University of Washington
Missouri
Huskies Slip By Missouri in First Round
November 30, 2007 | Volleyball
Nov. 30, 2007
Box Score
Husky Post-Match Press Conference
SEATTLE - Christal Morrison set a new Washington postseason record with 27 kills and the No. 6 Huskies got past Missouri, 3-2 on Friday night in an NCAA First Round Playoff match. Washington won by scores of 30-23, 28-30, 30-22, 32-34, 15-11 to improve to 27-3 and advance to play BYU tomorrow night in the second round.
Despite hitting .302 (93-26-222) and setting numerous team and individual postseason records, the Huskies had to fight off a pesky Missouri team before winning in five games in front of 3,346 fans. The match featured 41 tie scores and nine lead changes as the two teams battled back and forth, keeping the fans in suspense up until the end.
The Huskies took a 3-1 lead in the decisive game on a pair of kills by Morrison and one more by Jessica Swarbrick. Washington opened up a three-point lead at 9-6 but the Tigers tied it at 10-10. But from there, the Huskies closed out the game and the match by scoring five of the final six points. The final point gave the Husky faithful in attendance a win they might have anticipated coming much easier against a Missouri team that entered the match with 17-12 record.
The Huskies had lost just one game in school history during a first round home match, and that came back on Nov. 30, 1994 against Wyoming. That match happened to be the school's very first NCAA Tournament appearance. Tonight's match also marked the first time Washington had been taken to five games in a first round contest.
Washington set new team postseason records in kills (93), assists (88), team blocks (22.5) and points (119.5). In addition to Morrison's new postseason record, Jenna Hagglund established a new UW postseason record in assists with 76 and Swarbrick set a new postseason record with 12 total blocks.
Morrison started the first game of the night quietly but finished it with a bang. She tallied eight kills, with seven of them coming in the Huskies final 15 points. She also had a hand in two other points during that stretch, teaming with Swarbrick for a block and then again later with Alesha Deesing for another block.
Washington scored the first five points of the game, two coming on kills by Becky Perry, but Missouri fought back to tie it at 8-8 on an ace by Cat Wilson. The Tigers took their only lead of the game at 11-10 before back-to-back kills by Perry put the UW back up by a point. With the score tied at 16-16, Morrison drove home a kill to give the Huskies a lead that they wouldn't relinquish.
The Tigers scored the first three points of game two before Washington scored four in a row to take a 4-3 lead. That was the only lead Washington held during the game, though, as Missouri ran off five straight points to push its lead to 8-4.
The game was tied twice more, at 9-9 and 10-10, but after the last tie, the Tigers would eventually lead by as many as six points at 22-16. The Huskies clawed their way back into the game and trailed by just one at 28-27, but the Tigers scored two of the final three points.
The Huskies rebounded in the third game, hitting. 409 and siding out at 73 percent. After an early 6-6 tie, the Huskies led the rest of the way. A kill by Stevie Mussie put the UW up by five, 14-9, and they later led 22-16 after a kill by Morrison. The Huskies outscored Missouri 8-6 from that point on, with three of their points coming on kills by Deesing.
Game four featured 22 tie scores and nine lead changes as neither team led by more than three points. The Huskies took their biggest lead at 27-24 on an ace by Hagglund and later had it at game point, 29-27, but Missouri scored two points in a row to tie it back up. After the Huskies regained the lead at 30-29 on a kill by Perry, the Tigers ran off two straight points for their first lead (31-30) since earlier at 23-22.
Mussie tied it back up at 31-31, Megan Wilson put the Tigers back up on a kill and then Morrison tied it once again at 32-32. But back-to-back kills by Wilson gave Missouri the win.
Washington finished with five players in double-figures in kills. Besides Morrison's 27, Perry had 21, Mussie finished with 18, Swarbrick had 14 and Deesing chipped in 10 more.
Four UW players tallied double-figures in digs, highlighted by a career-high of 39 by Tamari Miyashiro. Hagglund added 16 and Megan McAfee finished with 10, while Morrison had 11 more for her 12th double-double of the season.
Missouri's Na Yang finished her career with a team-high 26 kills, while fellow senior Tatum Ailes had 39 digs. Three other Missouri players tallied 14 kills apiece on the night, including Amanda Hantouli, Weiwan Wang and Wilson.
The Tigers, who finished their season at 17-13, got 60 assists, 13 digs and five blocks from Lei Wang, 17 digs from Caitlyn Vann and five blocks apiece from Catie Wilson and Weiwen Wang.
Washington faces BYU tomorrow night at 6 p.m. in a second round match. The Cougars defeated Ole Miss, 3-0, earlier in the afternoon. The winner of tomorrow's match advances to regional play at Penn State on Dec. 7-8.
NOTES: This was the very first meeting between the two schools ... both Perry and Swarbrick hit .500, while Morrison hit .333 ... Perry had a career-high 11 blocks and Deesing had nine more ... the 22.5 team blocks were a new season-high for the UW ... Swarbrick's 12 blocks and Hagglund's 76 assists were both team season-highs ... Washington hit .450 in game five ... Missouri finished the night with a .236 hitting percentage (80-29-216) ... the Tigers outdug the UW, 94-90.
