The Seattle University volleyball team had control of its match against New Mexico State after winning the second and third sets, but the Aggies were able to rally to defeat the Redhawks, 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 14-25, 25-18, 15-13), Saturday afternoon in a Western Athletic Conference contest at the Pan American Center.
Martina Samadan (Split, Croatia) led the Redhawks with 19 kills and a .405 hitting percentage, with Matea Mamic (Split, Croatia) collecting 17 kills, six digs, and four blocks and Jelena Vujcin (Becej, Serbia) contributing 16 kills, six digs, three service aces, and four total blocks. Kerry Lane (Tucson, Ariz.) accumulated 55 assists and seven digs. Defensively, Maja Stojanovic (Cacak, Serbia) led Seattle U at the net with six total blocks, while Iris Ivanis (Pozega, Croatia) once again earned a career high with 18 digs, followed by Kirstin Schauble (Meadow Vista, Calif.) with 11 digs.
New Mexico State (17-5, 7-0 WAC) took an early 4-2 lead in the opening set, led by Tatyana Battle with three kills, but kills by Samadan and Mila Duarte (Lima, Peru) tied the set at 4-4. The Aggies would go on a 6-2 scoring run to open a 10-6 advantage, but three kills and a service ace by Vujcin pulled the Redhawks into a 14-14 tie.
After consecutive kills by Bradley Nash helped New Mexico State open a three-point advantage, Seattle U scored five of the next six points to pull ahead, 19-18. Down 21-19, the Redhawks scored four straight points on two kills by Mamic as well as a kill and a block by Vujcin, but New Mexico State took advantage of four straight Redhawk errors to win the first set.
Taylor Livoti picked up a kill and a service ace to take the early lead in the second set, 7-5, but Seattle U would go on a 6-1 scoring run to pull ahead, 13-10. The Aggies rallied back with their own 5-2 scoring run to retake the lead, 18-17, but back-to-back blocks by Vujcin and Stojanovic gave the Redhawks a 21-19 advantage. Two more kills by Vujcin closed out the second set for Seattle U, tying the match at one set apiece heading into the intermission.
After the intermission, the two teams split the first 10 points of the third set, but Seattle U scored five unanswered points, led by Mamic with two kills and a block assist, to pull ahead 10-5. After a kill by Nathalie Castellanos, the Redhawks rattled off five straight points again, including two more kills by Mamic, to extend their lead to 15-6. Seattle U would close out the third set on a kill by Stojanovic.
The Redhawks started the fourth set by scoring three of the first four points, including kills by Vujcin and Mamic, and then went on another 4-1 run to pull ahead, 7-4. Down 11-9 after a kill by Vujcin, the Aggies put together a 12-4 scoring run, punctuated by a block by Sasha-Lee Thomas and Andrea Tauai as well as a kill from each. Tauai would close out the fourth set with a kill, forcing a deciding fifth set.
Tauai would help New Mexico State open a four-point lead in the fifth set with a kill and consecutive service aces. The two teams basically traded points until the end of the set, as Seattle U extended the match with back-to-back kills by Samadan. However, the Aggies stopped the Redhawk rally and clinched the set and the match with a kill by Nash.
Tauai led New Mexico State with 16 kills, plus she earned seven digs and two service aces, while Nash finished with 13 kills, seven digs, and four total blocks. Livoti earned 27 assists and three service aces, and Kaylee Neal led all players with 19 defensive digs.
Seattle U could not pull out the victory despite finishing with more kills (62 to 57), a higher hitting percentage (.297 to .229), and more team blocks (11 to 8). The Redhawks also earned more service aces than the Aggies (8 to 5), but sometimes showed too much aggression with their serves, as Seattle U made 16 service errors in the match.
Seattle University (12-8, 4-3 WAC) will play five of the seven WAC matches in the second half of the conference season at home, starting Thursday, Oct. 22, against Chicago State at 7:30 p.m. at the Seattle Academy Gymnasium. The Redhawks will then host Missouri-Kansas City Saturday, Oct. 24, beginning at 1 p.m., also at Seattle Academy.