Huskies Down Sooners With Fourth-Set Surge

Friday, September 4

Norman, Okla.

12:00 PM

University of Washington

5-0,0-0Big Ten

Oklahoma

3-1,0-0SEC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Washington	25	19	25	26	3
Oklahoma	18	25	16	24	1

September 04, 2026 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

NORMAN, Okla. – The Husky volleyball team clinched the Allstate Big Ten/SEC Challenge in favor of the Big Ten today, via a 3-1 victory over Oklahoma at the Sooners' McCasland Field House. Washington was staring at the prospect of a third-straight fifth set, down 20-24 in set four, but UW reeled off six points in a row to finish off a 25-18, 19-25, 25-16, 26-24 win. The Huskies improved to 5-0 through the season's first two weeks.

The win was the 16th for the Big Ten in the inaugural challenge series with the SEC, which put the conference over the top, leading 16-11, with three matches remaining.

"To battle back like that with our backs against the wall is a big deal," said Head Coach Leslie Gabriel. "The players just looked calm, they stayed patient and just played the game. I was looking forward to this weekend because we were going to play two really good opponents. Oklahoma's a good team with good hitters, so I just wanted to see how we would prepare and be on our assignments and I was proud of how they did that."

Down 20-24, the Dawgs stormed back...

21 -- OU error
22 -- Howse kill
23 -- Howse+Hunt block
24 -- Kleckner kill
25 -- Howse kill after a challenge reversal
26 -- Kleckner+Hunt block FTW ???

All on Nguyen's serve!#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/DJhsZVE9AM
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 4, 2026

Washington hit .266 while Oklahoma (3-1) finished at .219. The Huskies had one fewer kill (54-55) but held slim leads in digs (52-49) and blocks (8.0 to 7.0). UW was more effective at the service line, with three aces and just six misses, down from 17 yesterday. The Sooners got just one ace against the Huskies and missed 13.

Simona Mateska shook off a slow start (1 kill, 5 errors, 8 attacks) in the first set to lead the Dawgs over the next three sets with 15 kills and just 2 errors on 26 attacks. Maija Howse delivered another 15 kills, hitting .324. Julia Hunt had nine kills, hitting .538 and a team-leading six blocks. Kylie Kleckner had seven kills and a season-high 13 digs. Adrea Fabikovicova had 40 assists and a season-high five kills. First year libero Kaitlyn Nguyen was stellar in the back row, with 21 digs.

Mateska heating up!! ?????

Her 10th kill stretches the lead to 15-9 at the timeout#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/2U3Jf2uXml
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 4, 2026

After controlling sets one and three, the Dawgs were down 3-10 in set four, and the gap was still seven as late as 10-17. UW went on a 5-1 run with a couple blocks by Hunt to force an OU timeout at 15-18. The Huskies pulled within one at 18-19 after consecutive Mateska kills, but OU rallied and reached set point at 20-24. The Dawgs refused to look ahead to the fifth and instead dug in on defense. After an OU error and a kill by Howse made it 22-24, Oklahoma took timeout. Out of the break, Howse and Hunt teamed for a block, and then UW evened it up on a kill by Kleckner. The next point saw chaos above the net, but Howse wiped it just off the fingers of the OU blocker for a kill, which came only after UW challenged and won the replay reversal. That gave UW its first match point, and Kleckner and Hunt immediately cashed it in with a stuff on the left side of the next for the 26-24 win.

Up Next: Washington returns home next week to host Lipscomb and cross-state rival Washington State. Lipscomb comes in on Thursday night, Sept. 10, then the Cougars are in on Sunday, Sept. 13, 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.