SEATTLE - In their first ever meeting as conference opponents, Seattle University volleyball (4-13, 1-6 WCC) and Denver (10-9, 3-4 WCC) exchanged competitive sets, but the Pioneers would emerge with the 3-0 (21-25, 22-25, 23-25) match win over the Redhawks on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Teagan Melton paced the match with a .467 hitting percentage, recording ten kills on 15 attempts with three errors. The right side hitter also grabbed an ace and 3.0 blocks. Freshman Vai Unga and sophomore Lexi Jones combined for 11 kills, with Jones posting five on ten attempts with two errors.
Junior Hailey McEllrath posted five kills on seven attempts with no errors, hitting .714 on the afternoon. The middle blocker paced both squads with 7.0 total blocks, setting a new season high. Jones followed suit with 4.0 total blocks.
Guiding the offense were setters Bella Jones and Grace Jones, the duo combining for 25 assists. Both recorded an ace, while Grace Jones led the pair with seven digs.
Aiding the defense was freshman Janae Demant, who led the match with 10 digs. The libero also picked up two assists and one ace.
The Redhawks combined for 33 kills, 30 assists, four aces, 24 digs and 12.0 blocks, out pacing the Pioneers in blocks 12.0 to 8.0.
Denver opened the match with a 6-2 advantage before Unga grabbed a kill to kick start a 6-1 run by the Redhawks. Along the way, Una picked up another kill and a block, while McEllrath posted 2.0 blocks to level the match 9-9. An ace from Grace Jones gave the Redhawks their first lead 10-9. The Pioneers came back with a 6-1 run of their own to lead 15-11 into the media break. Kills from Lexi Jones and freshman Orinayo Olukanmmi pulled the Redhawks within two, 18-16. After facing another four point deficit, Olukanmi struck again to set the Redhawks on a late 4-1 run to trail the Pioneer 22-21, but Denver would close on a 3-0 run to take the first set 25-21.
The Pioneers carried their momentum into the early second set, pacing the Redhawks 11-7. After a Seattle U timeout, Melton grabbed a pair of kills to pull within two, 13-11. Meltion would come back later with another kill to spur on a 4-1 Redhawks run to pull within one, 16-15, to force a Denver timeout. The Pioneers pushed back to lead by three until Olukanmi guided a 3-0 run with 2.0 blocks and a kill to level the set 18-all. An ace from Demant and a block from Unga and McEllrath gave Seattle U a late 21-19 advantage, forcing Devner to take a timeout. The Pioneers swung back to keep the match tied 22-22. After the final timeout of the set, the Pioneers capped their run to take set two 25-22.
Seattle U took the early start in the third set, maintaining a one point advantage behind kills from Olukanmi, McEllrath and Unga until Denver led 10-7 with a 4-0 run. The two teams hovered within two points until an ace from Bella Jones tied the set 13-13. Seattle U and Denver entered a back and forth following, exchanging six ties until the Pioneers broke through to lead 21-19. An ace from Melton pulled the Redhawks within one 23-22 before a Denver service error kept the match alive 24-23. The Redhawks could not extend the match any further as the Pioneers put the match away behind a 25-23 set three victory.
The Redhawks return to action next week, traveling down I-5 to Portland for their second meeting with the Pilots. Seattle U returns home the final weekend of October to host both Pepperdine and LMU.
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