University of Washington
Utah
Strickland Helps No. 3 Huskies Ace Utah Test
October 25, 2014 | Volleyball
SEATTLE – A career-high six service aces from junior libero Cassie Strickland provided punctuation to an overall outstanding night of offense from the Huskies, as they swept Utah at Alaska Airlines Arena despite some late third-set drama. Washington hit a scorching .446 as a team, led by Krista Vansant's 15 kills, to take down the Utes, 25-22, 25-13, 27-25 in front of 2,958 fans.
The Huskies improved to 20-0 on the year and 9-0 in Pac-12 play. It is the third time in program history that the Dawgs have won their first 20 matches, previously going 22-0 to start the year in 2004 and 23-0 to begin the NCAA title season in 2005.
Watch Vansant put away the final three points of the match above.
The Utes (12-8, 2-7 Pac-12) were down seven points in the third set but stormed back to earn a set point and make the Huskies sweat. But Vansant converted three consecutive kills at the end of the match to take UW from 24-25 down to the 27-25 win. The senior All-American hit .419, as every single Husky who earned a kill hit above .300. The .446 offensive showing was UW's first above .300 since Oct. 1 against USC, and best since a .519 mark at home against SeattleU.
Melanie Wade led the charge with a .667 mark with eight kills on 12 swings without an error. Fellow middle Lianna Sybeldon hit .571 with four kills on seven swings, and freshman Tia Scambray had nine kills and hit .500. Senior Kaleigh Nelson hit .312 with eight kills, and freshman Crissy Jones hit .300 with four. The setting duo of Katy Beals and Bailey Tanner expertly spread the ball around, and both finished with 20 assists. Strickland, who wowed the crowd with her serving, also had a team-best nine digs.
“The emotional part of the game is the deal, and if you let up and lose that mental intensity it can go away fast, so I think that's the lesson learned,” said Head Coach Jim McLaughlin. “But we were able to turn it on in the end; Cassie hit some serves, and we made some good plays, and Krista took some good swings. The real lesson we talked about is that (event though we) hit 46 percent, the serve and pass is the most critical thing. You can hit high percentage but if you don't take care of your serve and pass you're in trouble, I don't care how you play.”
Strickland's six aces passed her career-best of five which was set just two weeks ago in a win at OregonState. It's the most by a Husky since Vansant had six against Loyola Chicago on Sept. 15, 2013. Washington also put on an offensive showcase in the second set, hitting .636 with 14 kills on 22 swings without an error, its best in a 25-point set since a .700 first set in the third match of the year at BoiseState.
All six of Cassie Strickland's service aces in a row
The first Husky swing came from Vansant, and she put away the Tanner set on the left. The first block of the night came from Wade and Nelson for a 4-2 Husky lead. Nelson got her first kill from the left for a 5-3 edge. Utah tied it up but Vansant had a back row kill for 6-5. Scambray had her second kill of the early going off the block and down for 7-6. Strickland drew some 'oohs' with a booming ace off the defense for 10-8, but Utah answered with two to tie. A slide kill from Wade made it 13-12 Dawgs, then Vansant lined a float for an ace and 14-12. Nelson ripped one down from the right in serve-receive for 15-13 at the media timeout. Sybeldon got her first swing and put it away for 18-16, but UW missed serve and then got aced for 18-all. Utah gave the service error back for 19-18, but UW then served into the net. Wade crushed another slide down to get the lead back. Utah tied it, and Scambray responded from the left. Wade then drove a serve low that the Utes overpassed, and Nelson was on it to smash it down, with Utah taking timeout. A critical block two points later from Sybeldon and Nelson prevented the tie and made it 23-21. Hanging in the air, Sybeldon got another finish for set point at 24-22, and Utah used its last timeout. On the next point, Tanner had a big dig, and Strickland bump set left to Vansant who banged it off the block for the finish, clinching the set, 25-22. The Huskies hit .353 in the first set, with Utah at .276. Vansant had five kills in the frame and Nelson added four.
