SEATTLE - Seattle University Volleyball makes its 2025 debut at the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic tournament hosted by Air Force, with the Redhawks taking on Portland State, Jacksonville State and Air Force over the final weekend of August. Their first match is set for Friday, August 29 at 2 PM PT against Portland State.
Saturday’s match will feature Jacksonville State at 10 AM PT before the Redhawks conclude the weekend against host Air Force on Sunday, August 31 at 11 AM PT. All matches will be streamed on the Mountain West Network with live stats available for all three contests.
Seattle U finished 8-19 in its final season in the WAC and collected six wins in conference play, the most by the program since 2017. The Redhawks officially made the move to the West Coast Conference on July 1, 2025 and will make their league debut at the end of September on the road against both LMU and Pepperdine.
The Redhawks welcomed nine newcomers to its roster, graduating four a season ago. Redshirt-junior Yasemin Elmas leads the group of returners, accounting for 153 kills last year, averaging 1.63 a set. The middle blocker returns as the team’s second in blocks, collecting 74.0 total in 2024.
Senior Marley Hardgrave paved the way for the Redhawk defense last year, pacing the team with 80.0 total blocks, averaging nearly one per set across 81 sets of action. She also grabbed 91 kills in 2024. Also returning to the defensive wall for SU is junior Taniyah Pruitt, who accounted for 43.0 total blocks in 58 sets played.
Also of notable return are SU’s three setters in redshirt-junior Elif Teksoy and sophomores Anae Asuncion and Grace Jones. The three accounted for 87 percent of the team’s assists last year, with Teskoy pacing the program with 424. The Turkish native also surpassed 1,000 career assists, the sixth Redhawk since 2008 to do so.
Four transfers joined the program in January, with local product sophomore Madyn Cervellera making her return to Washington via Cal Poly Humboldt. Junior transfer Adee Butler, from nearby Pocatello, Idaho, also shared WAC roots, joining the team from Utah Tech. Junior middle blocker Kaitlyn Gotsch also got her start in the WAC with Grand Canyon before spending this past season with Chattanooga. Redshirt-sophomore Teagan Melton, an Ohio native, journeyed the furthest, after spending her last two seasons with Marshall.
All five freshmen come in from out of state, with two calling Hawai’i home in libero Katelynn Albano and outside hitter Alohalani Chun. Setter Evie Morrissette came up from neighboring Oregon while libero Tiana Mariner jumped over from Utah and outside hitter Petra Fritz rounds out the group joining from New Mexico.
SU kicks off its weekend against Portland State, a program it has met one other time in a season debut. SU is 11-6 in season openers dating back to its return to Division I in 2008. The program faced off against the Vikings once in the 2010 season as its season opener. The Redhawks have won their last two season debuts, with a five set victory over CSUN a year ago cementing the first win in the Dan Behnke era.
The Redhawks are a combined 3-7 against the tournament’s three other opponents in the field, collecting all three wins against Air Force dating back to 2011 and most recently in 2024. SU seeks its first program victories over both Jax State and Portland State, with Saturday’s match being the first ever meeting between the two programs.
Following the trip to Colorado, the Redhawks return home to host the 2025 Seattle U Invitational presented by Courtyard Marriott at the Redhawk Center. The field features Manhattan, CSU Fullerton and Idaho with action set for September 4-6. Tickets are available for all three sessions at goseattleu.com/tix.
Season tickets, game day and group experiences and single game tickets are all on sale now. Visit goseattleu.com/tix and goseattleu.com/gameday-promotions for more information.
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