The Cougars (15-8, 9-4) are set to take on Seattle University (7-17, 1-12) for the second time this season noon Nov. 13.
The last time these two teams faced off, on Oct. 2, the Cougs won sets two through four to win 3-1. The Cougs again look to get the job done, especially since they are trying to finish the season on a high note. They were once 5-0 in conference play, but have since gone 4-4.
“I do think that we’re hungry to continue to improve and see how good of a team we can possibly be,” WSU Head Coach Korey Schroeder said. “Wherever we finish, we finish, but we want to make sure that we’re the best version of ourselves that we possibly can be.”
One of the main things that helped the Cougs defeat the Redwings in their last matchup was the deep runs WSU went on. The Cougs went on a 5-0 run after only being up 20-19 in the second set. They then went on a 9-2 run to start the third set. In the fourth set, the Cougars went on both a 7-1 run and a 5-2 run.
They will likely be looking to dominate Saturday’s match by doing the same. However, when asked about what it would take to defeat Seattle U again, Schroeder kept it simple.
“I think we’ve put a lot of focus on just going 1-0,” he said.
Despite the Redhawks’ underwhelming record, they have playmakers all around the court. Outside hitter Madyn Cervellera has 316 kills. Outside hitter Petra Fritz leads the West Coast Conference in service aces per set (0.53). Fritz also has 128 kills and won WCC Freshman of the Week last week. The Redhawks, as a whole, have the fourth-most blocks in the WCC (193).
Last time the Cougs faced the Redhawks, Cervellera had 11 kills, the Cougs allowed nine aces and they were blocked ten times. However, the Cougs had 14 aces, 17 more kills than Seattle University and eight total blocks.
Headed into this match, momentum does favor the Cougs. They defeated Gonzaga (13-11, 6-7) Nov. 14 3-1 and hit .407. This could be a sign of them hitting through or around blocks, which they will need to do better this time against Seattle University.
As for the Redhawks, they come into Saturday off a loss after getting swept by Portland University (12-13, 7-7). They allowed the Pilots a .383 hitting percentage and only had three blocks.
Both the Cougars and the Redhawks are looking to finish the season on a high note. Even though this match may not lead to either team finishing the year where they wanted, a win would give either much-needed momentum heading into the last four games of WCC play. A Cougar win, specifically, would improve them to 6-0 all-time against the Redhawks.
