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Volleyball’s Rematch against Abilene Christian Set for Saturday

SEATTLE – Seattle University volleyball squares off with Abilene Christian for the second time this season, hosting the Wildcats at the Redhawk Center on Saturday, Oct. 19, after their first clash went to five sets in ACU's favor. The two are set for a rematch at 1 p.m.

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Volleyball’s Rematch against Abilene Christian Set for SaturdayVolleyball’s Rematch against Abilene Christian Set for Saturday
SEATTLE – Seattle University volleyball squares off with Abilene Christian for the second time this season, hosting the Wildcats at the Redhawk Center on Saturday, Oct. 19, after their first clash went to five sets in ACU's favor. The two are set for a rematch at 1 p.m.

FOLLOW THE REDHAWKS QUICK HITS
  • Seattle U collected its first win at home behind its second three set sweep of the season, downing Southern Utah 3-0 on Thursday night. The Redhawks moved to 3-1 in the all-time series against the Thunderbirds.
  • Arianna Bilby picked up her seventh double-double of the season, pacing the team with 18 kills and 15 digs against Southern Utah. The effort pushed her past 200 kills on the season as she leads the Redhawks with 205.
  • Katlyn Sipes extended her double digit dig streak to ten after tallying 12 against the Thunderbirds. 
  • Sipes paces the team with 258 digs and ranks second in the WAC in digs per set (4.17).
  • Elif Teksoy became just the sixth Redhawk in the program's modern Division I era to surpass 1,000 career assists when she passed the marker on Sept. 21 in a 3-0 win over Air Force. The redshirt sophomore enters the weekend with 1,223 career assists.
  • Teksoy leads the team with 360 assists on the season and ranks fifth in the WAC with 6.92 assists per set.
  • Merima Smajlovic ranks fifth in the WAC and paces the team with 27 service aces (0.40 per set). She sits second on the team in kills, racking up 161. She, alongside Bilby, was the second Redhawk with a double-double against SUU.
  • Marley Hardgrave now ranks sixth in the WAC with 1.11 blocks per set. She led the Redhawks blocking effort against SUU, as the team collected nine total blocks to the Thunderbirds' seven. Hardgrave has 54.0 blocks on the year.
  • Yasemin Elmas ranks first on the team with 55.0 total blocks on the season and picked up her 100th kill of the year against Utah Valley. 
  • The Redhawks won their season opener, 3-2, over CSUN to give new Head Coach Dan Behnke his first win at the helm of the program.
  • Merima Smajlovic was named to the Idaho State All-Tournament Team. The junior outside hitter averaged 2.92 kills and 3.0 digs per set while also tallying seven aces and five blocks over the three matches.
  • Marley Hardgrave earned all-tournament honors at the Roadrunner Classic after collecting 13 total blocks over two matches. The junior middle blocker also hit an efficient .320.
  • Katlyn Sipes was crowend WAC Libero of the Week on Oct. 9 to secure Seattle U's first conference weekly honor since 2019. The win was a first for the senior and for the team since the league implemented the distinction in 2023. Sipes became one of now 11 Redhawks to be recognized since Seattle U joined the WAC in 2012.
  • Seattle U closed out non-conference play with a 2-8 record. The Redhawks' wins came over CSUN and Air Force.
  • The 2024 Redhawk squad features nine returning players and seven new faces.

ABOUT THE SERIES VS ABILENE CHRISTIAN
  • Seattle U trailed the all-time series against the Wildcats 1-2 entering the 2024 season. The two programs met for the first time in 2022. The Redhawks seek their second program win over ACU on Saturday.
  • The Redhawks last defeated the Wildcats at home on Oct. 28, 2023 in five sets.
  • It's the second meeting at the Redhawk Center between the two teams, with Seattle U holding the home court edge. In their meeting two weeks ago, the match went to five sets after Seattle U grabbed an early lead. ACU came back to secure the 3-2 victory. 

SEATTLE U RECORD BOOK RANKINGS
A number of Redhawks are among the program's Division I era leaderboard in numerous career statistical categories: BILBY NAMES PRESEASON ALL-WAC
Senior outside hitter Arianna Bilby was named to the nine-member Preseason All-Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Team as voted on by the league's nine head coaches. An Arlington, Wash., native, Bilby is entering her senior season with the Redhawks. She is coming off of a standout junior season where she finished second in the WAC and 32nd in the nation in attacks per set (11.01) and third in the WAC in kills per set (3.56). She led the Redhawks in points and kills while recording 11 double-doubles and earning a trio of All-Tournament Team selections.

UP NEXT
The Redhawks will remain at home as part of their three match home stand, welcoming conference frontrunner UT Arlington to Seattle for a Thursday night meeting on Oct. 24 at 6 p.m.

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