EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Seattle University volleyball rallied back from a 2-1 set deficit to force a fifth set, but the effort came up short as the Redhawks (6-3) fell 3-2 (25-20, 13-25, 18-25, 25-22, 13-15) to the Cougars (5-4) at First Community Arena on Saturday afternoon.
A pair of Redhawks in junior Adee Butler and sophomore Madyn Cervellera posted double-doubles in digs and kills, with Butler leading the way with 13 kills, one shy of her career high. The junior's 13 digs were a new career best and led all Redhawks. Cervellera tallied 12 kills and 10 digs and grabbed a career high three aces to lead the team. Contributing eight kills was redshirt sophomore Teagan Melton.
Also cruising her way to a career day was junior Taniyah Pruitt. Her seven kills was a new career best while her new career high 8.0 blocks led both teams on the day. Pruitt captured three solo blocks on the afternoon, also a new career mark for the North Carolina native. Senior Marley Hardgrave added 6.0 blocks, including one solo block.
Orchestrating the Redhawk offense was sophomore setter Anae Asuncion. Her 17 assists led the team as she finished just shy of her own double-double in digs and assists, tallying a career tying nine digs. Fellow sophomore setter Grace Jones added along two aces and 12 assists.
As a unit, the Redhawks combined for 47 kills, 41 assists and 57 digs while leading the Cougars in aces, seven to six, and blocks, 12.0 to 11.0.
Seattle U captured the first set after a contested back and forth. Back to back blocks from Pruitt put the Redhawks up 8-7 early before SIUE evened the match. The teams exchanged ties until SU took the one point lead heading into the media timeout. Following the break, an ace from Cervellera pushed the Redhawks up 19-16 before the Cougars evened the score 20-all. The Redhawks responded with a five point run kickstarted by a block from redshirt sophomore Kaitlyn Gotsch and Butler to claim the first set 25-20.
In response, the Cougars went on the offensive, grabbing the 2-1 lead over the Redhawks, hitting over .500 between the second and third sets.
However, the Redhawks did not shy away from host SIUE. They flipped the script quickly at the start of set four, securing a 8-5 lead early capped by a Butler kill. An ace from redshirt junior Elif Teksoy pushed the lead to four before the Cougars evened the set 16-16. Asuncion put the Redhawks on a 3-0 with a kill before Elmas pushed the Redhawks back up 21-19. Cervellera forced set point with a kill before Pruitt shut the door with a solo block to force a fifth set 25-22.
Neither team was a stranger to five set matches, both coming off fifth set victories the day prior. The Redhawks swung first, grabbing the 7-5 early set lead before the Cougars scored two to level the set. A Hardgrave kill got the Redhawks up 10-8 before the SU timeout. Out of the break, the Redhawks led 12-10, but a 5-1 run by the Cougars shut the door on the match, downing the Redhawk comeback 15-13.
Seattle U returns to action next week for its final nonconference tournament. The Redhawks look to bounce back into the win column at the Eastern Washington tournament where they’ll face Montana and host Eastern Washington next weekend.
Following the trip to Cheney, Washington, the Redhawks hit the road for the start of conference play. They make their West Coast Conference debut in Southern California, taking on both LMU and Pepperdine. SU returns to the Redhawk Center on October 2 to host Washington State.
Tickets are available for all conference matches now at goseattleu.com/tix.
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