LACEY, WA — The Saint Martin's University Volleyball team looks ahead to conference contests between Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington after spending time in Hawaii and Idaho competing against some of the top teams in the country.

SMU Volleyball opened its season in Hilo, Hawai'i, at the 2024 De Luz Chevrolet Hawai'i Fall Volleyball Challenge hosted by the University of Hawai'i - Hilo. The team won their first match against Hawai'i Pacific 3-2 (25-18, 15-25, 18-25, 25-22, 15-7) after winning the fourth and fifth sets back-to-back, led by the efforts of Emily Garten and Emmy Hansen, who tallied 19 and 12 kills respectively. SMU Volleyball ended up dropping their other three matches of the invitational to Bemidji State 3-1 (19-25, 19-25, 25-15, 23-25), Hawai'i Hilo 3-0 (16-25, 23-25, 21-25), and Cal Poly Humboldt 3-2 (16-25, 25-22, 25-22, 18-25, 15-17). The following week, the team traveled to Nampa, Idaho, to compete in Northwest Nazarene's Hampton Inn & Suites Nighthawks Classic. They took on Colorado School of Mines in the first match of the classic, jumping ahead to a 2-0 lead, but were ultimately defeated in five hard-fought sets. After another back-and-forth 3-2 (15-25, 25-22, 25-22, 18-25, 11-15) loss to Westminster (Utah), the Saints were able to close out a win against Biola in five sets (25-17, 25-20, 17-25, 22-25, 15-9). They would end up being swept by Point Loma Nazarene (14-25, 23-25, 21-25) in their final road trip contest.

With the season's first two weeks completed, the Saints now prepare to host Northwest Nazarene in a conference contest on Thursday, September 19, at 7:00 PM. SMU picked up their second-ever match victory against NNU last season in a 3-0 sweep, but the Nighthawks are ahead in the series all-time. NNU has a 3-5 record on the season and is led by seniors Gabi Moore, Miya Koch, and Maren Machado. After a day off, the Saints will be back in action on Saturday, September 21 at 1:00 PM to take on the 2-4 Central Washington Wildcats, who have tallied two big wins over RV San Francisco State and #10 Cal Poly Pomona.

Both upcoming volleyball contests will be held at Marcus Pavilion. You can get your tickets here.