University of Washington
Arizona
Huskies Rally Late For 3-2 Win Over No. 25 Arizona
October 22, 2010 | Volleyball
Oct. 22, 2010
SEATTLE - Washington volleyball regained its balance in the final frame of what turned out to be a tense battle with the 25th-ranked Arizona Wildcats, pulling out a 25-20, 25-16, 20-25, 17-25, 15-10 victory in front of 2,657 fans at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. The match flipped on its head after UW looked to close it out in straight sets, but the seventh-ranked Huskies found another gear late to snap a two-match losing skid.
Up two sets and 18-15 in the third set, Washington (16-3, 5-3 Pac-10) struggled to break a major surge by the Wildcats (14-7, 3-5 Pac-10), who stormed back to take the third set and roll in the fourth. But UW had its best set in the finale, hitting .438 to earn its second five-set win this year on its home courts. Washington won despite a season-low .150 hitting percentage, but the Huskies in turn held Arizona to just .139 on offense. Washington is 16-0 when holding its opposition to under .250 on offense.
"We're playing good volleyball and then we let up and then we turn it on, and I think it's about the dignity of your effort," said head coach Jim McLaughlin. "You've got to look in the mirror and say did I do the best I could every play, every day? We have to bring everything we have every time we play, that's the message and we have to learn that. We let up, and at some point you get snake bitten by that and we can't let that happen."
Senior Becky Perry led the Huskies with 19 kills, including five big finishes in the fifth set. Junior Bianca Rowland had 12 kills and hit .357, the only Husky with more than two swings that hit over .200 tonight. Redshirt freshman Jenna Orlandini had a career-high 26 digs, and junior Lauren Barfield had a great night at net with nine blocks
Barfield and Perry blocked the first Arizona attack of the night for the first point. Carlson followed with a kill and Perry tucked an ace in on the right sideline for a quick 3-0 Husky lead. UW maintained the slim advantage early, and Barfield made it 12-9 when she took a Wildcat tip attempt and swatted it back down for a block. Back-to-back Rowland kills extended the lead out to four for the first time at 16-12, and Perry lasered one down the left sideline for a five-point lead and the Wildcats needed their last timeout. A 3-0 Wildcats run cut the lead to 20-17 and UW took its first time, but Perry collected a back row kill out of the break to spark UW again. Carlson had two kills to propel UW towards the finish, and the All-American opposite banged another one in on set point for the 25-20 win. UW held Arizona to a .171 hitting percentage in snapping a six-set losing streak. Perry and Carlson had five kills each.
UW jumped out to another 2-0 lead as Muñoz and Carlson pounded down lengthy rallies. Arizona needed a quick timeout after a miscue set them back 4-1 again early. Arizona battled back to take its first lead at any point tonight at 6-5, but a Muñoz crosscourt swing and UA error put the Huskies back in front, 7-6. A 5-0 Husky run broke things open once again, sparked by consecutive blocks by Barfield and Perry, then Barfield and Carlson. Yet another block capped the run, as UW jumped to a 14-8 lead. Another booming roof, this one via Muñoz and Rowland, made it 18-12 as UW countered a small Wildcat run. Another 4-0 Husky run, aided by two UA errors and ending in another block by Barfield, assisted by Hagglund, took it to 23-14, and Barfield and Perry joined up for a block on set point to end it at 25-16. The Huskies blocked six balls in the set, with five assists from Barfield, as Arizona was held in negative numbers on offense down at -.053.
Arizona got its first strong start to a set with a 3-1 lead after intermission, but UW came right back with a 6-1 run to assume control at 7-4. Muñoz and Rowland stuffed another Wildcat swing and Kelly Holford dialed up an ace to cap the string. A solo Perry stuff led Arizona to call its first timeout, trailing 9-5. UW pushed its lead to four points on multiple occasions, but each time Arizona would bounce back with a pair to stay in contact. A 3-0 Arizona run cut it to 15-14 and McLaughlin called his first timeout of the set. Rowland got the kill on the quick set out of the break, and a UA miscue made it 18-15 UW. But from there the wheels suddenly fell off the Husky attack. Arizona went on a 9-1 run to suddenly grab command of the set. Consecutive block assists from Jackson and Owens gave Arizona set point, and an Owens kill finished it off, 25-20. UW wound up hitting .000 for the set.
The fourth set saw the Huskies looking deflated after letting the straight-set win slip away. Arizona inched out to a 13-9 lead on a block from Jackson and Dosty and the Huskies took timeout. After controlling the net for the early part of the match, in the fourth set, UW couldn't get a rejection while Arizona notched four. A four-point Arizona run broke the set open at 17-11, and UA proceeded on to take the set, 25-17, as UW hit just .026 in the frame compared to .312 for the Wildcats.
But UW was not about to go down quietly. Washington jumped out to a 4-1 lead with big kills by Perry on the first point and Carlson on the fifth. Perry flew in out of the pipe for another booming kill for a 5-2 lead, and Muñoz kept UW moving ahead with a crosscourt kill and a 6-3 edge. A Carlson ace came at the perfect time, as the teams traded sides with UW up 8-4. Rowland continued to blast away, grabbing her 12th kill of the night for a 9-5 lead. Then Rowland and Hagglund posted UW's first block since the third set to double up the Wildcats at 10-5. Perry kept the Huskies siding out at a near perfect percentage with two more kills, the latter forcing an Arizona timeout at 12-7. Perry put away her fifth kill of the set out of the break, and then Barfield gave UW match point at 14-8 with a finish from the middle. Arizona saved a couple but Courtney Karst sailed one well long on the next rally and UW escaped with the 15-10 win. UW finally clicked on offense in the fifth, hitting a blistering .438.
"We just got after it. We were hitting balls in transition, we weren't tipping, we served tough, we passed well, the middles were off the net, all the little things you have to do consistently," McLaughlin said of the fifth-set effort. "When we do that I love our chances against anybody."
Washington will now take on Arizona State, winners of three in a row after a five set win of its own in Pullman tonight. The Huskies and Sun Devils square off Saturday night at 7 p.m.
