Sunday, September 27
Ann Arbor, Mich.
9:00 AM
University of Washington
11-0,2-0Big Ten
3
at
0
Michigan
9-4,0-2Big Ten
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 25 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Michigan | 23 | 21 | 22 | 0 |
Huskies Stay Streaking, Sweeping Wolverines
September 27, 2026 | Volleyball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – In its third season in the Big Ten, the Husky volleyball team completed its first road week sweep today, putting away Michigan in straight sets at the Crisler Center two days after taking care of Michigan State. Washington kept its unbeaten streak alive, improving to 11-0 and 2-0 in conference with a 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 victory.
Washington beat Michigan for the first time since joining the Big Ten, and first time overall since 2010, and kept pace with the 2024 squad which started 3-0 in conference. But two of those wins came at home, as this was the first time UW went on the road in the Big Ten and came home with a 2-0 week.
UW staged a big rally in the first set, before getting in front and mostly maintaining slim leads throughout sets two and three. In the first set, the Huskies trailed 13-19 before rallying with a 11-3 run to set two set points, and converting on the second one.
Six different Huskies had four or more kills, led by Maija Howse who had 11 plus a pair of aces. Julia Hunt hit .467 with nine kills, and fellow middle Katy Wessels had five kills on a .455 attack percentage with a team high five blocks. Kylie Kleckner posted nine kills and seven digs with two blocks, and Simona Mateska had six kills and a team-leading 10 digs.
Andrea Fabikovicova had 30 assists and called her own number successfully, with four kills on five attempts, adding eight digs. Addie Kanouff had two kills on two attacks, both of which stopped Michigan rallies. Kaitlyn Nguyen had nine digs and an ace and tied her season-high with 10 assists.
"(Balance) is something that we're working towards offensively. We don't want people to gang up on one of our hitters and we want defenses to have to worry about everyone, so I'm glad we did that today," said Head Coach Leslie Gabriel on the Big Ten Network.
Gabriel is happy to have 11 wins thus far but is more concerned with the standards and effort. "We obviously have goals in our program that we want this season, and after the last game I said it's great to be 10-0 but we didn't set out to be undefeated, we set out to be a good volleyball team and see the game well and move well, and if we do that then we give ourselves a chance to be successful. I'm proud of the effort they're giving day to day, and hopefully the wins come our way if we do things right."
Overall, the Dawgs hit .264 while Michigan converted at a .229 rate. UW had six blocks compared to four for the Wolverines, and UW held a 41-39 edge in digs. Washington had a 46-40 kills advantage and had three aces against six service errors, while Michigan got just one ace and missed 10 serves.
Up Next: Next week will be a huge Big Ten home opener for UW as Illinois comes in, as the Fighting Illini had two upsets this week over No. 15 Minnesota and No. 23 USC. That match will be Friday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. Next Sunday UW will host 10th-ranked Purdue at 2 p.m.
For news, scores, highlights and more, download the Go Huskies app on your mobile device. Follow @UWVolleyball on Instagram, X, and Facebook and subscribe to UW Athletics on YouTube for the latest on the Dawgs.
Washington beat Michigan for the first time since joining the Big Ten, and first time overall since 2010, and kept pace with the 2024 squad which started 3-0 in conference. But two of those wins came at home, as this was the first time UW went on the road in the Big Ten and came home with a 2-0 week.
UW staged a big rally in the first set, before getting in front and mostly maintaining slim leads throughout sets two and three. In the first set, the Huskies trailed 13-19 before rallying with a 11-3 run to set two set points, and converting on the second one.
??? Julia Hunt credits her teammates for her .467 attacking...
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 27, 2026
"Andi's a threat at the net and Kaitlyn's in the back diming every ball."#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/Noy5DuYUEs
Six different Huskies had four or more kills, led by Maija Howse who had 11 plus a pair of aces. Julia Hunt hit .467 with nine kills, and fellow middle Katy Wessels had five kills on a .455 attack percentage with a team high five blocks. Kylie Kleckner posted nine kills and seven digs with two blocks, and Simona Mateska had six kills and a team-leading 10 digs.
Andrea Fabikovicova had 30 assists and called her own number successfully, with four kills on five attempts, adding eight digs. Addie Kanouff had two kills on two attacks, both of which stopped Michigan rallies. Kaitlyn Nguyen had nine digs and an ace and tied her season-high with 10 assists.
"(Balance) is something that we're working towards offensively. We don't want people to gang up on one of our hitters and we want defenses to have to worry about everyone, so I'm glad we did that today," said Head Coach Leslie Gabriel on the Big Ten Network.
The real Big Howse in Ann Arbor ??
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 27, 2026
Maija slams the door for the Husky sweep! ??#PointHuskies // @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/TW8lLpJQlY
Gabriel is happy to have 11 wins thus far but is more concerned with the standards and effort. "We obviously have goals in our program that we want this season, and after the last game I said it's great to be 10-0 but we didn't set out to be undefeated, we set out to be a good volleyball team and see the game well and move well, and if we do that then we give ourselves a chance to be successful. I'm proud of the effort they're giving day to day, and hopefully the wins come our way if we do things right."
Overall, the Dawgs hit .264 while Michigan converted at a .229 rate. UW had six blocks compared to four for the Wolverines, and UW held a 41-39 edge in digs. Washington had a 46-40 kills advantage and had three aces against six service errors, while Michigan got just one ace and missed 10 serves.
Pretty much how you draw it up right here ??
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 27, 2026
Kylie the perfect pass, Fabi floats it right where Julia wants it.#PointHuskies // @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/cNEPXvbxhw
Up Next: Next week will be a huge Big Ten home opener for UW as Illinois comes in, as the Fighting Illini had two upsets this week over No. 15 Minnesota and No. 23 USC. That match will be Friday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. Next Sunday UW will host 10th-ranked Purdue at 2 p.m.
For news, scores, highlights and more, download the Go Huskies app on your mobile device. Follow @UWVolleyball on Instagram, X, and Facebook and subscribe to UW Athletics on YouTube for the latest on the Dawgs.
Players Mentioned
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/ VolleyballTeam Stats
UW
Mich
Kills
46
40
Errors
17
16
Attempts
110
105
Hitting %
.264
.229
Points
55.0
45.0
Assists
45
38
Aces
3
1
Blocks
6
4
Game Leaders
Kills
11
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Saturday, October 03
Saturday, October 03
Saturday, October 03
Sunday, September 27
