, 27-25, 23-25, 15-13), the team’s first home victory of the season. It took 17 matches before the Redhawks finally saw a contest go the distance, one year after Seattle U played seven five-set matches in the first 17 contests of 2012. Ivanis earned a season-high 19 kills. Allison Farley tied her career high with 16 kills, and Alec Goodrie also established a career high with 11 kills. Setter Kerry Lane dished out 54 assists, and McKenzie Daniels earned a career-high 19 digs.
WAC STATISTICAL HIGHLIGHTS: Through matches of Sept. 29, Kerry Lane is sixth in the Western Athletic Conference in assists with 8.15 assists per set, while Allison Farley finds herself in 10th place in hitting percentage with a mark of .254 so far this season. In WAC matches only, Lane leads the conference in assists with 9.78 assists per set, Iris Ivanis is eighth in kills, averaging 3.22 kills per set, and Matea Mamic is tied for seventh in service aces with 0.44 aces per set.