EL PASO, Texas — Seattle U volleyball stumbled in its Western Athletic Conference match on Thursday, falling to NM State in three sets (25-13, 25-17, 25-18). The Redhawks (1-7) were outhit .091 to .361, and were held to 27 kills for the match.
Eve Kerschenbaum led the Redhawks with seven kills. Amaris Carter followed with six, while notching a team-best seven digs. Julia Queiroz had five kills. Ezgi Ozkan had 17 assists.
A sluggish start in set one saw Seattle U trail 7-2 early. The Redhawks then trimmed the deficit to two behind a 3-0 spurt, sparked by a kill from Queiroz. The Aggies though quickly inflated the margin with a 7-1 run, pushing the score to 14-6. Carter, Kerschenbaum and Sanchez added kills down the stretch but Redhawks were unable to recover as they dropped the set, 25-13.
Seattle U began the second set on the front foot thanks in part to a 3-1 spurt as it received contributions from Kerschenbaum, McCabe and Carter. NM State then responded with a 4-1 run. Down 8-5, the Redhawks made the most of a pair of Aggie errors as they pulled even at 8-8 as Sophia Bertotti Metoyer and Kerschenbaum team up for a stop. Seattle U continued to stay in-step with the Aggies, forcing ties at 10 and 11. NM State began creep away as it scored four unanswered to assume a 18-13 lead. Queiroz and Kerschenbaum struck for the SU cause, but the effort fell short as it fell, 25-17.
Third set kills from Bertotti Metoyer and Kerschenbaum helped the Redhawks be in arm's reach, despite trailing 4-3. Down 10-6, Ozkan pushed a dump kill past the Aggies as SU drew within two. NMSU then used a 5-2 run to push the score to 15-10. The Redhawks slipped further behind down the stretch as the Aggies pieced together a 4-1 spurt and moved out to a 20-13 lead. Trailing 22-14, Seattle U pushed back with a 4-0 run, trimming the deficit to four. Carter chipped in with a pair kills during the spurt while Tijana Milojevic added ace.The rally however was cut short as the Aggies notched the final three points.
The Redhawks return home next week to face UTRGV on March 8 and 9.