University of Washington
Eastern Illinois
Huskies Handle Eastern Illinois In Straight Sets
September 17, 2010 | Volleyball
Sept. 17, 2010
PITTSBURGH, Penn. - The ninth-ranked Husky volleyball team pushed its set winning streak to an even 30 today with a sweep of Eastern Illinois on the second day of the Pittsburgh Blue & Gold Invitational at the Fitzgerald Field House. Washington (10-0) took care of the Panthers 25-17, 25-19, 25-14, dropping EIU to 5-4.
All-Americans Kindra Carlson and Bianca Rowland led the way with 15 and 13 kills, respectively, and senior Becky Perry added eight kills without an error and also tallied eight digs. The Huskies outhit the Panthers .367-.121, with senior All-American Jenna Hagglund tossing 36 assists and matching her career-high with five kills on five attempts. Carlson also added three aces, and Jenna Orlandini came up with a team-best 10 digs.
The Huskies had fast starts in every set today, opening with a 4-0 run in the first set on the serve of sophomore Kelcey Dunaway. Carlson had two kills during the run before EIU's Erin Hake got the Panthers on the board. Rowland racked up several early kills, and propelled a three-point run with a put-away followed by a block assist with Perry, and then another spike for an 8-4 Husky edge. Eastern Illinois took its first timeout after Kylin Muñoz and Carlson connected on back-to-back points for a 15-11 lead, but out of the break, Hagglund and Rowland rebuffed the efforts of two different Panther attackers with consecutive block assists, and Perry extended the run with another kill for an 18-11 margin. Two straight Carlson kills brought the Huskies to set point, and Muñoz sent one to the ground for the 25-17 set win. Carlson posted five kills on eight errorless swings and the Huskies posted five blocks, one night after they had a season-best 15 blocks against Pittsburgh.
After an opening point kill for the Panthers in set two, the Huskies went on a seven-point binge, started by a Rowland finish of a Hagglund set. Carlson fired two aces during the run, and Hagglund earned a kill off an assist from Perry, who set a career-high today with three assists. An ace from Orlandini made it 10-4 Dawgs, but the Panthers hung around, closing to within three points on two occasions. At 16-13, Rowland stretched the lead back out with two-straight blasts out of the middle, and a subsequent EIU miscue forced them to call timeout down 19-13. Perry notched another kill for a 22-16 lead, and two points later, she forced the second Panthers timeout with her fourth kill of the set to put the Huskies on track 23-17. The final point came from Rowland's arm, who hit .857 for the set with six kills on seven swings.
The Dawgs used an early 4-0 run to grab the third-set lead. Again Rowland started things with a kill, then Carlson spun in her third ace, followed by a Panthers error and another Rowland kill that made it 5-2 Dawgs. Perry and Carlson traded kills for an 11-6 advantage. Gabbi Parker got the start in the third set and scored her first point to make it 13-9. After Eastern Illinois pulled to within a pair of points at 16-14, it donated a service error and then Carlson put one down for an 18-14 edge and EIU needed timeout. The Huskies quickly regained the momentum with a block from Dunaway and Parker, and two points later Dunaway and Carlson teamed up for a block to keep the run going on Perry's serve. Another Carlson finish capped the six-point streak and had UW in control at 22-14. After one UW error, Carlson and Rowland added final kills to their ledger and Dunaway ended the match with an ace, as all told the Dawgs closed the match on a 9-1 run. Carlson had six kills in the set while Hagglund cashed in all three of her attack chances.
The final non-conference match of the season comes Saturday, as UW finishes its stay in Pittsburgh against Robert Morris in a 10 a.m. Pacific time start.
