COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Seattle U volleyball (2-0) maintained its hot start, cruising to a 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-23) victory over Jacksonville State (1-2) at Cadet East Gym on Saturday morning. The win marks the best start for the program since 2019 and the first start with back-to-back sweeps since 2015.
Redshirt junior Yasemin Elmas paced the team with 11 kills on 21 attacks, one kill shy of her career best. Her .425 hitting percentage led both teams. On the defensive end, the Turkish middle blocker led the team with 6.0 total blocks. Sophomore Madyn Cervellera added eight kills, while senior Marley Hardgrave and redshirt sophomore Teagan Melton combined for 11 kills.
Hardgrave and junior Taniyah Pruitt each tallied 5.0 blocks on the day, with Pruitt capturing a solo block. The junior also posted four kills. Melton added an additional 3.0 blocks for a new career best.
Sophomore setters Grace Jones and Anae Asuncion orchestrated the Redhawk offense, with Jones leading the team with 16 assists. Asuncion tallied 14 on the day. The pair combined for three aces, with Jones and freshman Katelynn Albano each collecting two aces on the day.
Albano grabbed ten digs to lead all Redhawks, while junior Adee Butler contributed seven digs for a new career best. Butler also posted 2.0 blocks, a new career best, and two kills.
As a unit, the Redhawks combined for 37 kills, five aces, 28 digs and 12.0 blocks.
The morning opened in a back-and-forth, with the Redhawks creating two point leads and exchanging ties in the early to mid-set. After a Jax State error to tie it 16-16, the Redhawks unleashed a 6-0 run with two blocks by Elmas and Hardgrave. Butler picked up her solo block to put Seattle U up 22-16. After the Gamecock timeout, Jax State scored its final point of the set as Elmas tallied back-to-back kills to force set point. An ace from Jones locked up set one 25-17 for the Redhawks.
Cevellera kicked off set two with two kills before a kill from Butler put the Redhawks up 7-4, forcing a Jax State timeout. Out of the break, Albano tallied an ace to push the lead to four. Kills from Elmas and Melton built the lead to 13-7, forcing another Gamecock time out. The Redhawks led by as many as five before the Gamecocks pulled within one. SU won the race to 20, leading Jax State by two after a kill from Cervellera.
A 4-0 run by the Gamecocks swung the lead back to Jax State 23-22. A kill from Pruitt negated Jax State’s set point, evening the match 24-all. A block from Elmas and Hardgrave forced set point before a Gamecock error secured set two for the Redhawks 26-24.
On the cusp of a sweep, Jacksonville State leapt out to an early 3-1 lead before Elmas and Melton evened the score at 3-all. A 5-1 run by the Redhawks secured the 8-4 lead before the Gamecocks rattled off a run of their own. Exchanging one point leads and ties through the middle of the set, Seattle U was able to take back the lead after trailing 15-17. A kill by Elmas and blocks from Pruitt and Cervellera reclaimed the lead 18-17. Hoping to avoid the sweep, the Gamecocks didn’t back down, keeping the score even after a Seattle U timeout.
With the match on the line 22-22, Seattle U raced out to the match win on a 3-1 run, with Elmas picking up two kills, including the match winning kill, to guide the program to its first ever win over Jacksonville State 25-23 in the final set.
The Redhawks conclude the weekend taking on host Air Force on Sunday, August 31 at 11 AM PT. The match will stream on the Mountain West Networks and live stats will be available. Following the conclusion of the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic, the Redhawks will return home to host Idaho, Manhattan and CSU Fullerton for the Seattle U Invitational at the Redhawk Center.
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