University of Washington
Portland State
Dawgs Top Vikings In Northwest Challenge Opener
September 02, 2011 | Volleyball
Sept. 2, 2011
SPOKANE, Wash. - Freshman Summer Ross had a sterling all-around effort and led the Husky volleyball team in points for the first time, as eighth-ranked Washington posted a 3-0 win over Portland State this evening. The match was the first of three for UW this weekend at the Northwest Challenge, hosted by Gonzaga at the Martin Centre. The Huskies improve to 4-0 on the year with the 25-12, 25-21, 25-18 victory.
Ross had seven kills with no errors on 12 swings for a team-leading .583 attack percentage. She also was strong at net with five block assists and added two aces for 11.5 total points. Fellow freshman Krista Vansant led the team with nine kills, senior Bianca Rowland hit .556 with six kills and five blocks, and sophomore Jenna Orlandini dug 11 balls.
Washington hit .303 for the match and held Portland State (4-2), the 2010 Big Sky Conference Champions, to just .053. The Huskies led in kills, 38 to 32, and had 11 total team blocks to 4 for the Vikings.
UW rolled out of the gate on an 8-2 run, started with a block assist from Vansant, and senior Lauren Barfield. Ross had two kills in the early going and she and Barfield had another block during the first ten points. Ross then had her two aces back-to-back and then Rowland and starting setter Evan Sanders teamed up for consecutive roofs, and then Kylin Muñoz's swing capped a 7-0 run that ran the score up to 17-4. The middles closed out the set, as Barfield and Rowland finished consecutive sets from Sanders for the 25-12 win. Ross was 4-for-4 in the set as the Huskies hit .524 with 13 kills and just two errors on 21 swings. Sanders had 13 assists in set one.
The teams traded points early in set two, with seven tie scores early on. A 3-0 Husky run on kills by Vansant and Rowland, and a block by Ross and Barfield got UW on top, 9-7. Vansant then had another termination and an ace on a Viking formation error, and Kylin Muñoz rose up for a solo rejection to make it 12-8 and force the PSU timeout. The break worked, as the Vikings came back with four straight points to tie the set back up, until Sanders found Barfield in the middle to stop the run. A couple PSU miscues forced them to take their last timeout at 17-14 Huskies on top. Washington held leads of 20-15, and 22-18 on a Vansant kill, but Portland State made a final push with two kills by Megan Ellis to get within one point at 22-21, before Muñoz found the floor to break the run. Muñoz again finished the next point to bring up set point, and a rebuttal of the Ellis swing by Ross and Rowland finished the set. UW hit just .128 in the frame but held PSU to .030. Vansant had five kills and Orlandini added five digs.
After the break, Washington cleaned up a few of its offensive misfires, making just one error the entire third set. That lone error gave Portland State an early 6-3 lead, but UW came back quickly with a Vansant kill and a Sanders dump kill to tie it at 7-7, then a block by Ross and Barfield and a kill by Barfield made it 9-7 Huskies and the Vikings needed to discuss things. Washington continued to sideout efficiently, and a block from Barfield and Sanders made it 15-11 Dawgs. Sophomore Jenni Nogueras checked in at setter and got her first assist on a Vansant finish for a 16-13 lead. Sophomore Gabbi Parker also made an entrance late, and Rowland got a kill off her service for a 23-17 edge that prompted the last PSU timeout. Parker followed with an ace after the break to bring up match point, and another new entry, junior Kelcey Dunaway, notched her first kill out of the middle from Nogueras to end it, 25-18. Washington hit .379 in the set with Sanders and Nogueras splitting time.
The Huskies return to the court at 12 noon tomorrow to face the host, Gonzaga, then will have a quick turnaround to be back playing at 4 p.m. against Boise State.
