Dawgs Drop First Match Of Season To Illini

Friday, October 2

Seattle, Wash.

7:00 PM

University of Washington

11-1,2-1Big Ten

Illinois

11-3,3-0Big Ten

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Illinois	25	25	25	3
Washington	22	22	20	0

October 02, 2026 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE - Returning to Alaska Airlines Arena after three weeks, the 22nd-ranked Huskies dropped their first match of the season to an Illinois squad that continues to make its own case to be ranked after a third-straight top-25 upset. Washington fell to 11-1 and 2-1 in Big Ten play while Illinois improved to 11-3 and 3-0.

All three sets were close but after a strong Husky start in the first set, Illinois led for most of the rest of the way en route to a 25-22, 25-22, 25-20 win in front of 3,201 Dawg fans. Illinois was receiving votes in the latest AVCA poll after upsetting then-No. 15 Minnesota and then-No. 23 USC last week.

Second-year Simona Matesla led the Huskies with 13 kills while hitting .464, while second-year Maija Howse added nine kills. Third-year middle Julia Hunt also recorded seven kills on a .417 hitting percentage. Second-year Andrea Fabikovicová tallied 30 assists and 12 digs, with first-year Kaitlyn Nguyen adding 13 digs. The Huskies finished with 41 kills, 70 digs, and eight total blocks, nearly matching Illinois in every category except attack percentage, as Illinois hit .229 and held the Huskies to just .163.

Head Coach Leslie Gabriel said "we knew (Illinois) was going to dig a ton of balls, and we'd have to be in long rallies and go for it. They were able to touch a lot of our pins and fire back really fast, and our defense wasn't ready for it. They're a good team, and we just didn't have enough offensive firepower. I went to a 6-2 in set three to see if that would help our offense, but Illinois played well tonight and we couldn't do enough to score points."

Washington opened the first set when Maija Howse put away a kill after a serve receive. The Illini and Huskies traded points early until back-to-back kills from Julia Hunt and Kylie Kleckner put them up 4-2. Hunt continued to deliver with a slide kill to make it 6-3 and an ace from Kleckner kept the momentum going at 7-3. Illinois answered with three points to cut the lead to 7-6 before Hunt ended the run with a kill, bringing the score to 8-6. A double block from Fabikovicová and Wessels pushed the lead to 9-6. The Illini rallied to tie the set at 9-9, pulling away at 11-10 and holding the lead in a back and forth, stretching the margin to 13-16. Hunt began to swing back the momentum for the Dawgs with a kill and Kleckner added another. Two aces from Hunt and a winning joust from Wessels tied it up once more at 19-19. The set continued to go back and forth, featuring two kills from Mateska for Washington to sit at 20-21. Illinois took the set with a score of 25-22.

Set two began with Washington winning the point after a receive. Illinois pulled ahead 2-1 before first-year Hayden Conner and Simona Mateska combined on a block to tie it 2-2. A kill from Mateska kept the score at 3-5 as Illinois fought to grow their lead, followed by a kill from Maija Howse to keep Washington within reach at 4-6. Illinois kept its edge to sit at 5-9, but a kill from Mateska and a block by Conner and Fabikovicová cut the lead to 7-9. Mateska added another kill, and Howse followed with two of her own to tie the set 12-12. Illinois responded with four points to go up 12-16. Howse kept the Huskies close with a kill at 13-18, followed by another kill and an ace to make it 15-18. Fabikovicová kept her momentum going, putting down another kill to pull Washington within two at 16-18. Addy Azavedo kept a rally alive with a save that set up a Destler kill at 17-20, but the Illini pushed ahead to 17-22. Julia Hunt sparked a momentum push, ending the Illinois run with a kill and serving an ace to shrink the gap to 20-22. Mateska kept it going with a kill at 21-23 and stopped Illinois from taking the match point at 22-24, but Illinois closed out the set 25-22 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Washington started set three down 2-0 before a block from Maija Howse and Julia Hunt put the Huskies on the board. Simona Mateska followed with a back-row kill to tie the set at 2-2, and Kylie Kleckner added a kill to make it 3-3. Illinois pulled ahead 7-3, but Addy Kanouff and Lily Mae Buerkle came in to help spark the Huskies, with Kanouff and Mateska recording kills to cut the deficit to 10-5. Mateska and Katy Wessels combined for a block, followed by kills from Mateska, Howse and Wessels to keep Washington within reach at 9-13. Wessels added another kill before Howse, Hunt and Fabikovicová each recorded kills to bring the Huskies within five at 13-18. Illinois continued to hold the lead at 14-20, but Kanouff and Mateska answered with kills to make it 16-21. Mateska added another kill at 18-22, and Wessels and Howse teamed up for a block to cut the gap to 19-22. With Illinois at match point, Howse delivered a kill to keep the Huskies alive at 20-24, but the Illini closed out the set 25-20 to complete the sweep.

Up Next: The Huskies have a chance to respond against No. 10 Purdue on Sunday, Oct. 4 in Alaska Airlines Arena.

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