2016 VOLLEYBALL SCHEDULE | BUY TICKETS | DONATE
SEATTLE - (Nov. 15) After wrapping up the regular-season with a win at home on Senior Day, the Seattle University volleyball team heads to Las Cruces, N.M. as the sixth seed in the 2016 Western Athletic Conference Tournament. The Redhawks will face third seed CSU Bakersfield in the tournament’s first match, Thursday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. Mountain, 4 p.m. Pacific. The match will air live on the WAC Digital Network.
FOLLOW THE REDHAWKS
Thursday, Nov. 17 vs CSU Bakersfield - 5:00 p.m. MT/4:00 p.m. PT (Pan American Center)
Live Stats | Watch on the WAC Digital Network
ABOUT THE REDHAWKS (13-14, 6-8 WAC)
• Seattle U wrapped up the regular-season by going 1-1 in a pair of home WAC matches. The Redhawks dropped a 3-0 decision to CSU Bakersfield on Nov. 10, but bounced back to earn a come-from-behind five-set thriller over Grand Canyon.
• Freshman Katarina Marinkovic has starred over the final nine matches for SU, averaging 4.08 kills and 2.03 digs to go along with 18 service aces and 15 blocks. She has double-digit kills in nine straight matches, including 20+ on three occasions, and a career-high 30 on Oct. 27 at Chicago State.
• Senior outside hitter Matea Mamic has missed the last five matches due to a shoulder injury. • The Redhawks are among the leaders in the WAC in handful of statistical categories. Maja Stojanovic is third in hitting percentage (.310) and fifth in blocks (1.06 per set), Matea Mamic ranks fourth in kills per set (3.45) and fourth with 0.33 aces per set, Katarina Marinkovic is second with 0.44 aces per set and fifth in kills per set (3.33), Kerry Lane is third in assists per set (8.08) and Iris Ivanis is fourth in digs per set (4.49). As a team, SU is second in service aces with 1.58 per set and third in hitting percentage (.220).
• With her fifth kill on Oct. 22 vs. New Mexico State, Mamic became the third Redhawk since the transition to Division I (in 2008) to reach the 1,000 kill mark. She joins Cristin Richards (2008-11, 1,458 kills) and Kaytlyn Dill (2008-12, 1,199 kills) in the elite category. Mamic finished the match with eight kills bringing her career total to 1,003.
• Libero Iris Ivanis recorded her 1,000th career dig in the fourth set of the Redhawks’ loss at Utah Valley on Oct. 8. The senior is the only active player in the WAC with more than 1,000 career digs.
• Maja Stojanovic earned her first career WAC Player of the Week honor on Oct. 3 after leading SU with 4.33 points, 3.50 kills on .667 hitting, 1.00 blocks, 0.67 digs, 0.33 service aces and 0.33 assists per set.
• The Redhawks went 2-1 at the Rutgers Invitational Sept. 15-16 to wrap up non-conference play. They took straight-set victories from Seton Hall and the host Scarlet Knights. The win over Rutgers marked the program’s first-ever win against the Big Ten opponent.
• Matea Mamic earned her second All-Tournament selection of the season at the Rutgers Invite. Shae Harris was also named to the All-Tournament Team.
• Matea Mamic and Maja Stojanovic were named to the All-Tournament Team of the Ultra Ankle Challenge, hosted by Oregon State.
• Seattle U was selected third in the 2016 Western Athletic Conference preseason poll.
• 2015 All-WAC selection Matea Mamic was voted to the 14-member Preseason All-WAC Team.
• Head Coach James Finley enters his fourth year at the helm of the program. Under Finley in 2015, the Redhawks had their best season yet, going 18-11 overall and 9-5 in WAC play.
• SU has seven returning letterwinners, including four starters, from one season ago.
• The 2016 SU roster has true international flavor as six different countries are represented on the 14-member squad. That includes the United State (five different states), Canada (three different provinces), Serbia, Croatia and Peru.
ABOUT THE ‘RUNNERS (13-14, 10-4 WAC)
CSU Bakersfield closed out the regular-season with a 13-14 overall record and 10-4 WAC mark, good for a tie of second place in the league standings. Utah Valley won the tie breaker for second place, making the ‘Runners the third seed in this week’s WAC Tournament. CSUB tops the WAC rankings in team service aces (1.59 per set) while Carol Grasso leads all players with 4.11 kps and 0.62 aps.
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST CSU BAKERSFIELD
Seattle U is 7-14 since the 1999 season in matches played against the ‘Runners. CSUB has swept the home-and-home series each of the past two seasons. This year, the ‘Runners won 3-2 in Bakersfield and 3-0 just last week in Seattle.