University of Washington
Portland State
Dawgs Down Portland State In Northwest Challenge Opener
September 03, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 3, 2010
BOISE, Idaho - Led by 18 kills from senior Becky Perry, the ninth-ranked Husky women's volleyball team opened the Northwest Challenge with a 3-0 win over Portland State today at the Bronco Gym. Washington (3-0) held Portland State (2-1) to a negative hitting percentage of -.011 and had 42 kills to just 21 for the Vikings.
The Northwest Challenge is a two-day round robin tournament between UW, PSU, Boise State, and Gonzaga. This is the tourney's third year, with Boise State serving as the 2010 host.
Perry's 18 kills matched her 2009 season-high. She hit .400 for the match making just four errors on 35 swings. The Vikings were also unable to stop junior Bianca Rowland, who went off for eight kills on 11 swings and no errors for an attack percentage of .727. Senior Jenna Hagglund offered 35 assists, and redshirt freshman Jenna Orlandini tallied a season-best 14 digs, as did sophomore Kelly Holford, who dug up 10 balls. Sophomore Kelcey Dunaway also matched a career-high with eight blocks.
The Huskies turned a tight first set into a sudden runaway with an 8-0 spurt to close out the set after the score had been knotted 17-17. Perry started the run with a kill, and then Dunaway and Kindra Carlson teamed up for back-to-back stuffs against Portland State's Whitney Phillips. Perry then finished another Hagglund set that forced a Vikings timeout, but Hagglund hooked up with Perry again out of the timeout to make it 22-17. A flustered PSU squad made two more errors to take it to set point, before Orlandini set up Perry for a final spike.
Set two followed much the same pattern, with the lead changing hands five times until the teams tied it up at 20-all, the 15th tie score of the second set alone. But Kylin Muñoz broke the last tie with a kill, then Hagglund and Rowland paired up for a block. The Vikings took a timeout down 21-23, but Hagglund set up Rowland twice in a row after the break and the junior finished both to finish the set, 25-21.
The Dawgs came out of the break ready to assert themselves from the first point of the third set. It was 6-0 UW in the blink of an eye and PSU needed a whistle. Perry opened the set with another blast, then earned a block along with Dunaway, followed by a Hagglund service ace. Consecutive Portland State miscues were backed up by yet another Perry kill for the big early lead. Consecutive kills from Carlson and Rowland made it 9-4 UW. The Huskies then had another 5-0 run in them, including a Carlson ace, a Perry spike, and a Carlson and Rowland assisted block. The Vikings made a last gasp push, winning four-straight to force the Huskies to call time, leading 16-10, but Rowland came back with a kill and Perry added two more to swing the momentum back to UW, 19-10. Washington closed out with two kills from Muñoz, an ace from Perry, and a final block from Dunaway, teaming with Carlson, to end the set 25-14.
Washington will face a long day on Saturday, starting with a 12 noon match-up against the host-school Boise State, then turning around quickly for a 4 p.m. meeting with Gonzaga.
