University of Washington
Mercer
No. 8 Huskies Start The Season With A Sweep
August 27, 2010 | Volleyball
Aug. 27, 2010
» Season Preview: Outside Hitters
» Season Preview: Setters
» Season Preview: Middle Blockers
» Season Preview: Liberos
SEATTLE - The 2010 Husky volleyball season was set in motion tonight with a straight-set victory over Mercer. The eighth-ranked Huskies (1-0) took care of the Bears by a 25-13, 25-10, 25-15 line on the first day of The Invitational At Seattle, Washington. The Dawgs thrived on offense with a .451 attack percentage while limiting the Bears (0-2) to .000 percent on their attack.
Senior Kindra Carlson led the way with 14 kills on 26 attempts with just one error (.500), and fellow senior Becky Perry was also in double-figures with 11 kills. Junior Bianca Rowland added seven kills and sophomore Kylin Muñoz made her long-awaited Husky debut with six kills on 11 errorless swings for a .545 attack percentage. Senior Jenna Hagglund's 38 assists led the way and redshirt freshman Jenna Orlandini started at libero, posting a team-high nine digs and two assists.
Husky head coach Jim McLaughlin won his ninth-consecutive season opener, but saw plenty for the Huskies to work on tonight.
"For sure we have to get a lot better. There was good stuff and there was some not so good stuff," McLaughlin said. I thought we lost a little focus at the end. The behavior at the end was a little loose. But we passed well. I thought Dunaway served well and Kindra served well, but we're going to have to get the speed gun out at practice and see who wants to hit it hard and keep it in. So we've got some room to grow there for sure. The hitting was all right, Jenna did a good job and the hitters were playing fast.
Washington's opening night starting lineup featured Kindra Carlson, Becky Perry, Jenna Hagglund, Bianca Rowland, Lauren Barfield, Kylin Muñoz and Jenna Orlandini.
Hagglund stepped up to the service line to get the 2010 season underway, and the Dawgs earned their first point of the year on a Mercer error. Carlson got the first kill of the season, as Mercer tried to pass one over but didn't get it far enough away from Carlson, who leapt up and spiked it back to the ground.
The first big cheer from the 1,503 in attendance came when Rowland and Carlson finished a lengthy exchange with a rejection at the net to give the Huskies a 7-3 lead. Muñoz earned the first kill of her career on the left side, flying in to hit crosscourt off the block and down as the Huskies moved ahead 9-5. The Bears called their first timeout trailing 20-12, as Carslon and Muñoz continued to do damage. Carlson then sent an ace straight to the hardwood to give UW a 22-12 edge. Rowland earned her fourth kill of the set on the next point. A sweet angle from Muñoz brought up set point, and Perry then flew solo against Anna Coursey, ending the set with an emphatic rejection.
Carlson led the way with five kills on 10 swings without an error in the first set, while Muñoz and Rowland each had four kills on seven swings. Hagglund dished 12 assists and Orlandini tallied the first four digs of her young career.
Washington raced out to a 5-0 lead in the second set before Mercer got on the board. Barfield's first kill of the night pushed the lead to 8-1. The Huskies went on another run with Orlandini serving, as Perry recorded back-to-back kills and Carlson added another to extend the lead out to 16-5. Carlson then took one of the biggest swings of the night, hammering down another kill for a 20-6 lead that forced a Bears timeout. The set was polished off on another hard-charging Carlson kill, 25-10.
The Huskies hit .522 for the second set and held Mercer to -.100. Carlson and Perry each had five kills while Hagglund tossed out 13 assists and added four digs.
In the third set, Rowland moved to the outside for the first time and picked up a kill from that angle, her sixth of the match, to knot the set at 3-all. Rowland added two more kills from the left side, but the Bears stayed in touch early. At 11-8, the Huskies went on a 5-1 run, started when Hagglund dumped her first set of the night for a kill. Perry and Kelcey Dunaway, who'd made her first appearance in the second set, then turned back two straight shots by Krista Hurley on consecutive points to make it 14-8, and Perry punctuated the run with her first ace of the night. On match point, Perry fired off her 11th kill of the evening to end the set, 25-13.
Washington will be back in action Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Hec Ed, facing off against Eastern Washington, which also defeated Mercer in three sets at Seattle U. earlier in the day.
