Dawgs Battle Back To Drop No. 3 Stanford In Five Sets
November 11, 2011 | Volleyball
Nov. 11, 2011
Set Your DVRs - ROOT Sports will air tonight's match in Seattle at the following times:
Saturday, Nov. 12 - 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 13 - 8:00 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 14 - 4:00 p.m.
SEATTLE - Down two sets to one and trailing late in the fourth set, the 11th-ranked Husky volleyball team roared back to force a fifth set and then freshman Krista Vansant took over, powering to a 25-18, 25-27, 19-25, 25-22, 15-10 victory over third-ranked Stanford tonight at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Huskies (19-6, 11-6 Pac-12) had four players with double-figure kill totals, led by Vansant's season-best 18 to defeat the Cardinal (19-5, 13-5 Pac-12) for the first time since 2009.
The match, in front of 3,347 fans, featured some major sea changes in momentum, with UW dominating the first set, and owning four set points in the second set looking to take a 2-0 lead. But Stanford came back swinging to steal the second set and that carried into a third set win, and a late lead in the fourth that reached 19-15 late. But the Huskies closed the fourth set on a 10-3 run to take things to the fifth.
That's when Vansant began to dominate from the left, hitting with ferocity again and again. She had seven of her 18 kills in the last set, hitting .636 without an error as UW closed things out.
"I was awful proud of her," McLaughlin said of the freshman from Redlands, California. "(In the fifth set) she challenged the block; she was going to make them earn points. She was just full tilt and giving it everything she had."
Still it was a total team effort to get the Dawgs into the fifth. Sophomore Gabbi Parker again raised her career high with 16 kills, and senior Bianca Rowland continued her late season hitting surge, as she had 11 kills and hit .455. Junior Kylin Muñoz also added 11 kills, marking the first time UW had four players in double figures since 2009.
Sophomore Jenna Orlandini anchored the defense with a career-high 29 digs, and freshman Summer Ross also had 17 digs for her season best. And setter Jenni Nogueras had the first double-double of her career, with 29 assists and 14 digs, career-highs in both.
"We need this. At some point you have to have the work validated. And the manner we got it was just tough, and hard-fought," said McLaughlin. "We never caved in and when it got tough and Stanford got hot, we maintained and the ebbs and flows came back our way ... We kept our energy level fairly high all night."
Washington won despite being outhit overall, .215 to .193. It's the first time UW has won when being outhit since November of 2008 against Arizona. The win also was Washington's first over a top-five team since last year's NCAA win against No. 2 Nebraska. UW's previous best win this season came against then-No. 6 UCLA. Also of note, the Huskies snapped a two-match losing streak; UW has not lost three in a row since 2003.
Nogueras set Muñoz on the left side on the first point for the first kill of the match. Stanford took the next three but UW came back to tie as Rowland hit down an overdig off an Orlandini serve. Vansant posted a solo roof of Stephanie Browne on the weak side for a 7-4 Husky lead. UW pushed the lead to 9-5 after a Stanford blocking error and the Cardinal called timeout. Rowland had the quick kill from Nogueras for a 12-9 edge. A great dig by Ross on a tip led Rowland to set Vansant for a kill and a 15-11 lead. Vansant fired away from the right side off the block to make it 17-14, then her serve led to a Stanford overpass and Barfield tapped it down to force Stanford's second timeout. Browne got a tip kill out of the break to stop the bleeding for Stanford, but UW went to Parker on the right for her third kill. Washington posted a triple block of Williams out of the back row on the next rally for a five-point lead, then Muñoz capped a good rally by hitting off the block for a 21-15 edge. Sanders then dove for a dig and punched it over to Stanford's side, and down to the floor against the surprised defense. Washington did not make its first attack error until Barfield missed just wide out of the middle for 22-17, but she and Ross came right back with the stuff of Bai. Muñoz got credit for the kill on a block error to get UW to set point. Muñoz converted UW's second chance for the 25-18 set win. The Huskies hit .326 in the first set compared to .128 for the Cardinal. Vansant and Muñoz had four kills apiece and Ross had eight digs and three blocks.
A tough Nogueras serve led to a Stanford error and a 2-0 UW lead in the second. Stanford passed Orlandini's serve too close and Vansant pounded it to the floor, then she connected in transition on the next rally for a 6-3 lead. Stanford got two back but Parker returned serve to UW with a kill through the block, and then Barfield blocked Browne in the middle for an 8-5 advantage. The Cardinal sent one wide and then called timeout with the Huskies up 13-8. Wopat got a slide kill out of the break to stop UW's run, but Muñoz put away the overdig on the next rally. Rowland had an offspeed kill off the block then shoved down another Stanford overpass for a 16-10 lead. A tough swing from Parker broke a small Cardinal run and made it 17-12. Yet another Parker finish on the left made it 18-13 UW and Stanford called its second timeout. Stanford nicked the antenna on the next rally for 19-13 Dawgs, but Browne blocked Barfield on the next point to end the rally. The Cardinal cut it to 20-16 and force UW's first timeout of the set. Washington hit wide on the next two swings until Barfield hammered one down in the middle to break the four-point run. But the Cardinal came back with two more to cut it to one, and the Huskies needed time again at 21-20. Cook missed her serve out of the break to make it 22-20, then the Cardinal set too far out and hit the antenna on the attack. After a great rally on the next point, Vansant nailed Williams with a crosscourt kill for set point at 24-21. Williams put the first one through the block and down, then Vansant hit into the net off a misplaced set, and just like that Stanford got back even at 24-all with a block of Parker on the left side. Wopat then missed serve to give the Huskies a fourth chance. But Williams saved it again going off the block and out long, then she ended a long rally on the next point with another kill to earn Stanford its first set point at 26-25. UW couldn't terminate again on the next rally and Browne finally made them pay on the right, stealing the set and shocking the crowd, 27-25. After holding a 20-14 lead, the Huskies made seven attack errors to let the Cardinal back into it, winding up hitting just .109 for the set.
