SEATTLE - Seattle University volleyball (3-4) secured its third victory at home this season, downing former WAC foe Southern Utah (0-7) 3-1(23-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-13) inside the Redhawk Center on Friday evening.
Senior Adee Butler led the way with a new season high 13 kills, hitting .242 on 33 attempts. The outside hitter also posted 3.0 blocks and two digs. Sophomore Chloee Leslie went for double-digit kills alongside Butler, recording 11 kills. Leslie added eight digs, one assist and tied her career high with two aces. Freshman Linnaea Moore paced the team with a .455 hitting percentage, combining for six kills on 11 attempts with one error.
Junior Hailey McEllrath guided the team from the service line, locking in a new career high five aces. The middle blocker added 4.0 blocks to match her season high.
Orchestrating the offense was junior Grace Jones, who led the team with 18 assists. Sophomore setter Bella Jones aided with 17 assists, while recording a new career high in kills with two.
Guiding the defense was sophomore middle blocker Lexi Jones, who logged 6.0 total blocks. Jones paces the team with 33.0 blocks on the year. Patrolling the floor was freshman Janae Demant, who grabbed a new career best 23 digs.
The Redhawks combined for 49 kills, 43 assists, 11 aces, 49 digs and 10.0 blocks, out pacing the Thunderbirds in kills and aces.
Seattle U opened the night on a 7-1 run led by Leslie at the service line before Southern Utah responded with a 6-1 run of its own. The Thunderbirds leveled the set at 11-all for the first tie of the night. The pair would exchange three more ties late into the first set, with the Redhawks pulling back 21-21 with a block from McEllrath and freshman Orinayo Olukanmi. The Thunderbirds closed out the opening set on a 4-2 run to take the early match lead.
The Redhawks mimicked their early first set momentum in the second, jumping out ahead of the Thunderbirds 5-1, capped off with an ace from Demant. Southern Utah chipped away at Seattle U’s lead once more, pulling within one before the Redhawks pushed ahead by five, 15-10, at the media break. Kills from Butler and McEllrath helped secure 20 points for SU, but Southern Utah battled to keep the set alive, pulling back within three 24-21 late in the second set. A kill from senior Teagan Melton tied the match as the Redhawks took set two 25-21.
The third set opened in a back and forth between Southern Utah and Seattle U, neither willing to give up runs until Grace Jones got to the service line. Jones commanded a 4-0 run and picked up an ace to give the Redhawks an 11-7 advantage, which helped push a 4-3 run to the media timeout. Kills from Leslie and Bella Jones, along with an ace from McEllrath, guided the Redhawks to a 21-14 lead but a late 7-1 run from the Thunderbirds extended the set until Butler delivered the third set sealing kill 25-22.
Southern Utah responded with an early fourth set lead, pacing the Redhawks 6-3. The two wrestled ties and one point lead exchanges until McEllrath was sent to the line following a Bella Jones kill. McEllrath commanded a 10-0 run, recording one of her aces in the process. The Thunderbirds forced a side out at 20-10, but the Redhawks swung back with a 5-3 run, capped off with a block from Moore and McEllrath to secure the match 3-1.
Seattle U returns to action next weekend for its final non-conference tournament of the season. The Redhawks head out east for Gonzaga’s tournament where they will meet Montana, North Dakota State and host Gonzaga. SU returns to the Redhawk Center on September 26 when it hosts Portland for Alumni Day.
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