University of Washington
Georgia Tech
Carlson Powers No. 9 Dawgs Over Yellow Jackets
September 11, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2010
ATHENS, Ga. - A dominant performance from All-American senior Kindra Carlson led the UW volleyball team to a sweep of Georgia Tech this morning in the first of two matches today. The Huskies (7-0) can now secure the team title at the Bulldog Invitational with a win this afternoon over Florida Gulf Coast.
Competing at the Ramsey Student Center on the University of Georgia campus, the ninth-ranked Huskies were up early for the 10 a.m. Eastern start time. No better way to start the day off than with a win, and the UW defeated the Yellow Jackets 25-15, 25-15, 25-19. Carlson was on target all match long, piling up 22 kills on 37 attempts with just three errors for a .514 attack percentage. She broke the 1,000 career points mark early in the first set, becoming the sixth Husky to do so and joining teammate Becky Perry over the milestone.
Junior Bianca Rowland was error-free once again, hitting .615 with eight kills on 13 swings, as the Huskies outhit Georgia Tech, .376-.052. Senior All-American Jenna Hagglund handed out 37 assists and redshirt freshman Jenna Orlandini led the defense with 16 digs. Georgia Tech (4-4) is the first 2009 NCAA tourney team that the Huskies have faced this year.
Carlson's best set was the first, when she was the focus of the Husky attack and responded with 10 kills in the frame. Early in the first set, Hagglund gave the Dawgs a spark with a rare solo block for a 6-5 lead. Two-straight Husky points were clinched by Carlson, and a Georgia Tech error resulted in a 13-8 UW lead and Tech took time. Carlson then led another run, starting with a kill, then firing off a service ace, and yet another kill on the following point for a 16-9 edge. Washington ran off the final four points of the set, with two more kills from Carlson, and a block from Carlson and Kelcey Dunaway on set point, ending it at 25-15. The Huskies hit .378 for the set and held Georgia Tech to .083 thanks in part to Orlandini's eight digs.
The second set was close early on before UW used a late 7-0 run to fluster the Yellow Jackets. Rowland had the first two kills for the Huskies in the set, and Dunaway put down two Hagglund sets later that both gave UW one-point leads. Carlson found the floor for a 10-7 advantage. At 13-12, the Husky run started where else but with a Carlson put-away, then Dunaway and Kylin Muñoz teamed up for a rejection, and Georgia Tech took a timeout after an attack error. With Hagglund on serve, the Dawgs kept rolling out of the break, as Carlson and Dunaway stuffed a GT swing, and Carlson added her fifth kill of the set to bring on another Yellow Jacket timeout at 20-12 Huskies. Rowland and Carlson sent down another shot to bring up set point, and Dunaway dropped in an ace to end the second, 25-15. The Yellow Jackets were held in red numbers on the attack, hitting -.071.
Freshman Gabbi Parker gave UW an early 4-2 lead in set three with a kill, but the third set would be close throughout. Georgia Tech held a slim lead for the first half of the frame. Hagglund and Dunaway scored a key early block to tie things at 7-all, and Carlson accounted for three kills in a four-point span to tie it again at 10-10. Hagglund entered an aggressive state of mind, surprising the Yellow Jackets with two kills in three points, both assisted by Orlandini, and Dunaway's swing put the Huskies up 15-14, its first lead since 5-4, and one they would not relinquish. The story remained much the same the rest of the way, with Carlson punishing the Georgia Tech defense, and the UW defense forcing GT into mistakes. Rowland notched her fourth kill of the set on just six swings for a 23-19 edge, then sophomore Kelly Holford floated an ace off the Tech defense to bring up match point. A final miscue by Tech ended things at 25-19. Carlson had seven kills in the set while Hagglund totaled 13 assists.
The Dawgs will now face Florida Gulf Coast at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time to finish up their East Coast stay.
