Husky Balance Leads To Sweep Of Broncos

Thursday, September 13

Boise, ID

6:30 PM

University of Washington

6-2

Boise State

6-2

Washington

Boise State

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

September 13, 2018 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

BOISE, Idaho – Five different Dawgs finished with between seven and nine kills and Washington's blocking game took a step in the right direction, as the Huskies (6-2) spoiled the home opener for Boise State (6-2) in front of a packed Bronco Gym that held 1,034 fans tonight. The 25-22, 25-23, 25-17 win for the Dawgs kicked off the Boise State Classic, which UW will continue with a double-header on Friday.

Senior Destiny Julye was impressive all around the court with eight kills, hitting .533, and tying a career-high with three aces to finish with 12.0 points. The Dawgs had an 11.0 to 7.0 edge in blocking which helped hold Boise State to a .143 attack percentage while UW finished at .250. Sophomore Lauren Sanders put down seven blocks to go with seven kills, hitting .417. Fellow middle blocker Avie Niece also had seven kills, hitting .462, with four block assists.

"Nice to come out of a tough environment, against a good crowd and a good team with a three-set win," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "Really pleased with some improvements with our blocking, something we take a lot of pride in that hasn't been great to start the season. We only had two days of practice but put a lot of work into it and saw some immediate returns."

Sophomore Samantha Drechsel's nine kills were the Husky high, as she hit .316 and also added two aces and four blocks. Sophomore Kara Bajema also added seven kills and three block assists. Freshman Ella May Powell had 29 assists, two aces, five digs and two blocks and junior Shayne McPherson led the back row with 10 digs.

"We had five hitters hit for high efficiencies, usually that means your setter means did a good job of putting people in good positions and running a balanced offense. Nice to see Destiny scoring on the right and Avie scoring as well."

A few firsts also came during the match tonight, as sophomore Emma Calle notched her first career ace and Maria Bogomolova had the first kill of her career, both in the third set.

UP NEXT: Washington will be back in action bright and early tomorrow, taking on CSUN at 8:30 a.m. Pacific/9:30 a.m. local time. The Dawgs will then be back to take on Sacramento State at 4 p.m. Pacific/5 p.m. in Boise.

SET 1: The Dawgs were fired up to start the first set getting two stuff blocks on the first three points and kills from Drechsel and Julye for a 4-0 lead before the Broncos got on the board. Sanders put down a slide kill inside the block for 6-2, but the Broncos got rolling with a series of offspeed kills and scored six straight points to take their first lead, before Bajema ended the run with her first kill for 7-8. But three more Broncos points forced the Huskies into a timeout down 7-11 with Boise on a 9-1 run. The Broncos built a five-point lead, but a tip kill from Drechsel and then a block by Drechsel and Sanders cut it to three at 12-15. Bajema finished two straight crosscourt sets from Powell to cut it to two at 15-17. Effective serving from Maria Bogomolova led to a Bronco error and after a BSU timeout, Powell and Niece roofed another to tie it up at 17-17. The Huskies moved back in front at 19-18 on a Julye right side finish, and then Powell fired a service ace for 20-18. The Broncos came back with a pair to tie it, but Julye answered after a rally with a kill off fingers. Niece shoved one to the floor for 22-20 and the Broncos used their final timeout. A UW block error gave BSU a point but Drechsel answered off the block and then she and Sanders got another stuff to get to set point at 24-21. Boise State saved one but then Drechsel crushed another past the block and to the floor to end it, 25-22. Drechsel was on fire with six kills on eight swings in the set, hitting .750, as the Huskies hit .389 as a team with Powell dishing 14 assists.

SET 2: Boise State raised its blocking defenses early in set two, rejecting a couple Husky swings and building a lead, 3-5. Trailing by four, the Huskies made a 7-2 run to retake the lead at 11-10 with Powell serving up an ace, Niece and Bajema teaming for the block, and then Julye rocketing one to the floor after Powell had a diving one-fisted dig. Niece hammered a quick set from Powell and Drechsel got back in business with her first kill of the second set to make it 15-13 Huskies at the media timeout. Boise State missed out on two serves out of the break and then Julye got an ace with some help from the net to stretch it to 18-13. The Broncos had a 3-0 run to get back in it, the third point coming off what looked like a clear Husky kill but it bounced around two times in the rafters and then Boise State bumped it over for a kill. The Huskies wouldn't stay rattled for long, however, as Sanders took a huge rip on a slide for a point and Bajema tooled the block to help get it back to 21-17 and force a Broncos timeout. Boise State scored out of the break but Niece put one into the campfire and then Boise got caught in the net for 23-18 and the last BSU timeout. The Huskies served just long out of that timeout and then had two poor passes that led to BSU points and now the Dawgs needed time at 23-21. UW gave up one more before Niece pounded one off the block and out for set point at 24-22. Boise State saved the first and UW used its last timeout. On the next point, Bajema stepped in to pass the short serve, and Powell back set to Julye who hit off the block and out for the win, 25-23.

SET 3: Julye served up an early ace in the third set for a 2-0 lead. A second ace two points later made it 4-0 Dawgs before her fifth serve caught the net. Drechsel joined the serving party with an ace to make it 6-1 and then Bajema and Sanders closed down the left side with a block for 7-1 and the Broncos called time. Out of the break, Sanders went right with Powell for another block, and then Drechsel drove another serve to the back line for UW's fourth ace in 10 points and a 9-1 lead. Sophomore Emma Calle checked in and she picked up the first ace of her career for an 11-3 lead. Two-straight rejections from Niece in the middle, one with Julye and one with Bajema, made it 14-4 Dawgs and the Broncos used their final timeout. Sophomore Natalie Robinson also subbed in for a stretch and picked up a couple assists on kills for Julye and Drechsel. Drechsel notched a kill and then followed that with a stuff on the left pin as the Huskies continued pulling away up 21-9. Robinson set Sanders for two more kills on slides to run it to 23-10. Another career first, the first kill for Maria Bogomolova, got the Huskies to match point at 24-11. Boise State kept things going a while, saving six straight match points, but finally Bajema put an end to it with a kill from Robinson for the final 25-17 score. The Huskies held Boise State to a -.026 percentage in the third set with five blocks and five aces.