SEATTLE - (Sept. 1) The Seattle University volleyball team battled fifth-ranked Washington early, but the unbeaten Huskies would pull away for a 26-24, 25-10, 25-15 final at the Connolly Complex Thursday night.
The match was the opener of the weekend’s SU/UW Tournament and the first match to be played by SU in the recently renovated Connolly Complex since the 2014 season.
Katarina Marinkovic had nine kills to lead SU while Maja Stojanovic had six. Matea Mamic, who entered the match averaging 4.22 ops, was held to just five kills over the three sets.
Courtney Schwan paced the Huskies (3-0) with 12 kills on 22 attempts and was the only player with double-digit kills.
The teams traded points back and forth early in the first set and the Redhawks led 8-7 on a Stojanovic kill. UW rolled off four straight points to force an SU timeout. The Huskies would lead by as many as seven, 20-13, before Seattle U worked their way back into the set.
A kill by Marinkovic followed by a block by Mamic and Katarina Glavinic knotted the score at 24-24. But UW would earn the final two points of the set on an SU service error and a service ace of their own, taking the set 26-24.
Despite the solid effort in the opening set, the Redhawks struggled to find any rhythm over the next two sets, hitting just .061 in the second set and -.120 in the third.
SU looks to get back on track as tournament action continues Friday evening in the Connolly Complex as the Redhawks host Idaho at 7 p.m.