Once again, Seattle University went the distance in a collegiate volleyball match, and the Redhawks were able to prevail with a 3-2 victory (26-24, 18-25, 25-18, 20-25, 15-10) over the Montana Grizzlies Thursday night in the West Auxiliary Gym.
After Montana scored the first point of the deciding set, Seattle U rattled off five unanswered points, featuring two kills by Martina Samadan (Split, Croatia) and two service aces from Jelena Vujcin (Becej, Serbia). The Grizzlies closed to within two at 11-9 late in the set, but the Redhawks scored four of the final five points of the match, with Samadan earning three kills in that stretch to close out the contest.
Samadan earned a career-high 22 kills in 31 attack attempts with just two errors for a .645 hitting percentage, the fifth-highest single-match hitting percentage by an individual in program history. Vujcin once again gave the Redhawks a significant lift, finishing with 16 kills, three service aces, and nine digs, while Matea Mamic (Split, Croatia) collected eight kills and Iris Ivanis (Pozega, Croatia) contributed six kills and 10 defensive digs.
“We had a lot of good performances tonight and generated some good offense, especially in the sets that we won,” Seattle U head coach James Finley said. “Martina’s performance in the tiebreaking set was amazing with seven kills in eight attempts, and several other players made contributions to get our second straight win. We look forward to facing a good Gonzaga squad tomorrow.”
Montana (0-11) pulled out to a 14-8 lead in the opening set thanks to a 6-1 scoring run, but the Redhawks would rally back later in the set with an 8-3 scoring run to take the lead, 20-19. The two teams traded points until the very end of the set, when Seattle U picked up kills by Mamic and Vujcin to win the first set, 26-24.
The Grizzles took a 15-9 lead in the second set with a 7-1 scoring run, led by three kills from Claire McCown. A block by Ivanis and Stephanie Stoll (Bellevue, Wash.) brought the Redhawks to within four at 22-18, but Montana scored the final three points of the set on a kill by McCown and back-to-back Seattle U attack errors, tying the match at one set apiece.
Seattle U dominated the third set from the start, scoring eight of the first nine points after the intermission, including three kills by Vujcin as well as a kill and a block from Sydney Schafer (Salt Lake City, Utah). The Redhawks would maintain that margin throughout the set, with a kill by Ivanis closing out the set and giving Seattle U a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Redhawks scored four of the first five points of the fourth set, but Montana rallied back, pulling into an 11-11 tie on back-to-back blocks, both involving Capri Richardson. The Grizzlies took the lead for good in the set with three straight points, led by Kelsey Schile with a block assist and a kill, and then a Redhawk attack error clinched the fourth set for Montana, extending the match to a deciding fifth set.
Seattle U setter Kerry Lane (Tucson, Ariz.) notched her first double-double of the season with 50 assists and 11 digs, while libero Shelby Babcock (Chandler, Ariz.) contributed 10 digs and a service ace to the winning effort. Redshirt sophomore Abby Blanchard (Kennewick, Wash.) saw her first significant action of the season, adding two kills and a block assist to the Redhawk cause.
McCown led Montana with 17 kills, hitting .382 for the match, plus she earned six digs and three block assists, while Janell Sparks added 16 kills for the Grizzlies. Richardson earned five total blocks as Montana finished with more blocks than Seattle U (8-7), but the home team committed 10 service errors and seven reception errors, plus only had 43 digs while Seattle U collected 57 defensive digs in the match.
Seattle University (4-7) remains in Missoula for a neutral-site contest against the Gonzaga University Bulldogs Friday, Sept. 19, beginning at 7 p.m. local time (6 p.m. Pacific time). Links to live stats and live video will be available on the volleyball schedule page of GoSeattleU.com, although there is a fee to access the live video stream.