The Seattle University volleyball team had its chances throughout the night, but New Mexico State was able to win the important points to pull out a 3-1 victory (25-16, 19-25, 25-19, 25-20) Thursday night in a Western Athletic Conference match at the Pan American Center.
Matea Mamic (Split, Croatia) led the Redhawks with 13 kills, while Martina Samadan (Split, Croatia) finished with nine kills, a service ace, and four total blocks. Iris Ivanis (Pozega, Croatia) also collected nine kills in the match, Kerry Lane (Tucson, Ariz.) accumulated 34 assists and five digs, Alec Goodrie (Springfield, Ore.) added four kills, two digs, and three blocks off the bench, and Mary Orbeta (Alameda, Calif.) led the team in the back with 11 digs.
New Mexico State (13-9, 7-3 WAC) used a 9-0 scoring run early in the first set to open a 13-4 advantage, led by Ashlyn Brown with two service aces. Seattle U scored the next three points to close its deficit, but the Aggies were able to keep the Redhawks at arm’s length the rest of the set, clinching the opening set on back-to-back kills by Nathalie Castellanos and Sasha-Lee Thomas.
The Redhawks jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second set thanks in part to three kills by Mamic. New Mexico State answered with a 9-3 scoring run to pull ahead, 13-12, but Seattle U responded by scoring six of the next seven points, three of them on service aces, to retake the lead, 18-14. A block by Thomas and Bradley Nash closed the gap to two at 21-19, but the Redhawks closed out the set by winning the final four points, with Ivanis earning a kill and a service ace.
The third set was close until New Mexico State went on a 9-2 scoring run, including consecutive kills from Nash, to open an 18-11 advantage. Kills by Ivanis and Stephanie Stoll (Bellevue, Wash.), as well as a service ace from Samadan, brought the Redhawks to within four at 23-19, but the Aggies held off Seattle U and won the third set on kills by Jordan Abalos and Castellanos.
The fourth set resembled the third set, as the two teams traded points until Seattle U scored five of six points to pull ahead, 13-10. Abalos earned three kills to bring the Aggies back, and then two service aces by Nash as well as a block from Thomas and Shelbi Goode gave New Mexico State a 21-18 advantage. The home team would close out the set and the match on a kill by Gwen Murphy and a Redhawk attack error.
“New Mexico State was scrappy tonight, and they found a way to continue to swing and play hard. We both made a lot of errors tonight, but they earned many more kills than we did. We struggled in the serve receive. I am disappointed in our performance, how we handled the pressure, and the effort we put in at certain times,” Seattle U head volleyball coach James Finley said. “We have to reload and regain our focus quickly to be ready for Saturday.”
Abalos led New Mexico State with 14 kills, with Nash earning 12 kills, Castellanos contributing 10 kills, and Thomas finishing with eight kills and seven total blocks. Setters Taylor Livoti and Brown combined for 51 assists, five service aces, and 11 digs, and libero Andrea Tauai led all players with 22 defensive digs.
Seattle University (9-13, 5-4 WAC) heads to Edinburg, Texas, for a Saturday afternoon match against UT Pan American on Nov. 1 starting at 1 p.m. Central time (11 a.m. Pacific time). Links to live stats and video will be available on the volleyball schedule page of GoSeattleU.com.