After allowing Texas-Pan American to even the match at one set apiece, Seattle University improved upon its offense to win the final two sets for a 3-1 victory (25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 25-17) Thursday night in a Western Athletic Conference volleyball match at the Connolly Center.
Coming out of the intermission, UTPA won three of the first four points of the third set before Seattle U rallied back, led by Sarah Jaeckel (Littleton, Colo.) with two kills, a solo block, and a block assist. Seattle U scored four unanswered points, including a kill and a block assist from Alec Goodrie (Springfield, Ore.), to pull ahead 16-13, and the Redhawks would not relinquish the set lead, winning the third set on a kill by Jaeckel.
Four errors from the Broncs gave the Redhawks a 5-1 lead in the fourth set, and Seattle U would maintain that advantage until a kill from Anjane Janda pulled the Broncs to within one at 13-12. Three kills by Iris Ivanis (Pozega, Croatia) and consecutive kills from Stephanie Stoll (Bellevue, Wash.) highlighted a 7-1 Redhawk scoring run, and Ivanis would clinch the set and the match with another kill.
Jaeckel led the Redhawks with 14 kills and three total blocks, followed by Ivanis with 12 kills while both outside hitters collected eight digs apiece. Goodrie earned eight kills, and Stoll finished with seven kills and a .583 hitting percentage. Kerry Lane (Tucson, Ariz.) dished out 36 assists to go along with three kills and six digs, Lani Beadle (Seattle, Wash.) led all players with 15 digs, including the 1,000th dig of her career, and McKenzie Daniels (Edmonds, Wash.) contributed seven kills and three service aces.
“It was a team effort tonight. We played well in the first set and let one slip away in the second, but we came back and played consistently the rest of the night,” Seattle U head coach James Finley said. “It was great to get our offense back on track thanks to several different players. Our defense was solid as well, and we were happy that Lani was able to get her 1,000th career dig tonight, but we know she has a lot more digs in her the rest of the season.”
After the two teams traded the first four points of the match, Seattle U took a lead it would never lose in the first set, with Stoll punctuating a 6-2 scoring run with a kill. After a service ace by Jaeckel extended the Redhawk lead to 22-14, the Broncs scored four unanswered points, led by Kasey Sanchez with a kill and a block assist, but the Redhawks rebounded to score the final three points of the set, concluding with a service ace by Allison Farley (Happy Valley, Ore.).
The second set was the most competitive, with 10 ties and seven lead changes. UT Pan American scored six straight points to pull ahead, 12-8, led by a kill and a block assist from Maria Kliefoth. Seattle U put together a 7-1 scoring run of its own, including a kill and a solo block by Matea Mamic (Split, Croatia), to retake the lead at 16-14. The Broncs came right back with four straight points to go back on top, and UTPA would win the second set on two Redhawk attack errors.
UT Pan American (11-16, 1-10 WAC) was led by Haley Durham with 14 kills and three block assists, while Janda earned 11 kills. Setter Nycole Masaki finished with 41 assists, but she was not successful on any of her 11 attack attempts, hurting the Bronc offense. Defensively, libero Shanice Faison led UTPA with 14 digs.
With the victory, Seattle U assured itself of a spot in the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament in Phoenix, Ariz., Nov. 25-27, where the winner will receive the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Redhawks are only a half-game behind second place Utah Valley, a key position as the top two teams receive byes into the semifinals and need to win only two matches to win the tournament.
Seattle University (11-16, 8-4 WAC) hosts WAC-leader New Mexico State in the final home match of the season Saturday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. at the Connolly Center. Before the match, seniors Beadle, Farley, Jaeckel, and Karli Pedone (Granite Bay, Calif.) will be recognized for their contributions to the Redhawk volleyball program over the past four years.