Behind a dominating offensive performance from sophomore Iris Ivanis (Pozega, Croatia), as well as timely defense throughout the night, Seattle University defeated Chicago State, 3-1 (26-24, 25-14, 18-25, 25-17) Thursday night in a Western Athletic Conference volleyball match at the Jacoby Dickens Center.
Ivanis collected a season-high 20 kills, hitting .421 during the contest, plus she earned two service aces, six digs, and five total blocks. Martina Samadan (Split, Croatia) finished with seven kills and a team-high seven total blocks, and setter Kerry Lane (Tucson, Ariz.) notched a double-double with 30 assists and 10 digs.
“It was good to get a win tonight, and it was also good for some of our other players to gain experience in a conference match,” Seattle U head coach James Finley said. “Iris’s outstanding performance was a result of her focus throughout the match and her ability to adjust to the lineup changes during the night.”
Chicago State (6-12, 0-4 WAC) took an early 5-2 lead in the opening set, but the Redhawks put together a 10-2 scoring run to pull ahead, 18-11. The Cougars fought back, scoring 11 of the next 13 points of the set, led by two kills from Selena Newell and two service aces by Milica Zmiric, to earn a chance to win the first set at 24-22. However, the Redhawks rallied, scoring the final four points of the opening set, with Ivanis and Samadan combining on back-to-back blocks, followed by the set-clinching kill by Ivanis.
In the second set, Chicago State stayed close early, but kills by Ivanis sandwiched around a service ace by Jelena Vujcin (Becej, Serbia) gave the Redhawks the lead for good at 11-8. Seattle U closed out the second set by outscoring the Cougars, 12-3, with Ivanis and Samadan first combining on a block and then earning a kill apiece to give the Redhawks the 2-0 match lead.
The Cougars took the early lead in the third set thanks to six unanswered points, but the Redhawks fought back with five unanswered points of their own, the last four on kills by Ivanis, to close their deficit to two at 12-10. Chicago State held off the Seattle U rally and slowly extended its lead, with a kill by Elli Woinowsky clinching the third set and extending the match.
The Redhawks jumped out to an early 9-3 lead in the fourth set, with Ivanis earning three kills during that stretch. Chicago State fought back, with Amber Graham earning a kill and a service ace, to eventually close to within one at 17-16, but Seattle U scored eight of the final nine points of the match, led by two blocks and a kill by Stephanie Stoll (Bellevue, Wash.), with Matea Mamic (Split, Croatia) closing out the set and the match with a service ace.
Stoll and Mamic contributed six kills apiece for the Redhawks, and Shelby Babcock (Chandler, Ariz.) led Seattle U with 13 defensive digs. As a team, Seattle U hit .231 and led the match with 44 kills, nine service aces, 47 digs, and 12 team blocks.
Woinowsky led Chicago State with 15 kills, plus she earned six digs, with Newell finishing with eight kills. Cougar setter Sarah Metcalfe collected 35 assists, and libero Julia Menhart led all players with 15 defensive digs.
Seattle University (7-10, 3-1 WAC) heads to Kansas City, Mo., to face the UMKC Kangaroos Saturday, Oct. 11, starting at 1 p.m. local time (11 a.m. Pacific time). UMKC remains on top of the WAC standings with a 3-0 league record after defeating Utah Valley Thursday night, 3-1.