SEATTLE - Sophomore Madyn Cervellera’s match leading 22 kills was her fifth 20+ kill effort of the season, but the feat could not vault the Seattle University volleyball team over the visiting Santa Clara Broncos (11-9, 6-3 WCC) as the Redhawks (6-14, 0-9 WCC) fell 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 11-15) inside the Redhawk Center on Saturday afternoon.
Cervellera grabbed her tenth double-double of the season, adding along 15 digs to go with her 22 kills. She also finished with two aces and a new season high 4.0 blocks.
Junior Adee Butler matched her career high in kills, posting 14 to go along with three digs and a block. Redshirt junior Yasemin Elmas added an additional eight kills to round out the group of leading scorers, while leading all blockers with 6.0 total blocks on the afternoon.
Coming off her career high, redshirt junior Elif Teksoy led Seattle U with 39 assists. The setter also picked up eight digs and 4.0 blocks on the defensive end. Matching Teksoy and Cervellera in blocks was senior Marley Hardgrave, who posted 4.0 total for the second time this season.
Freshman Katelynn Albano led all players with 16 digs. She tallied three aces from the service line, one shy of her career high. Fellow freshman Petra Fritz recorded four aces for the fourth time this season. She’s moved to three straight matches with at least one ace.
The Redhawks combined for 54 kills, 47 assists, 12 aces, 59 digs and 12.0 blocks. Their 12 aces tied fifth highest in a single match, a feat that has not been matched since 2023.
A back and forth first set saw eight ties before Santa Clara built the second substantial run of the set. The Redhawks rattled off a 4-0 swing early in the day behind a block from Hardgrave to claim a 10-8 lead over the Broncos. No run was allowed on either side until an error tied the match 21-all late. Santa Clara would take the first set 25-21 behind a 4-0 run.
The second set mimicked the first, with neither squad allowing the other to flex its offense. Seattle U grabbed a three point lead on the back of two Santa Clara errors and a kill from Cervellera early, 10-7, before locking down the lead into the media timeout 15-13 behind a kill from Butler. Five ties ensued until the next break before the Broncos went up by one. The Redhawks reclaimed the lead but the Broncos would match them point for point until the set was tied 23-23. Seattle U relied on its defense to grab its first ever set win over Santa Clara, as Elmas led Teksoy and Cervellera to back-to-back blocks to level the match one set a piece.
Santa Clara hit back quickly in the third before back-to-back Albano aces pushed the Redhawks back up 5-4. The Broncos maneuvered the lead back with three straight points before a SU timeout. Elmas and Butler teamed up to bring the Redhawks back within a score, but the Broncos surged ahead by four, 15-11 with back-to-back kills. Trailing by four ,17-13, the Redhawks rattled off a 4-1 run built by a kill by Elmas and an ace from sophomore Grace Jones.
Trailing by two, a kill from Butler got the Redhawks back within one and sent Fritz to the service line. The freshman commanded a 6-0 run while picking up two aces along the way. The effort forced set point 24-20, with Cervellera delivering the final score to push the Redhawks ahead two sets to one.
A resounding run by the Redhawks in the third was mimicked by the Broncos in the fourth as Santa Clara leapt ahead 10-5. SU battled back within a point behind a 4-0 run, but the Broncos would go back ahead by five behind their block. Santa Clara was poised to force a fifth set after a 4-0 run late in the set. After grabbing set point, Cervellera kept the Redhawks alive with a kill before the Broncos broke through for the score to force a fifth set 25-19 in the fourth.
The Redhawks took the lead first in the fifth, making use of two straight Bronco errors. Cervellera tied the set early 4-4 with a kill, but Santa Clara would flex its offense with a 4-0 run to lead 8-4. Cervellera pulled the Redhawks back within two behind an ace and a kill, forcing a Santa Clara timeout. Out of the break, the Broncos built their lead to four before Butler halved the deficit with two kills.
Santa Clara locked up match point out of the SU timeout before Butler kept the Redhawks alive with her 14th kill of the match. Fritz went back to the line and grabbed her fourth ace to keep the Redhawks around for one more score until Santa Clara put the match away 15-11 in the fifth.
Seattle U returns to action on November 1 when the team hosts Saint Mary’s in a rematch at the Redhawk Center.
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