SEATTLE - Seattle University volleyball (1-0) defeated Chicago State (0-1) in three sets (25-12, 25-21, 25-15) inside the Redhawk Center to cap day one of the Steve Nimocks Redhawk Invitational on Friday evening.
Senior Teagan Melton led the offense with ten kills, hitting .316 on 19 attempts. Senior Adee Butler and newcomers Chloee Leslie and Lexi Jones each added seven kills. Jones hit .364 on 11 attempts while Butler hit .500 on ten attempts.
Orchestrating the offense was sophomore Bella Jones, who logged 21 assists in her red and white debut.
Freshman Elaina Duong recorded a team leading nine digs and two aces, while Leslie added eight digs. Freshman libero Janae Demant cataloged six digs in her first collegiate start. Aiding the defense was Lexi Jones, who tallied 3.0 blocks. Melton, Leslie and junior Hailey McEllrath each accounted for a block.
The Redhawks combined for 36 kills, limiting the Cougars to 16 kills and a -0.056 hitting percentage. The Seattle U defense logged 31 digs to Chicago State’s 21 and tallied 4.0 blocks. SU outpaced the Cougars from the service line, seven aces to three.
After a 2-2 start, the Redhawks claimed the early set lead behind a 4-0 run capped by a solo block from Lexi Jones. Seattle U out scored the Cougars 9-5 into the media timeout, taking advantage of Chicago State errors. The Redhawks scored the final five points of the set with a pair of back-to-back kills from Jones and an ace from Duong.
A back and forth second set saw five lead changes until the Redhawks led by one, 15-14, into the media break. After the Cougars leveled the set 15-all, the Redhawks pivoted and recorded a 6-0 run, led off with a pair of kills from Melton and capped with a kill from Jones. Chicago State pulled within three, 23-20, late in the second set, but a kill from Leslie and a Cougar error pushed the Redhawks ahead to claim a 2-0 set lead.
The third set mimicked the second early with a back and forth before Demant and McEllrath gave the Redhawks a 8-6 advantage with kills. While the Cougars pulled within one, the Redhawks never relinquished the lead, pacing Chicago State by five into the media timeout. Freshman Linnaea Moore built the lead to seven with a kill to push SU to 20. The Redhawks closed on a 5-1 run as Butler and Jones combined for three kills. Seattle U secured the sweep following a pair of Chicago State errors to claim set three 25-15.
The Redhawks return to action tomorrow, Saturday August 29 at 4 PM when they host North Dakota on day two of the Steve Nimocks Redhawk Invitational. The day starts at 1 PM with a match up between Eastern Washington and Chicago State. Both matches will stream on ESPN+
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