The Seattle University volleyball team enjoyed a strong all-around match, forcing Eastern Washington into numerous errors while making fewer mistakes themselves on their way to a 3-0 victory (25-15, 25-12, 25-16) Friday evening in the first match of the Molten Classic, hosted by the University of California at Haas Pavilion.
Jelena Vujcin (Becej, Serbia) led the Redhawks offensively with eight kills, plus she hit .583 in the match and also contributed three digs and three total blocks. Martina Samadan (Split, Croatia) earned seven kills without an attack error for a .636 hitting percentage, plus she totaled five blocks. The Redhawks combined for 12 service aces, led by Matea Mamic (Split, Croatia) with five aces and Kirstin Schauble (Meadow Vista, Calif.) with four service aces.
“As a team, we have worked a lot on being consistent with our communication and our energy, and I was really pleased that we minimized our hitting errors and played with a lot of energy throughout the match,” Seattle U head coach James Finley said. “I was especially thrilled with the way we dug the ball and transitioned into our offense, as defense has also been a focal point of our early season work.”
After pulling away to win the first set, the Redhawks maintained that momentum in the second set, led by three straight kills from Vujcin early in the set. Seattle U would continue to control the action, taking advantage of Eastern Washington’s mistakes to take a 2-0 advantage into the intermission.
A couple of Seattle U blocks, followed by consecutive service aces from Schauble, allowed the Redhawks to take a 9-3 lead in the third set. The Eagles closed their deficit to three at 13-10 on back-to-back kills by Chloe Weber, but the Redhawks would once again take control of the action and eventually complete the sweep thanks to a kill by Maja Stojanovic (Cacak, Serbia).
Kerry Lane (Tucson, Ariz.) ran a solid offense, finishing with 23 assists and six digs, tying Mary Orbeta (Alameda, Calif.) for the team lead in defensive digs. As a team, Seattle U made only seven attack errors in the entire match, hitting .324 during the contest.
Seattle University (1-0) continues play in the Molten Classic Saturday, Aug. 29, first facing Nevada at 12 noon before taking on the host California Golden Bears at 7 p.m. Live stats for both matches will be available on CalBears.com.