Washington came storming out in the second set behind the serving of Cassie Strickland. She took some speed off to spin an ace down short for 2-0. Scambray set Vansant for a transition kill, and then Utah overpassed the next Strickland bomb and Wade had a tip kill. Strickland fired another serve to the back corner for her second ace in the run to make it 5-0, and Utah called for time. The break did disrupt her rhythm, as Strickland found the net on her next serve, but Vansant got the serve right back with a kill. The Dawgs covered a near block and Strickland hustled to punch it over, and then UW got a dig and a kill from Nelson for a 9-2 cushion. Scambray hammered off the block and down for 11-3. The Utes got back within six, but then missed consecutive swings as the Huskies pushed out to a 15-6 advantage. Strickland rotated back to the service line and picked up where she left off at the start of the set, as she ripped two more aces for 18-7 and the last Utah timeout. Vansant added one more before Utah broke 4-0 run, but Scambray and Nelson had huge slams on the left side to keep the Dawgs rolling up 22-10. A service error got the Huskies to set point at 24-12. On the second chance, Scambray got credit for a kill on a Utah blocking error, and the Huskies were off to the break with a 25-13 set win. Washington was error-free in the second set for an astounding .636 attack percentage. Strickland's four aces stole the show, but Vansant added four kills, and Wade, Nelson, and Scambray each had three kills without a miss.
The only thing the Huskies didn't have in the second set was a block, but they started the third set with a stuff from Sybeldon and Jones. Vansant popped one off the block and down for a 4-2 lead. Wade had a slide kill and then tapped down an overpass to make it 6-3. The teams went back and forth for a stretch, with Nelson and Scambray continuing to add to their stats, as Beals and Tanner continued to distribute evenly around the net. Jones smashed one off the block and then Scambray served up an ace. A Utah error made it 12-6 Huskies and the Utes called for time. Sybeldon added a kill out of the timeout for 13-6, but Utah climbed back into things with a 4-0 run and the Huskies took timeout with the lead down to 13-10. Out of the break, Scambray had a rock solid pass and Tanner found Jones for a kill to snap the string. Strickland then established a new career-best with her sixth ace to the back line for 15-10. Vansant ripped crosscourt for two more to get up to 17-11, and then Katy Beals tossed in an ace of her own for 18-11. Again the Utes closed the deficit with a 4-0 run, acing the Huskies twice in a row to make it 18-15 and force UW's last timeout. The Huskies answered, with Wade getting a kill that danced along the net and fell out for a kill, and then Utah made a pair of errors for 21-15. Scambray stifled a Utah rally with a great pass and kill for 22-17. Utah continued to show fight, however, taking the next three points to cut it within two at 22-20. Sybeldon landed one to the far corner for 23-20, but Utah came back again with three more points to tie it up. Utah sailed its next serve long to give UW match point, 24-23, and Utah called its second timeout. Vansant had a swing at the next point but was dug, and Utah got the kill to tie it at 24. One of the longest rallies of the match ended controversially, as a lift was called on UW, but the refs then consulted and agreed it was a missed call, prompting a replay. But the Utes punched over a second contact for a kill and earned set point, 24-25. Vansant wiped away the set point with a slam off the Tanner set. Tanner went back to Vansant two more times on the next rally and she killed the second to get the Huskies their second set point chance. Utah misplayed a set and sent over a free ball, and Tanner fed one more up to Vansant, who crushed it off the block and out past the scorer's table to end it, 27-25. Washington hit .417 in the set but Utah heated up to a .333 mark and had three blocks to one for UW. Vansant had six kills in the set including the final three.
The Huskies will be back in action on Sunday to take on 26th-ranked Colorado, which got a big sweep in Pullman tonight to improve to 5-4 in Pac-12 play. The Huskies and Buffs play at 1:00 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks.
