SPOKANE, Wash. - For the second time in as many weeks, Seattle University volleyball (3-6) faced off with Montana (4-6) on neutral floor in contested opening sets, but the Redhawks could not secure the victory, falling 3-0 (23-25, 24-26, 18-25) to the Grizzlies inside the Charlotte Y. Martin Centre on Friday afternoon.
Two Redhawks notched double digit kill efforts, with senior Adee Butler leading the charge hitting .348 on 23 attempts for 11 kills and three errors. Fellow senior Teagan Melton added 10 kills, hitting .400 on 20 attempts with two errors. The pair combined for six digs, while Melton registered 2.0 blocks on the defensive end.
Junior Hailey McEllrath matched Melton with 2.0 total blocks to lead the defense, while recording six kills hitting .667 on nine attempts and no errors. Sophomore Chloee Leslie paced the team with 13 digs, one shy of her career high, while adding six kills and a block.
Guiding the Redhawks from the line and orchestrating the offense was junior Grace Jones, who logged 20 assists and two aces. Jones also added seven digs on the defensive side. Fellow setter Bella Jones contributed eight assists and logged one ace.
Aiding the defense with her block was sophomore Lexi Jones, who posted 2.0 blocks alongside Melton and McEllrath.
The Redhawks combined for 41 kills, limiting the Grizzlies to 37 kills, while tallying 38 assists, three aces, 39 digs and 5.0 blocks. SU paced Montana in assists and matched the Grizzlies in blocks.
Seattle U leapt out ahead of the Grizzlies early, cruising to a 9-3 lead behind kills from Melton and Butler. Montana started chipping at the lead following its timeout before Grace Jones put the Redhawks ahead by five, 12-7, with one of her aces. Kills from Butler and McEllrath secured a late set lead, 19-15, before the Grizzlies spun the set around with a 6-0 run. A block by McEllrath and Melton kept the set alive 23-24 before the Grizzlies took the one set advantage 25-23.
After narrow exchanges ended the first set, the trend continued into the second, with the two teams exchanging six ties before the Redhawks ran ahead by four with kills from Lexi Jones and Melton and an ace from Grace Jones. Leslie notched the kill to put Seattle U in the lead 15-11 at the media break. McEllrath posted a pair of kills to push the Redhawks to 20 but a 3-0 run by Grizzlies leveled the set late 20-all. After facing set point 24-23, Butler registered a kill to even it to force a Montana timeout. Following the break the Grizzlies bagged the final two points to take set two 26-24.
Montana carried out a 7-3 advantage entering the early third set before back to back blocks from McEllrath, Lexi Jones and freshman Orinayo Olukanmi pulled Seattle U within two. The Grizzlies came back to lead 16-10 before the Redhawks crafted a 5-2 run to pull back within three, 18-15. Montana would secure the match with a 7-3 run to take the second meeting of the season in three sets.
The Redhawks return to action for the final day of the Zags Volleyball Classic when they face North Dakota State inside the Martin Centre at 10:30 AM PT.
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