Seattle University had chances in all three sets, especially the opening set, but Bakersfield was able to close out each set for a 3-0 victory (25-23, 25-22, 25-21) over the Redhawks Saturday afternoon in a Western Athletic Conference match at the Icardo Center.
Matea Mamic (Split, Croatia) led the Redhawks with 11 kills, while Jelena Vujcin (Becej, Serbia) earned eight kills and Martina Samadan (Split, Croatia) finished with seven kills and three total blocks. Kerry Lane (Tucson, Ariz.) collected 30 assists, two service aces, five digs, and two total blocks, Stephanie Stoll (Bellevue, Wash.) led the team at the net with four total blocks, and Mary Orbeta (Alameda, Calif.) paced the backline with 12 defensive digs.
Seattle U took an early 6-2 lead in the opening set, led by Mamic with two kills and a solo block. Danika Youngblood led Bakersfield on a 5-1 scoring run with two kills and a service ace, and then the Roadrunners took advantage of two Redhawk errors as well as a kill by Kelsee Sawyer to pull ahead, 16-13.
Seattle U scored five straight points and held a 23-21 lead after a kill by Vujcin, but Bakersfield scored the final four points of the first set, starting with kills by Molly O’Hagan and Sawyer and ending with two more Redhawk attack errors.
The Redhawks opened a 5-1 lead in the second set, but two kills each by O’Hagan and Sawyer helped the Roadrunners put together an 8-1 scoring run for a 9-6 lead. After kills by Mamic and Stoll tied the set at 14-14, Bakersfield scored the next three points, thanks to two kills by O’Hagan sandwiched around a kill from Luiza Martins.
Three Redhawk blocks, all involving Stoll, forced another tie at 18-18, but two Redhawk attack errors gave the Roadrunners the lead once again. Kills by Samadan and Stoll pulled the Redhawks to within one at 23-22, but Bakersfield closed out the second set with kills by O’Hagan and Youngblood.
Bakersfield (13-14, 9-5 WAC) opened a 5-2 lead in the third set, punctuated by consecutive kills from Sawyer, but Seattle U tied the set by scoring the next three points, including a service ace from Lane. Two kills by Sydney Haynes allowed the Roadrunners to open a 10-7 lead, but consecutive kills from Samadan started a Redhawk rally that would tie the set at 11-11.
Another kill by Haynes along with a block by Youngblood and O’Hagan gave Bakersfield the lead for good in the third set, but the Redhawks continually closed to within one point, the last time at 20-19 on a kill by Mamic. The Roadrunners scored five of the final seven points of the set, with one more Seattle U error clinching the set and the match for Bakersfield.
Sawyer earned 14 kills, Youngblood picked up 13 kills, and O’Hagan contributed 12 kills as Bakersfield hit .302 in the match. Martins finished with 44 assists, two kills, and four digs, and Roadrunner libero Mariah Alvidrez led all players with 23 defensive digs in the match.
With the loss, Seattle U finishes the conference regular season in a tie for fourth place with Utah Valley with an 8-6 WAC record. Because of Utah Valley’s victory over WAC regular season champion UMKC last weekend, the Wolverines earn the fourth seed while the Redhawks receive the fifth seed in next week’s WAC Volleyball Tournament.
Seattle University (12-15, 8-6 WAC) will face Utah Valley in the first round of the WAC Volleyball Tournament for the second consecutive year, with the match taking place Thursday, Nov. 20, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Icardo Center, as Bakersfield is the host school for this year’s tournament. The winner will face top seed UMKC Friday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m., with the championship match taking place Saturday, Nov. 22, at 5 p.m.