University of Washington
California
No. 11 Huskies Drop 3-1 Decision To No. 4 Cal
November 12, 2010 | Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2010
SEATTLE - No. 11 Washington fired out of the gates tonight against fourth-ranked Cal but the Bears pulled out a critical second set and went on to overtake the Huskies in four sets tonight at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Senior Kindra Carlson was outstanding on her birthday with 22 kills and 10 digs but the Huskies (18-6, 7-6 Pac-10) fell for the first time at home despite a great crowd of 4,132 fans.
The Dawgs were nearly flawless in set one, rolling to a 25-15 win, and held a 16-10 lead in set two before Cal rallied to take it 25-23. The Bears then held on for consecutive 25-21 wins in sets three and four to stay on top of the Pac-10 with a 12-2 record. Senior Becky Perry also notched 15 kills, and senior Jenna Hagglund had 45 assists while redshirt freshman Jenna Orlandini had a match-high 22 digs. The overall numbers were close, as UW led in kills, 54-50, and Cal held a slim .216-.212 hitting advantage and had 11.0 blocks to 10.5 for UW.
"I just know that when you play a really good team, little weaknesses are exposed," said head coach Jim McLaughlin. "We had no weaknesses in game one and then game two we hit some balls out of bounds. We've got to learn that lesson, understand it and learn from it. I told the team when we're on, we're on, but we're stopping it. We've got to figure out why we can be hot and then cool down. I've got faith that we can make a heavy run in the tournament if we learn the lesson, and that's the issue."
Bianca Rowland hammered down the first point of the match after the Kelly Holford opening service flummoxed the Bears. A key Perry pass led to a Carlson kill and a 5-3 edge, then an ace from Kelcey Dunaway caromed into the crowd for a 7-4 UW lead. The first kill for Kylin Muñoz made it 9-5 Huskies. After a Rowland kill, Cal's Murrey went wide cross court and the Bears needed time with UW up 11-6. Hagglund did a no look backwards set to Carlson for a huge kill and a standing ovation from the fans. Cal came back with x-straight on two kills and an ace and the Dawgs took time up 14-12. Hagglund found Carlson again for her fifth kill to snap the streak. Dunaway then fired her second ace, and another booming Carlson kill was followed with UW's first block of the night for an 18-12 lead as the Dawgs forced Cal's second timeout. Another block, this one solo by Muñoz, welcomed Cal out of the break. The Dawgs then closed out on a 3-0 run on a Perry kill, Orlandini ace, and another crushing block from Hagglund and Barfield to win 25-15.
UW was error-free in the first set, hitting .619, its second-best mark in any set this year. It was the Huskies first errorless set of the season.
Lauren Barfield's first kill of the night gave the Dawgs an early 3-2 lead. Barfield and Carlson then smothered Murrey out of the back row for a big block and a 9-5 lead. A Carlson kill was followed by a back row Perry missile that found the back line for an 11-6 Husky lead and Cal took its first timeout. Carlson got another opposite side blast out of the break, then teamed up with Rowland for a roof and a 13-6 lead. Cal trimmed the lead to three for the first time at 17-14, and the Dawgs called their first timeout. It was Carlson again who snapped the run with a crosscourt swing on the left side. The Bears made it a one-point set at 19-18 but Muñoz got the big swing to push back ahead. But Cal answered with two straight to tie it up and UW took its last timeout. A 3-0 Cal run gave them a 23-21 lead, but Rowland got the swing on the slide to cut it to one. The Huskies missed their next serve to give Cal set point, but Carlson saved the first with her 15th kill. Correy Johson capitalized on the next set point however to pull out the set, 25-23 for Cal. Washington outhit the Bears .231-.182 in the set, but was done in by six service errors against just one for Cal. Carlson had another eight kills in the second.
The teams see-sawed through the first ten points of the third set, coming even at 5-5. Cal went on a 3-1 run for an 8-6 lead but Rowland got one down against the block to stop the run. Kat Brown got back-to-back kills for Cal to make it 10-7 and UW took time. The Huskies continued to have a tough time defensively and a Bears ace made it 13-7 before Hagglund snapped UW back with a dump for her first kill. A tough Orlandini serve led to a kill by Perry that cut the lead back to 14-11, and Perry went off the block again on the next point to shave another off the lead. Orlandini then sent a low float off the Bears defense for an ace and suddenly it was 14-13 Bears and Cal took time. Lloyd snapped UW's run with a flip off the set, but Carlson placed a tip down on the next rally to sideout. A Bears miscue got the Huskies level at 16-all, then the Bears misjudged Perry's serve and it nestled on the line for an ace. The Bears moved back up one but Carlson tied it at 18 with the opposite side swing. Freshman Gabbi Parker celebrated her first kill which made it 19-all. But a Cal block netted them a 21-19 lead and UW took its final timeout. Two more UW misfires made it 23-19 Bears before Carlson went off the block and down, and then Perry and Rowland teamed up for a block of their own to make it 23-21. Murrey gave Cal set point with a kill down the line, and Perry missed wide on the next swing to give the Bears the set, 25-21. Cal outhit the Huskies, .242-.132 in the set and had three blocks to one for UW.
Barfield started UW off well in the fourth set with a rocket out of the middle. Cal opened up an 8-5 lead but missed its next serve and then Perry followed that with an ace to cut it back to one. But the Bears responded with a 5-2 run and grabbed a 13-9 lead on an ace that prompted a timeout from the Dawgs. Carlson went down the line on the right side to break the run, then Perry got a solo block on the left side to make it 13-11. Perry cut it to two again at 15-13, but two-straight from Cal forced UW's last timeout. A block by Perry and Barfield broke the streak, but Cal continued to sideout. Rowland hammered one down and the Bears tipped one wide to make it 19-17. Dunaway set one for Perry who hammered one crosscourt, then Cal overpassed the Hagglund serve and Perry unloaded on that one as well to cut it to 23-21 and Cal needed time. But the Bears took the next rally to get match point and Perry was blocked on match point as the Bears pulled out the win, 25-21. Cal limited UW to .083 on offense in the fourth, digging 27 balls.
Washington will be back in action tomorrow night in one of the biggest home matches of the year, as No. 2 Stanford visits Hec Ed for a 7 p.m. match-up.
