SEATTLE - Seattle University volleyball (3-9, 0-2 WCC) remains in pursuit of its first West Coast Conference victory after a contested battle with San Francisco (9-7, 1-2 WCC) ended in a 3-0 (21-25, 18-25, 20-25) win in favor of the Dons inside the Redhawk Center on Thursday evening.
Sophomore Chloee Leslie paced both teams with 14 kills, the lone player that registered a double-digit kill performance over the match. The outside hitter combined for one assist, one ace, six digs and 5.0 blocks on the night.
Senior Adee Butler led the team with a .312 hitting percentage, registering seven kills on 16 attempts with two errors. Butler posted three digs, logged an ace and posted one block.
Junior Grace Jones led all players with 23 assists, her fifth straight match with 20+ assists. Jones grabbed a team leading two aces and picked up six digs.
Aiding Seattle U’s block were junior Hailey McEllrath and senior Taniyah Pruitt, who combined for 5.0 blocks. McEllrath secured four kills on five attempts with no errors. Assisting the defense was freshman Janae Demant who grabbed eight digs, the most between both programs on the evening.
The Redhawks combined for 34 kills, 32 assists, four aces, 30 digs and 6.0 blocks. They matched the Dons in digs and blocks.
San Francisco kicked off the match with a 6-3 advantage before the Redhawks orchestrated a 7-1 run to pace the Dons by three. With Leslie leading from the service line, the Redhawks picked up an ace from Leslie and a kill from Butler to hold a 10-7 advantage. The Dons pivoted the lead back from the line, stringing together a few aces to lead SU 15-13 at the media timeout. Out of the break, the programs exchanged one point advantages until the Dons pushed to 20 points first, leading 20-17. Back to back kills from Butler pulled the Redhawks within two before the Dons closed on a 4-2 run to take the first set 25-21.
The Dons mimicked the first set, holding an early advantage in the second set, pacing the Redhawks by 11-8 before a kill from Melton sent Butler to the line. Leslie and McEllrath secured a block setting up Butler to level the second set 11-all with an ace before a kill from McEllrath gave the Redhawks the 12-11 lead. San Francisco came back with a 4-1 run to lead the Redhawks 15-13 into the second media break. Coming out of the break, the Dons kept up the pressure leading by six, 21-15 before Jones pulled the Redhawks back within four with a kill and ace. The Dons went ahead two sets behind a 3-0 run to secure the 25-18 set win.
Set three kicked off in a back and forth as the Dons and Redhawks traded four ties before the Redhawks crafted a 3-0 run to lead 11-10. San Francisco would tie the third set and take the 15-12 lead at the media break before building its lead to five 20-15. After trailing by six, the Redhawks dug in and scored three straight with a kill from freshman Orinayo Olukanmi and an ace from Jones to force a USF timeout. Senior Teagan Melton kept the Redhawks alive with a kill but the Dons would take the match behind a 3-1 run.
Seattle U remains at home through the weekend, hosting Santa Clara for its Go Pink for the Cure match on Saturday, October 3 at 1 PM. All fans, with proof of donation, will receive a free pink Redhawks shirt.
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