Bush, Hunt, Hani All Shine But Bruins Spoil Blackout

Wednesday, October 9

Seattle, WA

8:00 PM

University of Washington

13-2,3-2Big Ten

UCLA

8-6,2-3Big Ten

UCLA

Washington

October 09, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score PDF

By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – Washington won a very tight first set tonight against the visiting Bruins, but then three more very tight sets all went the way of UCLA, as the Bruins dealt Washington a second consecutive defeat, 25-27, 26-24, 25-22, 25-23 in front of 2,643 fans at Alaska Airlines Arena. The 24th-ranked Huskies fall to 13-2 on the year and 3-2 in Big Ten play with their first loss this season to an unranked opponent.

UCLA outhit the Huskies, .298 to .245, as for the second-straight match the UW defense was unable to sufficiently slow down its opposition. The Bruins had 11.0 blocks and the Huskies had only 5.0. Washington had an edge in aces, 8-6, but UCLA finished with more kills (65-57) and two more in the digs column (61-59).

Head Coach Leslie Gabriel said "Our block is usually helping us score some points and we haven't been able to do that (the past two matches). UCLA is a good team and they had a gameplan to hit high and deep and mix in some tips and we had a hard time defending that so that was frustrating. We have to work on it and get better and look at the block and see what opportunities did we miss."

Emoni Bush led the Huskies with 13 kills and hit .393, and Julia Hunt was stellar on offense once again with 11 kills on 15 swings to hit .667. A huge lift was provided by sophomore Elise Hani, who came in to start the third set and finished with five kills on seven swings without an error (.714) adding two blocks. Audra Wilmes had a double-double with 13 kills and 14 digs. Freshman Alexis Haury's 27 assists led the way and she had a career-high four aces. Lauren Bays added 15 digs and two aces.

"If there's one player I'm proud of today it's Elise," said Gabriel. "She hasn't played hardly at all this season and she got an opportunity and she did a good job coming in for us, slowing some balls down and putting away some balls."

Hey #SCTop10 the Huskies are BACK AGAIN!! ??

It's Zoria Heard getting her first kill in ???? fashion!#PointHuskies x ?? @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/XL2Qu1HwVo
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) October 10, 2024

Up Next: Washington has a chance to right the ship on Sunday but it will come in hostile territory against a highly ranked opponent as UW visits No. 11 Oregon for an 1 p.m. first serve.

Set One: Washington and UCLA traded points to start until a UCLA kill broke the rhythm for a 3-1 lead. The Dawgs quickly tied it up at 3-3. A powerful kill by Julia Hunt sparked a three-point run for UW, giving them a 6-4 edge. The teams exchanged sideouts, with the Huskies barely in the lead. A smackdown by Wilmes swung the momentum back to Washington, leading to a four-point surge and a UCLA timeout with the Dawgs up 12-8. Wilmes led the dawgs out of the timeout with a vicious kill for 13-9. An ace by Haury pushed it to 16-11, but UCLA answered right back and cut the lead with a two-point run. Madi Endsley's well-placed tip over the net stopped the Bruin run at 17-13. UCLA responded again with a four-point run to tie it up at 17-17, capped off by a Fletcher kill. After a few sideouts, Wilmes and Bush led the Dawgs with back-to-back kills for a 20-18 lead. UCLA came back with their own two-point run, tying it up once again at 20-20. A sly tip from Bush regained the lead for Washington, but UCLA fought back to take the lead, 22-21, leading to a timeout from Washington. Coming out of the timeout, Bush tied it up with a clutch kill regaining the momentum for the Huskies, taking back the lead at 24-23. The teams continued trading points until Endsley hammered one down to make it 25-24. UCLA tied it again, but a big kill from Hunt brought it to 26-25. Wilmes finished the set with a kill, securing the win for the Dawgs, 27-25.

It was a close set in the first, with UW hitting .297 and UCLA .237. Wilmes had 5 kills to lead the Dawgs.

Set Two: UCLA snagged the first point, but the teams traded points until UCLA pulled ahead by two, for a lead of 6-4. The Huskies managed to sideout, but UCLA answered with a three-point run, forcing a Husky timeout. After the break, the teams kept exchanging sideouts. Two aces from Haury and a big block by Endsley fueled a 4-point Husky run, evening the score at 11-11. UCLA fired back with two quick points, including a block, making it 13-11. The Huskies responded with their own 2-point run, capped by an ace from Hunt, narrowing it to 14-13. Barton and Wilmes hammered kills to push the Dawgs ahead for the first time, 16-15. Both teams traded 2-point runs until the Huskies took the lead again after a 3-point streak, prompting a UCLA timeout at 20-19 Huskies. Tied at 23-all, a UCLA kill nudged them ahead, 24-23. Wilmes answered with a clutch kill to tie it at 24, but two straight UCLA kills sealed the second set, 26-24 Bruins.

At the end of the second set UCLA ramped up their hitting percentage to take the lead with .303 while the Dawgs hit at a .231 clip.

Set Three: UCLA grabbed the first point, but Washington fired back with a 4-point run, forcing a UCLA timeout at 5-1. Out of the timeout, UCLA came back with a 6-point run to take the lead, 7-5, prompting a Husky timeout. A kill from Emoni Bush sparked the Huskies at 6-7, but after a successful challenge, UCLA regained the point to make it 8-6. The Bruins slowly pulled ahead with both teams trading sideouts. UCLA built a 5-point lead after a block and an ace, pushing the score to 17-12. Two UCLA errors and an ace from Lauren Bays shifted momentum back to the Dawgs, cutting the gap to 21-18. UCLA responded with a block to make it 23-18, but Bush kept Washington alive with a kill, trimming it to 23-20. Washington climbed to 21-23, forcing UCLA to call timeout. A kill from Wilmes made it 22-24, but UCLA closed it out on the next play, taking the set 25-22.

UW actually outhit the Bruins in the third, .348 to .345, but UCLA had a 4-2 edge in aces to make up for that. Bush had five kills on 9 swings in the third without an error.

Set Four: UCLA took the first two points before a quick sideout from the Dawgs tied it at 2-2. The teams traded points early, with UW trailing by one, until UCLA surged ahead 9-4, thanks to two aces and a block in a 4-point run, forcing a Washington timeout. Out of the break, a kill by Bush made it 5-9, but UCLA responded right back. After a successful challenge from Washington, both teams kept trading points. Bush's 12th kill brought UW to 7-11, but the sideout battle continued. The Huskies found momentum with a 3-point run, highlighted by Fletcher's hammer, closing the gap to 12-14 and prompting a UCLA timeout. Hani's kill out of the break kept the Dawgs rolling, making it 13-14, but two UCLA kills extended the Bruins lead to 16-13. Fletcher and Hani teamed up for a block to make it 16-14, but UCLA maintained a slight edge as sideouts continued. Washington called timeout trailing 20-16. After more service exchanges, Hunt slammed one down for 18-22, and Wilmes followed up, forcing another UCLA timeout at 20-22. A kill from Fletcher narrowed the gap to 21-22. UCLA sided out, but a Wilmes kill and an ace from Bays tied it up at 23-23, with the crowd roaring. However, UCLA clinched it with the final two points, earning a block and then ending a final lengthy rally with a kill, ending the set and the match at 25-23.

UCLA had four blocks in the final frame and outhit the Huskies .259 to .220