SEATTLE - (Sept. 6) The Seattle University volleyball team opened with a huge 28-26 set-one victory over the visiting Oregon Ducks Tuesday night. But the Ducks would find a way to battle back and send SU to a 3-1 setback, 28-26, 12-25, 17-25, 16-25, in the Connolly Complex.
The match closed out a four-match stretch over the past six days for the Redhawks, who drop to 4-3 overall. Oregon, which is receiving votes in the latest AVCA poll, moved its win streak to four straight for a 4-2 record on the season.
“I was happy with the way we came out strong and focused,” said SU Head Coach James Finley. “There were several opportunities in that first set for Oregon to close it out, but we fought back to get the lead time and time again.”
The Redhawks trailed 5-1 early in the first set, but battled back, taking their first lead, 8-7, on a kill by Kory White. The teams traded points for the remainder of the set, neither side leading or trailing by more than one.
With the Ducks holding set point at 24-23, Katarina Marinkovic knotted the score at 24- 24 with a kill. Oregon took the lead once again, but allowed SU to even back with an attack error.
An Iris Ivanis ace gave SU a 26-25 advantage, but a service error evened the score once again, 26-26. But Matea Mamic answered with a kill and a UO attack error gave the Redhawks the set victory.
Momentum would shift to the Ducks for the remainder of the match, however. After hitting .33 in the first set, SU hit under .200 for each of the final three sets.
“We have a very young team and we are still working on getting consistent high performance,” said Finley. “We need to get mentally tougher in crunch time. However, we are showing signs every match of building and growing which is key to being ready come postseason.”
Mamic led the Redhawks with 16 kills and seven digs. Freshman Mila Duarte added eight kills on 20 swings and just one error.
Seattle U hits the road for back-to-back weeks to close out non-conference play, beginning Sept. 9-11 at the UCF Tournament in Orlando. The Redhawks will face LSU, Florida Atlantic and host UCF.