University of Washington
Oregon State
Vansant Digs In To Help No. 3 Huskies Top Beavers
October 11, 2014 | Volleyball
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Yet another in a long list of memorable performances from senior Krista Vansant helped drive the third-ranked Husky volleyball team to a win over a dangerous Oregon State squad tonight at Gill Coliseum in front of 1,199 fans. For the third time in her career, Vansant posted a 20-20, with 26 kills and 24 digs, as Washington improved to 16-0 on the season and 5-0 in Pac-12 play.
A nine-point Husky run on the jump serve of Cassie Strickland helped jumpstart Washington late in the first set after trailing 16-21. Strickland had four aces in the streak, part of a career-best five on the night, as UW stormed back to take the first set, 25-21, and then went into intermission with a 25-20 second set win. The Beavers (12-4, 2-3 Pac-12) pulled out the third set, 23-25, but the Huskies ran away with the fourth set, 25-13, to close things out.
Watch Cassie Strickland's career-best five aces all in a row.
The Huskies hit .263 as a team and held Oregon State to a .187 mark. Washington had 74 digs, a season-best by 12, as Vansant's 24 digs were the second-most of her career, and Strickland had a season-high 22 digs to go with her five aces. Vansant got her 26 kills on a .357 attack percentage, and added two aces and three blocks for 29.5 points, tying for the fourth-most points of her career and the most this season. Freshman Tia Scambray added 13 kills on a .250 attack percentage. Junior Katy Beals also had her seventh career double-double with 27 assists and 11 digs.
“We started out poorly, but I think they played well," said Head Coach Jim McLaughlin. "I think they're a good, improved team that played nice and loose. But we served well, we passed well. We hit higher in transition than we did in our first swing sideout, which is very uncharacteristic, but we found a way to win and that's a good deal. We know we didn't play up to the standards we've been playing too, but some of it had to do with what we did, and we've got to learn not to make those errors.”
Vansant's previous 20-20 matches came last season, including a 30-30 performance (38 kills, 30 digs) in UW's win over USC in the Elite Eight. She also had 23 kills and 20 digs last Oct. 20 in a win over Stanford.
The Beavers took the first three points in the first set before the Huskies got on the board with a block from Kaleigh Nelson and Melanie Wade. A Nelson kill and a Beavers setting error made it 3-3. OSU had another run to open up a 7-4 lead with a couple kills from Marshall. The Huskies got back within one but then gave up a 3-0 run capped by an ace for a 10-6 lead before Crissy Jones got her first kill. Vansant got going with four kills during a stretch that saw the Huskies cut a five-point deficit back to 11-13. The Beavers got to the timeout with a 15-12 lead. The Huskies were within two at 14-16 but then hit long twice in a row and needed their first timeout at 14-18. A Vansant kill and a block assisted by Wade and Vansant cut the gap back to three, and then Cassie Strickland hammered UW's first ace for 19-21 and Oregon State took timeout. Out of the break, Strickland hit an even sweeter serve, spinning straight the court for another ace and a one-point gap. Vansant then tipped for a kill to tie it up at 21-all. Again Strickland found the sideline for a third ace to put the Huskies up for the first time at 22-21 and force OSU's last timeout. Her serve produced another easy swing that Strickland dug and Vansant killed it for 23-21. Wade and Jones then rejected the Beavers to get UW to set point at 24-21. One more ace from Strickland capped the frantic Husky comeback and gave the Dawgs the set, 25-21. All told it was a 9-0 Husky run to close the set, from 16-21 down to the win. The Huskies pulled it out despite hitting just .175 in the set, as Vansant rolled up eight kills on 11 swings with one error for a .636 mark.
The Huskies carried their momentum to the first three points of the second set before OSU got on the board to break a 12-0 run spanning the two sets. The Beavers got two more to tie it back up at 3-3. At 5-5, Nelson got one up the right side to send Wade to the service line, and she pressured the Beavers into some out of system swings, which UW turned into kills from Scambray and Sybeldon. Nelson then had a stuff of Marshall for a 9-5 lead and Oregon State called timeout. Oregon State picked up a pair out of the timeout but Sybeldon hammered a Beals quick set for 10-7. The Beavers served up two aces in a row to tie it up at 10-10 before serving one wide. Another shanked pass by the Huskies had OSU in front by one, but Vansant hammered one to tie it back up. Vansant added two more, one set up by a diving Strickland dig, to get the Huskies back in front. Beals dove for a pancake dig and Nelson bump set Vansant for a third straight kill for 15-13. Vansant struck out of the back row for another kill to get the lead up to 17-14, and the Beavers called time. Back live, Vansant dropped an ace short to keep the Husky run going. OSU got a kill in serve-receive, but Scambray quickly responded with a slam off the block for 19-15. Nelson got another right side finish for 20-16. The Beavers overpassed a Bailey Tanner serve and Jones banged it down for 22-16. Sybeldon finished a Tanner set, and then Scambray lined an ace to get the Huskies to set point, 24-17. Oregon State would save three points in a row, but Tanner found Vansant for a crosscourt blow to end it, 25-20.
The Beavers took the lead, 1-4, to open up the third set, but UW got back to 4-5 with a kill from Scambray. But Oregon State responded with a trio of points to make it 4-8 and the Huskies called the early timeout. Washington began to climb back with a Vansant transition kill and the fifth ace from Strickland to make it 8-9. A big slam from Wade got the Huskies level at 10-10. But Oregon State regained the momentum and pushed back ahead, 12-15. Scambray was dug and OSU killed it through the block for 16-12 and Washington used its final timeout. Scambray had a couple kills to keep the Huskies within range, and then Jones and Sybeldon teamed for a huge block for 15-18. The Beavers pushed back to a five-point cushion, but Strickland bumped one back across the court and Vansant spun one from the 10-foot line to the back line for a point to make it 18-21 and Oregon State took timeout. The teams traded four points until Beals back set Nelson who finished a long rally with a slam off the block for 21-23, and then Scambray got one past the block in transition to cut it to one at 22-23. Vansant had a swing out of the back row on the next point but missed it just wide for set point Beavers. Nelson fended off the first one with a big swing, but the Beavers killed their next opportunity to win the third set, 25-23, and send it to a fourth.
A Wade kill and a Vansant ace scored early for UW in set four. A tough Wade serve led to a Scambray transition kill for a 4-3 Husky lead. A Sybeldon kill was followed by a hustle save from Sybeldon who kept a set off the net and OSU eventually missed long for a 6-3 lead. After another Beavers miss, OSU took timeout with UW up, 8-4. Scambray crushed one from the right, and then Vansant rolled an offspeed shot over and down for 11-5. A Vansant tip dropped, and then she stuffed an Amanda Brown swing straight down for 13-5 and the last Beavers timeout. Out of the break, the Beavers picked up a pair, but Vansant answered with a blast for 14-7. Vansant made a rare error as the lead fell to five, but Jones had an emphatic swing from the right, and then the Beavers got caught in the net for 16-9. Beals went behind her to Nelson for a finish and an 18-11 lead. A block from Jones after a tough Tanner serve pushed the Husky lead back to eight at 20-12. Vansant padded her kills column with two more as UW headed towards the finish line, and then Scambray aced OSU to reach match point at 24-13, and came right back with a second ace to end it, 25-13.
Washington will now venture on to Eugene to take on the 11th-ranked Oregon Ducks, who improved to 14-1 and 4-1 in Pac-12 tonight with a win over Washington State. The match is set for Sunday at 11 a.m. live on the Pac-12 Networks.
