Dawgs Win Crosstown Battle, Set For Home Opener

Thursday, September 1

Seattle, WA

7:00 PM

University of Washington

3-0

Seattle

2-2

Washington

Seattle U

Photo by: Washington Athletics

September 01, 2016 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – A balanced effort keyed the Huskies to a straight sets win over their city-mates from Seattle U. tonight at the Connolly Center as 537 fans came out to the first match in the newly renovated facility. Washington (3-0) hung tough at a tense conclusion to set one, but then controlled the next two sets for a 26-24, 25-10, 25-15 victory over the Redhawks (2-2). The Dawgs will now get set for a double-header tomorrow to open their home season at Alaska Airlines Arena.

The Huskies had their best hitting percentage so far this season with a .323 mark, while 10 different players earned kills, even starting libero Shayne McPherson, who had a dig go over the net and drop for a point. Junior Courtney Schwan led all players with 12 kills, making just one error on 22 swings for a .500 attack percentage. Tia Scambray was one kill away from a double-double, as she had nine kills and a match-high 14 digs. Washington had a big edge in kills, 45-25, and served seven aces against two for Seattle.

"It started at the service line," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "We're not yet the serving team that we want to be, but we were better than we were on the East Coast. It all stems from there, once your serve gets going, you can put your block in easier situations, and so we were better at the service line and we were also better at the net blocking."

Crissy Jones in particular had a strong serving night, with a career-high three aces, a couple coming during a long 12-point serving run in the second set. Coach Cook said Jones should be pleased with the progress she's made at the stripe. "She earned it. She spent all last spring and she was determined to become a quality server, and right now she is that. I think it's a great expression of just how invested she is in becoming a great all-around player," he said.

Cook was also pleased with how the Huskies stayed on top of things during the third set when they shuffled the lineup a bit, bringing in Carly DeHoog who had five kills on six swings, Kameron McLain (2-0-4; .500), and rotating Jade Finau with Bailey Tanner at setter.

"We were able to do a lot of looks and move people in and out of the lineup, and change systems, and get a lot of work in," said Cook, "and the level didn't fall. Carly did a nice job, Kam did a nice job, Jade did a nice job, so that's nice to see when you can put a lot of your people in and they perform."

Schwan had the first two kills of the night for the Dawgs as the teams were even through the first six points. Jones picked up her first two kills as the teams stayed tied at 6-6. Schwan chased down an inside set and smacked it into the left corner, and then Niece tipped for her first kill. Schwan and Niece then earned the first block of the night, and Tanner found Niece for a sharp strike for a 12-8 lead as the Huskies were on a 4-0 run. Seattle came back with a 3-0 run, but Schwan ended it with a rightside slam. Scambray used the block for her first kill and backed that up with a second in transition to make it 16-12. McPherson smacked a jump serve ace for 17-12 and the Redhawks took their last timeout. The Dawgs kept up the pressure as Jones and Bajema roofed the Redhawks, then Jones served up an ace for 20-13. Bajema tooled the block on a slide for 22-16. The Redhawks got a couple blocks to cut the Husky lead down to 22-20 and the Huskies called time. Seattle got the first point out of the timeout on an ace to get within one, but Tanner kept UW ahead by stuffing down a hanger above the net. Jones had a savvy play as she was dug once but up over the net and she went up again to put it away for set point at 24-22. The Redhawks, however, saved both to tie it at 24-all. Seattle sent its next serve into the net to give UW a third chance at it, and McPherson connected on her serve as it got shanked into the seats for the ace and the win, 26-24. After starting out on fire through the first half of the set, the Huskies cooled a bit but still finished at .300 for the set, led by Schwan's six kills.

Schwan had a couple of early kills in set two, but the Huskies misfired on a few swings to fall behind, 5-8. Scambray put down a Tanner set and then Jones had an ace off the tape to get back within one, and then Scambray had a solo rejection on the left to tie it back up at 8-8. A Redhawk miss and a Bajema kill pushed the run to five points, and then Tanner added another with a dump on a tight pass for 11-8 and Seattle took timeout. The next serve from Jones was overpassed and Bajema jumped up to kill it. Jones' third ace of the match kept the run going to 14-8. Two kills from Scambray on the left pin pushed the lead to 17-8 before the Redhawks finally broke through with a kill, ending a 12-0 Husky surge. The Dawgs continued trending towards the finish, with a big block from Schwan and a finish from Bajema. Cailin Onosko subbed in and immediately served an ace up the sideline for 22-10. Schwan got the Dawgs to set point at 24-10, and another tough serve from Onosko couldn't be controlled as the Huskies finished it, 25-10. Washington hit at a .400 clip in the set and held Seattle to just .061. Scambray had five kills on nine swings in the frame plus six digs.

The Dawgs made a few changes to start set three, with Jade Finau, Carly DeHoog, and Kameron McLain all starting. Finau set DeHoog on the first point of the set and she put away her first swing. The teams were even through the first 10 points. The Dawgs went ahead, 7-5, on a DeHoog kill that was lofted up to her from Schwan. A tip from Schwan ended on Seattle's floor for a 9-6 lead and the Redhawks took timeout. McPherson made a highlight-reel dig diving to her left, and Finau set to DeHoog for already her fourth kill of the set, making it 11-6 Dawgs. McLain's first kill was a hammer for 14-8. Two sweet digs from Scambray on one rally led to a Jones finish for a seven-point lead. Jones and Julye teamed up for a block to make it 21-12, then Julye hit out of the middle for her first kill. A couple Seattle U. errors had the Huskies at match point, and DeHoog and Julye rejected the next Redhawk swing to finish it, 25-15. DeHoog's five kills on six swings drove the offense, which had a .276 percentage in the third while the Redhawks were held to a -.120 mark. Finau added six assists, and Schwan had three more kills.

The Huskies will take on Idaho at 1:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon and then be back at 7:00 p.m. to take on Villanova.