SEATTLE - Seattle University volleyball (6-17, 1-12 WCC) takes its game on the road, traveling to Pullman for a rematch against Washington State (15-8, 9-4 WCC) at Bohler Gym on Saturday at 1 PM after breaking its attendance record against the Cougar earlier in the season.
The Redhawks come off their first win in West Coast Conference play, while claiming their first conference weekly award earlier in the week. Freshman Petra Fritz claimed the WCC’s Freshman of the Week honor following her career outing against San Francisco, combining for 23 kills in four sets and five aces.
Seattle U opened the week against Portland, falling to the Pilots in three sets. Sophomore Madyn Cervellera extended her double-digit kill match streak to six straight, leading the offensive charge with 10 kills. The outside hitter has a team leading 326 kills on the season, a mark that ranks fourth in the conference and now sits ninth in the Division I era for kills in a single season. Her 3.40 kills per set also ranks amongst the top-five in the league.
Junior Teagan Melton and redshirt junior Yasemin Elmas aid the offense, each crossing over 100+ kills on the year. Melton has tallied 174 through 84 sets while Elmas has tacked on 136 through 93 sets. Fritz has moved past 100 kills in the last three matches, holding 128 entering the weekend.
Orchestrating the offense is redshirt junior Elif Teksoy. The setter ranks sixth in the WCC averaging 6.41 assists per set. Teksoy has combined for 359 assists in 56 sets.
Leading from the service line is a combined effort from two of SU’s freshmen. Fritz leads the league in aces (44) and aces per set (.52). She has posted seven straight matches with at least an ace. Her 44 aces ties third all-time in the DI era for aces in a single season, matching Katarina Marinkovic’s 2016 season. Fritz sits two aces shy of tying the DI program record. Freshman libero Katleynn Albano ranks second to Fritz, combining for 29 aces on the year, averaging .31 per set.
Albano leads the Redhawk defense with 243 digs, averaging 2.62 per set. Cervellera ranks in the top-15 in the WCC alongside Albano, tallying 222 digs this season.
Defending out front is Elmas, who leads the team with her career season best 78.0 blocks. Senior Marley Hardgrave ranks second on the team with 67.0 blocks.
Together, the Redhawks rank fifth in the WCC in total blocks with 193.0 while ranking tied-third in solo blocks (55). Seattle U’s 55 solo blocks is the second highest by the team in the Division I era, and is seven shy of tying the all-time record since 2008.
SU ranks in the top-five in the conference in aces with 154, which ranks eighth all-time since 2008 for aces in a single season.
Amongst the national rankings, Fritz has two top-25 stats, sitting within the nation’s top-15 with her .53 aces per set. Her 44 total aces is tied-23rd in the country.
Seattle U prepares for its seventh meeting in program history against Washington State. The Cougars have claimed all six of the previous meetings dating back to the start of the series. In six meetings, Washington State is 2-0 in Pullman. Since the pair last met, the Cougars have gone 6-4 in WCC play, most recently coming off a four set victory over Gonzaga in Spokane. The Cougars have held a 3-2 record at home in their last ten matches.
Following the weekend, the Redhawks return home for their final two contests in the Redhawk Center. They host Gonzaga on Thursday evening before celebrating their seniors against Oregon State on Saturday, November 22.
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