COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Seattle University volleyball locked up its first win of the 2025 season with a 3-0 (25-2, 25-22, 25-19) sweep of Portland State on Friday afternoon at Cadet East Gym. The win was a program first over the Vikings (0-1) and moved the Redhawks (1-0) to 12-6 in season openers dating back to 2008.
Senior Marley Hardgrave paced the Redhawk offense with 10 kills on 17 attempts. With no errors, the Oregon native posted a match leading .588 hitting percentage. On the defensive end, the 2024 Redhawk block leader contributed 2.0 total blocks.
Sophomore setters Grace Jones and Anae Asuncion picked right back up with their tag-team effort from a season ago, combining for 29 assists. Jones added one kill, one ace and six digs with action in all three sets, leading both teams with 17 assists. Asuncion’s seven digs matched two other Redhawks for most in the match, while also adding a kill and an ace.
Sophomore Madyn Cervellera in her Redhawk debut posted eight kills on 19 attempts, two shy of her career high. On the defensive end, she added 3.0 blocks and three digs. Redshirt-junior Yasemin Elmas grabbed seven kills on 13 attempts, holding a .462 hitting percentage on the afternoon. The Turkish middle blocker also secured an ace and 2.0 blocks.
Junior Taniyah Pruitt matched a career high with two solo blocks. She led all players with 7.0 blocks on the day. She added six kills on 11 attempts, holding a .455 hitting percentage.
Leading the charge for the Redhawk defense was freshman libero Katelynn Albano. She matched Asuncion and fellow freshman Petra Fritz with seven digs. The Hawaiian native added five assists and an ace.
Seattle U combined for 43 kills to PSU’s 31 and nine blocks to the Vikings’ five. The Redhawks tallied five aces from five different players.
The Vikings scored first to open set one before the Redhawks rattled off a 6-0 run kickstarted by a kill by Cervellera. Pruitt and redshirt-sophomore Teagan Melton grabbed two block assists in that time span. PSU swung back to pull within one, but SU continued playing keep away, surging back up to a three point lead 17-13 off the Asuncion ace.
The Vikings battled back within two before Pruitt tallied her own 3-0 run with a kill and two solo blocks. Cervellera captured an ace and Pruitt posted another kill to give the Redhawks the 22-15 lead. PSU pushed back for the attempted comeback before a kill by Elmas forced set point. SU took the first set 25-21 following a Viking error.
Taniyah locking down the last three points for that 3-0 run, Portland State calls timeout.🔥
— Seattle U Volleyball🏐 (@seattleuvb) August 29, 2025
😍 Redhawks lead 20-15#TogetherWeSoar pic.twitter.com/Hd98NKy4JZ
Set two opened in a back and forth, starting with a block from Elmas and Cervellera. Neither team allowed the other to go on a scoring run until the Redhawks built up a three point surge to reclaim the lead 12-10 with three straight kills. The Vikings reached 20 first, leading the Redhawks by two before Melton and a Viking error tied the set 20-all. After a timeout from Portland State, Seattle U rattled off a 5-2 run to capture set two 25-22.
Holding a 2-0 set lead, the Redhawks set their sights on a season opening sweep, jumping out to a 8-3 early set lead. The Vikings would wrestle back the lead but could only ever keep the Redhawks down by one. Tied 15-15, back-to-back kills from Hardgrave and Fritz forced a Portland State timeout. Seattle responded with a 8-3 run spearheaded by two more kills from Hardgrave. A block by Elmas and Cervellera forced a match point before an error by the Vikings secured the win for the Redhawks.
Mad and Yaso put up the wall and it's match point😤😤#TogetherWeSoar pic.twitter.com/X5ta8sEshy
— Seattle U Volleyball🏐 (@seattleuvb) August 29, 2025
Entering today’s match, the Redhawks trailed the Vikings 7-0 in all-time meetings dating back to 2008. The pair haven’t met since 2022 and the win marks a program first for the Seattle U.
Seattle U returns to action tomorrow morning for day two of the Amy Svoboda Memorial Classic. The Redhawks square off with Jacksonville State, the first ever meeting between the two programs. The match is set for 10 AM PT with a live stream available on the Mountain West Network.
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