ELLENSBURG, Wash. – SFU Red Leafs pulled-off an epic afternoon upset, taking down No. 13 ranked Central Washington Wildcats in straight sets to win their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference match behind a dominant performance by junior Brooke Dexter.
 
Dexter delivered a game-high and season-high 15-kill (.297 attack percent) performance and the SFU defence held the Wildcats to 34 kills in 130 attempts for a .100 hitting percentage.
 
Still, all three sets came down to the wire with SFU winning 25-22, 25-23 and 26-24.
 
The Red Leafs will now host their home-opener at West Gym Thursday, Sept. 21 (7PM). The match will feature a t-shirt toss into the crowd, Tokyo katsu-sand food truck serving Japanese style Katsu sando and a Rec sports clubs showcase. Free admission for SFU & FIC students with valid SFU ID.
 
Central Washington entered the match on a seven-match winning streak, was named the GNAC Team of the Week on Monday and had impressive wins over No. 7 Minnesota Duluth and No. 5 St. Cloud State in consecutive matches at the Up North Tournament recently.
 
None of that mattered to the Red Leafs, who jumped out to a 7-1 lead and never trailed in the opening set. The Wildcats came back to tie the game 10-10 but SFU went on a 12-6 run to re-establish control and finished them off with a set-point kill by Kalyn Hartmann, one of nine kills in 22 attempts (.318) she had in the match. She was also in on seven blocks.
 
The second set was tied 13 times until 23-23 when Hartmann and Eva Person blcoked a kill attempt by the Wildcats at the net and Hartmann delivered the follow-up set-winning ace.
 
SFU trailed 9-2, 17-13 and 22—17 in the final set. But a Jocelyn Sherman service ace capped a 6-1 run to tie the game at 23-23. The Wildcats answered with the go-ahead point but senior Hanna Kolof got that one back with a kill on a set-up from Person. SFU took its first lead in the game since the first point (1-0) and Dexter provided the match-winning kill on a Kolof assist.
 
Person finished with 22 assists and 10 digs. Sherman had 17 digs.
 
Red Leafs volleyball season tickets can be purchased here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/sfu-red-leafs-season-passes-men-womens-soccer-and-volleyball-tickets-680344246957
 
Follow SFU Volleyball on Instagram @sfu_volleyball
 
#RepTheLeaf