The Cardinal carried the momentum to a 7-3 lead to start the third set and force an early UW timeout. But UW was not ready for the serve of Mary Ellen Luck and she hit the sideline for an ace. Parker went off the block and out on the next point to break the string and make it 4-8. But the Cardinal rolled off another four straight points to take a 12-4 lead and force a second Husky timeout. Rowland and Parker gave UW some life with a block of Williams to cut it to 9-16. The first Husky ace of the night was served up by Sanders to make it 11-17 but UW missed a few chances to extend the run on the next point, with Boukather ultimately getting the kill, and then Luck followed right up with an ace for 19-11. Parker smashed one straight to the floor from the right, and then two tough Parker serves led to Stanford errors and the Cardinal called time with the lead at 21-15. But out of the break Stanford took the next three points to earn a bunch of set points. UW saved a handful, two on Muñoz kills, but Bai eventually converted for Stanford as the Cardinal took the set, 25-19. Seven Stanford blocks played a big role in UW hitting just .051 in the frame while Stanford had its best set yet at .278.
Stanford put up two more blocks to start the second set, roofing Ross and Muñoz until Rowland hit past the Cardinal defenders for UW's first point. Rowland hit again from the middle to make it 3-4. Ross got her long awaited first kill from the right side to make it 6-8 Cardinal. But after two straight Cardinal points opened the lead to 10-6, the Huskies called timeout. It was Rowland again who snapped the run with a kill from the middle. A big swing from Vansant led to an overpass and Vansant pounced on that one for the kill, and then a Sanders ace cut the deficit to 10-12. But another Cardinal block on the left stopped the run. Parker notched her 16th kill and then went back to serve, and her jump serve went straight to the back line for an ace, cutting the lead to one at 13-14 and forcing a Stanford timeout. But Browne had a tip kill on the first point out of the break and then Ross was blocked on the right for a 13-16 Stanford edge. Muñoz got serve back with a left side finish. The Huskies needed timeout after Boukather killed it for an 18-14 advantage. Rowland had two more kills on the slide to keep UW within three. A kill from Vansant kill that the Cardinal defense could not avoid was followed by UW's first block of the set, as Parker and Rowland stuffed Williams to cut it to one again at 18-19. The Huskies tied it back up at 20-all on a Stanford back row attack violation. Then UW took its first lead of the set as a Vansant shot sent the Cardinal scrambling and they could not get the ball back over. With the Dawgs now up one, Stanford took its last timeout. Boukather got Stanford even out of the break on the right, but Vansant answered with a rightside finish for 22-21. Stanford's Williams sent one long on the next point for 23-21, but came back to kill an overpass on the next point. The Cardinal then missed wide again and it was set point Dawgs at 24-22. Again the Cardinal couldn't find the range, and they sent it long as the Huskies extended things to the fifth with a 25-22 win. The Huskies took the set despite being outhit by the Cardinal, .279 to .211. But UW led in digs, 19-17, and had two key aces. Rowland was active in the offense again to UW's advantage, with five kills on seven swings and no errors.
Stanford served first to start the fifth, and Vansant started things off with a left-side blast for the point. She then connected again in transition for the 2-0 lead. After one improbably Stanford save, Nogueras set Vansant once again and she smashed her third kill in a row and Stanford took timeout. Wopat had a kill to get Stanford on the board, and then Parker missed long on the next swing. After a long rally, Boukather got her ninth kill to tie it back up and now it was the Huskies who took time. Out of the break, Vansant took the high set and squeezed it down past the block. The teams then traded service errors for 5-4 UW. On the next rally, Wopat was dug by Orlandini and Barfield punched it backwards and down for the surprise kill. The Cardinal hit just wide crosscourt and the teams swapped sides with UW holding an 8-5 edge.
Williams stopped the run with a left-side kill for Stanford, then Muñoz was blocked to make it 8-7, but the Cardinal donated serve back. The Huskies thought they had a block but the deflection was ruled to land just wide, but Muñoz brought UW right back with an emphatic kill. Vansant then put one off Williams and it ricocheted over to UW's side but wide for the 11-8 Husky lead and a Cardinal timeout. Stanford misfired again out of the break for a four-point UW lead, but Browne then got a rightside finish to stop the streak. Vansant found the floor again to send Orlandini to serve at 13-9. Washington's block rejected Bai on the next rally for match point at 14-9. Orlandini netted serve to miss the first chance. But Vansant would not be denied in the next rally, as she fired another one that the Cardinal defense could not control and it sailed out long to end it, 15-10, setting off the celebration. Vansant had seven of UW's nine kills in the final set, eight of them assisted by Nogueras.
However, in the Pac-12, there's never much time to celebrate, and the Huskies will face another top-five team tomorrow night as No. 5 California visits for a 7 p.m. match. Saturday is also Senior Night, as the Huskies will honor Rowland, Barfield, and Sanders before the match.
