SEATTLE - Seattle University volleyball (6-14, 0-9 WCC) turns its sights on Saint Mary’s for its lone competition of the week, welcoming the Gaels (7-13, 5-4 WCC) for a rematch at the Redhawk Center on Saturday afternoon at 1 PM after narrowly falling to Saint Mary’s last week in Moraga.
The pair pushed one another to five sets at UCU Pavilion last Thursday, with the Gaels avoiding the upset at home after the Redhawks jumped ahead 2-0. Seattle U has played to five sets nine times this season, holding a 3-6 record in those contests.
Sophomore Madyn Cervellera leads the group with 274 kills on the season after completing her fifth 20+ kill performance against Santa Clara last Saturday. The mark ranks fourth in the conference this season, while her 3.34 kills per set sits sixth. The Lake Stevens native has now gone back-to-back with 20+ kills, registering 20 against the Gaels and 22 against the Broncos.
Cervellera has ten double-doubles in digs and kills this season. With 189 digs this season, the outside hitter ranks 14th in the WCC.
Junior Teagan Melton and redshirt junior Yasemin Elmas have both surpassed 100 kills this season, with Melton leading the pair with 150. Elmas has 122 kills, while ranking 10th in the WCC in hitting percentage, holding a .297 through 79 sets of action.
Elmas ranks 14th in the WCC with .87 blocks per set and paces the team with 69.0 blocks to rank ninth in the conference.
Maneuvering the Redhawk offense is a trio of setters led by redshirt junior Elif Teksoy. Her 5.55 assists per set ranks 11th in the conference, while sophomore Anae Asuncion has also moved into the league’s top-20, registering 3.93 assists per set. Sophomore Grace Jones sits 20th with 3.69 assists per set.
The trio rank 17th through 19th in total assists, with Jones leading the group with 240 on the season.
Freshman Petra Fritz leads the league from the service line, averaging .51 aces per set to rank 21st in the nation. Her 36 aces ranks second in the conference and tied-33rd in the country. Fellow freshman Katelynn Albano also ranks amongst the top of the conference in aces, sitting tied-sixth in the league with 26 on the year.
Albano ranks tenth in the conference with her team leading 228 digs, while her team leading 2.78 digs per set ranks 11th.
As a unit, the Redhawks rank fourth in aces with 131 total through 82 sets of action. They also rank amongst the top five in the WCC in blocking, holding fourth with 166.0 total blocks this year. Seattle U ranks third in the league with 234 block assists, while its 49 solo blocks ranks tied-4th.
The Gaels improved to 4-0 all-time against the Redhawks after the five set victory in Moraga last week. Since then, Saint Mary’s has extended its winning streak to five straight matches, defeating Portland in five sets on Saturday at home. Two of those five wins have come on the road.
Following the weekend, the Redhawks head out on the road to Pacific before returning home to host San Francisco for their Alumni Day over Homecoming weekend.
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