OREM, Utah — The start of the Spring 2021 campaign started off on the wrong foot for Seattle U volleyball (0-1, 0-1 WAC) on Monday evening, as the Redhawks were swept in three sets in season opener to Utah Valley (1-0, 1-0 WAC).
"There were definitely some high points and low points for us tonight," said Seattle U head coach Michelle Cole. "We played like a team playing our first match in over a year. We'll reevaluate some things later this evening, but everyone knows the plan and we'll try to come back better tomorrow."
Despite leading the way with 36 kills, Redhawk offense was unable to find their rhythm, finishing with nearly double the attack errors of Utah Valley, 27-14, while hitting 0.83 for the match. Individually, Eve Kerschenbaum had a match-best 14 kills behind a .300-clip. Amaris Carter meanwhile finished with 10 kills and 14 digs for her second career double-double.
Tijana Milojevic anchored the backline as she had a team-high 15 digs and became the second player in Seattle U history to surpass 1,500 career digs, joining the program's all-time leader, Maggie Safranski.
Kristen Bell led Utah Valley with nine kills, while Kendra Nock had five blocks.
Redhawks looked good early in the opener taking a 7-4 lead early. Utah Valley responded with back-to-back tallies trimming the advantage to one. Seattle U then pushed the score to 13-8 behind a 7-2 run as Carter, Ezgi Ozkan and Julia Queiroz contributed with kills. Midway through the frame, the Wolverines strung five unanswered cutting the margin to 15-14. The Redhwaks battled through ties at 18 and 19, but a 3-0 spurt then gave the Utah Valley a 22-20 advantage. Seattle U hold a one-point deficit late but could not regain its footing and dropped the set, 25-22.
Seattle U remained off balance early in the second as Utah Valley grabbed a 13-7 lead. The Redhawks then pieced together three unanswered following a timeout, before a pair of UVU errors and Lauren McCabe kill trimmed the deficit to one, 16-15. Unable to pull level, the difference then grew to six as UVU went on 7-2 run to lead 23-17. Kerschenbaum bagged a pair of tallies making it 23-19 but it was not enough as Redhawks conceded the frame, 25-19.
In the third, Seattle U led 6-4 before UVU turned the tables with an 8-2 run to move out front, 12-8. The Redhawks continued to trail midway through, before a solo block from Kerschenbaum sparked a 4-0 rally tying the frame at 16-all. The momentum though stalled out for the Redhawks as they dropped nine of the last 11 points, losing the frame, 25-18.
Seattle U will wrapped its series with Utah Valley tomorrow. First serve from Orem is slated for 11 am PT.