Saturday, September 6
Dallas, Texas
9:00 AM
University of Washington
3-3,0-0Big Ten
3
vs
0
Northern Iowa
2-3,0-0MVC
1
2
3
F
Washington
25
26
25
3
UNI
21
24
22
0
Blocking Prowess Powers Huskies To Panthers Sweep
September 06, 2025 | Volleyball
DALLAS – A season-high 13 blocks in just three sets, led by a career-high nine from junior Katy Wessels, powered the Husky volleyball team to a 3-0 win over Northern Iowa in the first ever meeting between the programs. Washington got back to .500 with a 3-3 record heading into its home opener next Friday night.
The Huskies got their second-straight sweep after starting the season with three-straight five-setters. Scores were close throughout and both teams had multiple runs at various times today at Moody Coliseum, but UW did enough to hold off the Panthers in each set, winning 25-21, 26-24, 25-22.
Husky seniors Alexa Markley and Zoria Heard were both named to the All-Tournament Team for the DoubleTree Invitational, which SMU hosted.
Washington hit .263 for the match and held UNI, a 2024 NCAA tournament team, to a .152 percentage. The Huskies had 39 kills compared to 37 for the Panthers. Northern Iowa outserved the Dawgs with eight aces to four, but UW's 13.0 blocks made a major difference, as UNI had just 6.0.
Wessels surpassed her career-high of eight blocks with nine today in just three sets. Redshirt freshman Addy Benefield assisted on several of those, as she had a career-high six. Julia Hunt and Alexa Markley both had four block assists and sophomore setter Alexis Haury got in on three.
Markley powered the offensive attack with 15 kills, hitting .387. Freshman Simona Mateska had nine kills, and Hunt and Benefield had six apiece. Haury had 30 assists and Heard had 13 digs.
Heard averaged 4.70 digs per set this weekend in her homecoming, as she hails from Rowlett, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.
Washington jumped out to a seven-point lead in the first set behind three early blocks from Katy Wessels. Northern Iowa rallied to tie the score at 14-14, but Mateska rallied UW back in front with a kill to break the tie, and then she served consecutive aces. Another block by Wessels and Benefield made it 21-16 and UW would close it out at 25-21. UW hit .240 and had five blocks, with Markley leading with four kills.
The Dawgs trailed by as many as six early in the second set, as UNI had three aces in a row in one stretch. Markley helped trim the lead in half down to 9-12 and force a Panthers timeout with a block and a transition kill. UW evened it up for the first time at 16-all as Mateska put away an overpass off a Benefield serve. The Huskies took a one-point lead on another block for 19-18, but UNI answered with two to retake the lead. Markley then had two more as UW jumped back up. Wessels and Benefield had a key block to crack open a two-point lead, and a couple errors gave UW three chances at 24-21. The Panthers saved all three with a couple UW errors mixed in, but Mateska tooled the block to get a fourth chance at 25-24, and the Panthers setter stepped over the midline on the next rally to end it, 26-24.
In set three, UW was down an early three points but Markley kept ripping away from the left pin and helped the Dawgs get back even at 12-12 and then take the lead on a Markley-Wessels rejection. Wessels hit down an overpass for 15-13 at the media timeout. Washington looked to be pulling away with a 20-15 lead, but UNI immediately answered with a 5-0 run to tie it. But the Dawgs got key sideouts from Mateska on a kill and Hunt and Haury on a block, and at 22-all, UNI missed serve and then hit out after a long, tough rally to set up match point. Another Panthers misfire ended it, 25-22.
Up Next: The Huskies finally open up their home season next week, starting with former conference rival Arizona on Friday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m.
The Huskies got their second-straight sweep after starting the season with three-straight five-setters. Scores were close throughout and both teams had multiple runs at various times today at Moody Coliseum, but UW did enough to hold off the Panthers in each set, winning 25-21, 26-24, 25-22.
Husky seniors Alexa Markley and Zoria Heard were both named to the All-Tournament Team for the DoubleTree Invitational, which SMU hosted.
Washington hit .263 for the match and held UNI, a 2024 NCAA tournament team, to a .152 percentage. The Huskies had 39 kills compared to 37 for the Panthers. Northern Iowa outserved the Dawgs with eight aces to four, but UW's 13.0 blocks made a major difference, as UNI had just 6.0.
Wessels surpassed her career-high of eight blocks with nine today in just three sets. Redshirt freshman Addy Benefield assisted on several of those, as she had a career-high six. Julia Hunt and Alexa Markley both had four block assists and sophomore setter Alexis Haury got in on three.
Just a glimpse of what the Panthers had to deal with today ??
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 6, 2025
Career-high 9?? blocks from Katy Wessels in just three sets!#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/Vs6MrLRATY
Markley powered the offensive attack with 15 kills, hitting .387. Freshman Simona Mateska had nine kills, and Hunt and Benefield had six apiece. Haury had 30 assists and Heard had 13 digs.
Heard averaged 4.70 digs per set this weekend in her homecoming, as she hails from Rowlett, Texas, a suburb of Dallas.
Washington jumped out to a seven-point lead in the first set behind three early blocks from Katy Wessels. Northern Iowa rallied to tie the score at 14-14, but Mateska rallied UW back in front with a kill to break the tie, and then she served consecutive aces. Another block by Wessels and Benefield made it 21-16 and UW would close it out at 25-21. UW hit .240 and had five blocks, with Markley leading with four kills.
The Dawgs trailed by as many as six early in the second set, as UNI had three aces in a row in one stretch. Markley helped trim the lead in half down to 9-12 and force a Panthers timeout with a block and a transition kill. UW evened it up for the first time at 16-all as Mateska put away an overpass off a Benefield serve. The Huskies took a one-point lead on another block for 19-18, but UNI answered with two to retake the lead. Markley then had two more as UW jumped back up. Wessels and Benefield had a key block to crack open a two-point lead, and a couple errors gave UW three chances at 24-21. The Panthers saved all three with a couple UW errors mixed in, but Mateska tooled the block to get a fourth chance at 25-24, and the Panthers setter stepped over the midline on the next rally to end it, 26-24.
In set three, UW was down an early three points but Markley kept ripping away from the left pin and helped the Dawgs get back even at 12-12 and then take the lead on a Markley-Wessels rejection. Wessels hit down an overpass for 15-13 at the media timeout. Washington looked to be pulling away with a 20-15 lead, but UNI immediately answered with a 5-0 run to tie it. But the Dawgs got key sideouts from Mateska on a kill and Hunt and Haury on a block, and at 22-all, UNI missed serve and then hit out after a long, tough rally to set up match point. Another Panthers misfire ended it, 25-22.
Markley now with a dirty dozen kills, hitting .346 ??
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 6, 2025
S3 (2-0) | 9-10#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/rWTPvIVJZ6
Up Next: The Huskies finally open up their home season next week, starting with former conference rival Arizona on Friday, Sept. 12, at 7 p.m.
Team Stats
UW
UNI
Kills
39
37
Errors
13
22
Attempts
99
99
Hitting %
.263
.152
Points
56.0
51.0
Assists
33
33
Aces
4
8
Blocks
13
6
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
9
Aces
4
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
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