Jones Leads Dawgs Past Vandals In Home Opener

Friday, September 2

Seattle, WA

1:00 PM

University of Washington

4-0

Idaho

3-1

Idaho

Washington

September 02, 2016 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – In the first of two matches today, the fifth-ranked Husky volleyball team got 16 kills and 12 digs from junior Crissy Jones to lead it past the University of Idaho in the home opener at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Huskies (4-0) were tested by the previously unbeaten Vandals (3-1) but UW made the necessary adjustments to claim the 25-18, 19-25, 25-21, 25-16 win. Washington will be back in action tonight at 7:00 to take on Villanova.

After the Huskies cruised to the opening set win, Idaho's defensive work got the Dawgs out of rhythm in set two, and the Vandals held an 18-17 lead in the third set before Washington rallied to win eight of the final 11 points of the third, and then UW dominated set four. Jones had eight of her 16 kills in the pivotal third set. She hit .371 adding two aces and three blocks, and finished just one kill off her career-high that was set last week at American.

Also producing some big points was freshman Kara Bajema who got the start in the middle today and had a big eight kills with just one error on 14 swings for a .500 attack percentage, plus a match-high six blocks and the first two aces of her career. Bailey Tanner had a double-double with 45 assists and 10 digs, setting the Huskies to a .228 attack percentage overall while Idaho finished at .147.

Crissy had EIGHT kills in the 3rd set alone including this one to finish it off! https://t.co/TYBcEbeMTs
— UW Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 2, 2016

Head Coach Keegan Cook said the Huskies had to make an adjustment in communication, "and making sure we weren't changing our behaviors in the face of some adversity. It got gnarly there in that second set, Idaho did a great job all match. So I'm pleased with all the behaviors that took place in the third and fourth sets following a set that didn't feel very good."

"You want to be your best all the time and you want to be at the level you were at and a lot of these players were playing in an Elite Eight nine months ago," said Cook, "so we just need to accept where we are and make it a little better each day, and we'll get back to where we want to be, and we're working."

In addition to Bajema, Washington also got some nice numbers from Destiny Julye when she was in the middle, as she finished with five kills on a .500 percentage, as well as Kameron McLain who had four kills on seven swings to hit .429.

"We'd like to be balanced, but you can't be balanced unless the setters, and the passers and the middles do their job," Cook said. "It was a pretty good collective effort over the course of that match. I thought all the players who played middle did a nice job and the setters gave them good chances."

In the first set, the Huskies got out to an early 4-2 lead as Shayne McPherson hammered an ace, and Tia Scambray picked up a couple early kills. Scambray got the second ace of the day for the Dawgs to make it a 6-3 lead. She added another ace two points later for 8-3 and that prompted an Idaho timeout. Idaho got a couple points back out of the run, but Bajema put a slide away to get UW back serving, and then Bajema floated an ace for 10-6. Scambray blocked down a Vandal tip attempt to keep the Dawgs on top, 14-9. Destiny Julye checked in and finished a long rally with a block on the left, and then she had a kill off the block to make it 16-11. Bajema had a nice dig to keep a long rally alive and Jones eventually finished it for 19-14. Another Jones kill and a Vandal error had Idaho taking time at 21-15 Dawgs. Scambray lasered a kill straight to the court to get to set point, 24-17. Idaho misplayed one to end the set on an error, as the Huskies took it, 25-18. Washington hit .385 in the first set compared to .114 for Idaho, with four kills on seven swings for Jones.

Idaho took control early in the second set after a handful of misfires from the Dawgs made it 2-7. Scambray hit off the block and out twice in a row to cut into that deficit. The Dawgs gave up a few more points to fall behind 4-10 and took their first timeout. The Huskies started to creep back on a Julye kill in the middle, then a solo stuff from Jones and an Idaho error to make it 9-13. A marathon rally was capped by a Jones kill off the blockers' fingers for 11-15 and the Vandals called time. Jones dropped a short serve for an ace to get within three at 15-18. The Vandals made another late 3-0 run to open things up again at 17-23, and got to set point at 18-24. The Huskies saved one, but the Vandals got the next one down to take the set, 25-19. The Huskies made 11 errors in the set after just one in the first.

Kameron McLain got the Huskies off on the right foot with a quick kill to start set three. Then it was the freshman Bajema who really got rolling with four kills over eight points, including a couple of slides back set from Tanner. Washington extended out to a 12-7 lead on another quick kill from McLain, but a 3-0 Idaho run got them back within two. Tanner and Bajema had a booming stuff block for 16-13 Dawgs. Idaho climbed back into a tie at 17-all and the Huskies called timeout. The Vandals took the lead with a kill on the next rally, but they swung into the net on the next rally, and then Jones and Schwan had consecutive transition finishes to get back on top, 20-18, and force an Idaho timeout. Out of the break, Schwan nearly had a solo block but it came back as a free ball, and Tanner set Schwan for the big kill. Jones had a clutch kill tooling the block from off the net for 22-19. The Dawgs then earned another big point via a Jones stuff on the right side. McLain put one away out of the middle for set point at 24-20, and then Jones connected from the right to complete the late charge for the 25-21 set win. The Dawgs heated up to a .289 attack percentage by the end of the set, with Jones doing a lot of late damage and finishing with eight kills on 13 swings with no errors for a .615 percentage.

Jones added to her ballooning kills total early in the fourth set as the teams were even through the first 10 points. Bajema and Schwan had a stuff to earn the Dawgs a 7-5 advantage. Schwan had a kill off the block, and on the next point she got up to kill an overpass for 12-7 and the Vandals called timeout. Out of the break, Bajema aced the Vandals to build a six-point lead. Tanner dumped for a kill and Scambray smashed one crosscourt from the left for 17-10. A solo block from Tanner and a driving ace from Jones broke things open at 20-11 as the Vandals used their final timeout. Bajema put away another slide swing for 23-12 and she had a quick kill set by Jade Finau to get to match point at 24-13. The Vandals saved a couple but then served into the net to end it, 25-16. The Huskies had their best percentage of the match in the fourth, hitting .407 and holding Idaho to .162. Bajema had three kills on four swings while Schwan put away four and had five digs.