University of Washington
Arizona
Mussie Leads Huskies to Sweep of Arizona
November 01, 2007 | Volleyball
Nov. 1, 2007
TUCSON, Ariz. - Stevie Mussie had a match-high 20 kills and hit .436 to lead the fourth-ranked Washington Huskies to a sweep at Arizona on Thursday night in Pac-10 volleyball action. Washington (21-1, 10-1 Pac-10) had three players hit higher than .400 as they finished the night with a .389 hitting mark. The Huskies sweep of the Wildcats (30-28, 30-18, 30-20) was their 18th in 22 matches this season.
Mussie and Christal Morrison both finished with double-doubles on the night for the Huskies. Mussie had a team-best 12 digs to go with her 20 kills, while Morrison had 10 kills and 11 digs for her ninth double-double of the year. Also for the UW, Alesha Deesing had eight kills and hit .538 and Jessica Swarbrick added seven kills and hit .556.
"We played well tonight," said Huskies head coach Jim McLaughlin. "We did a nice job of serving and passing. I think Jenna [Hagglund] did a good job of getting everyone involved. We took some good swings tonight and kept the pressure on them [Arizona] from start to finish."
In the opening game, Washington led the whole way and held its biggest lead of the game late at 24-18 but couldn't put the Wildcats away. Arizona fought back to pull within a point at 29-28, but Morrison gave the Huskies the win on a kill.
"We were pretty stable and I thought we played pretty good defense," said McLaughlin. "In game one it took us awhile to get on their [Arizona's] tendencies but once we did we pressured them on a higher level."
The second game featured five tie scores and three lead changes, but all of those came during the game's first 10 points. The Huskies broke a 5-5 tie on a kill by Mussie and never looked back, scoring 25 of the game's final 38 points, including a stretch of six straight points with Ashley Aratani serving.
Hagglund finished with a match-high 44 assists for the UW, while Tamari Miyashiro added 10 digs, marking the 21st time this season she has tallied double-figures in digs. Deesing and Hagglund led the Huskies with four total blocks each and Aratani recorded two service aces.
Tiffany Owens had 19 kills to lead the Wildcats, who had no other player finish with more than seven kills and hit .198 on the night. Paige Weber added a team-best 36 assists and Brittany Leonard had 12 digs.
The Huskies take on Arizona State tomorrow night in Tempe at 7 p.m. The Sun Devils (13-12, 6-6 Pac-10) defeated Washington State, 3-1, tonight.
NOTES: Washington has won eight in a row over Arizona and 10 of the past 11 overall, but the Wildcats still lead the all-time series 24-23 ... the Huskies remain in first place in the Pac-10 with the win ... Mussie's team-high 12 digs marked just the second time this year that Miyashiro has not led the team in that category ... Miyashiro moved up in the UW Top 10 Career Record List in digs to No. 6, passing Courtney Thompson (2003-06/1,059). Miyashiro now has 1,063 digs for her career ... Morrison had one ace on the night and now has recorded at least one ace in 12 straight matches ... Swarbrick has now hit better than .500 in nine matches this year and better than .300 in 16 of the team's 22 matches overall. She came into the match ranked 18th in the nation in hitting percentage with a .390 mark.
