University of Washington
Stanford
Pac-12 Record Crowd Sees Dawgs Top No. 1 Stanford
November 27, 2014 | Volleyball
SEATTLE – Krista Vansant, after the dust settled on an historic night at Alaska Airlines Arena, said that she didn't think anyone ever had a better Senior Night than what she and Kaleigh Nelson just enjoyed. In front of the largest volleyball crowd ever at a Pac-12 venue, a roof-shaking 8,646 fans at Alaska Airlines Arena, the Huskies knocked off previously unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Stanford in four sets, with Vansant and Nelson leading the charge.
The fifth-ranked Dawgs defeated a top-ranked team for just the second time in Head Coach Jim McLaughlin's 14 years, the previous one being in the 2005 NCAA title match, a sweep of No. 1 Nebraska. Washington (28-2, 17-2 Pac-12) took the first two sets, 25-18, 25-21, before the Cardinal (28-1, 18-1 Pac-12) battled back to take the third set, 25-23. The Huskies wouldn't be deterred, hitting at a .457 clip in the final set to slowly shake Stanford and close it out, 25-20.
Watch 60 seconds of highlights of UW's win over No. 1 Stanford.
“It's just awesome,” Head Coach Jim McLaughlin. “But I've got to be the bad guy and tell them we've got to get ready for Pullman. But this team's got what it takes. We've got all the things you need, and if we can maintain a focus … we've got a shot. This reinforces that.”
Vansant and Nelson were honored before the match with their family on the court. The All-American duo made a memorable regular season home finale, as Vansant pounded 21 kills on a .304 attack percentage and Nelson added nine on a .300 clip. Freshman Tia Scambray was also huge with a double-double of 12 kills and 11 digs, while junior Melanie Wade, a Palo Alto native, hit .727 with eight kills on 11 swings, plus two aces and four blocks.
Cassie Strickland's 16 digs helped the Dawgs out-dig the Cardinal, 54-50, and she ripped four service aces, as the Huskies held the edge in that stat, 9-4. Overall, the Dawgs hit .331 against a Cardinal team that was holding opponents to just .173. Meanwhile, the Huskies held Stanford to .265, below its average coming in of .317.
The near sellout crowd broke the previous UW record of 7,809 fans at a 2009 match against UCLA. No Pac-12 school has hosted a larger single match according to the NCAA recordbooks.
“It's the biggest crowd in Pac-12 history and biggest anywhere this year, which is just giant, that's a big deal in Seattle,” McLaughlin said.
“I don't think there's words to describe how good it feels, I think this might be the best Senior Night in history, ever,” said Vansat. “It was awesome to have that many people in the crowd. We've been working really hard, and I think it's good to show it off against a really good team. Good night overall!”
Due to a schedule quirk, the Huskies and Cardinal did not meet all year until this, the penultimate match of the regular season. The teams were two of the final unbeatens, ranked one and two much of the year, up until Washington stumbled in two heartbreakers at Colorado and Utah, which left Stanford alone without a loss. But this was the match that everyone had been pointing towards. The win also extended UW's home win streak to 32, second-longest in program history.
The Huskies made sure the Cardinal would not be the first team since 2003 to navigate the brutal Pac-12 without a single defeat, and most importantly, kept alive a chance of a Pac-12 title split, if UW wins at WashingtonState on Friday and Stanford were to fall at Cal.
But the Huskies still have more work ahead of them, as they spend Thanksgiving traveling to Pullman in order to take on WashingtonState on Friday evening, at 5:00 p.m. to wrap the regular season. The NCAA selection show will follow that on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
Scambray set the tone on the first point of the first set, serving an ace off the arms of Stanford libero Kyle Gilbert. Two more early aces from Vansant and Strickland opened up a 7-4 lead. The Cardinal would struggle to pass the Husky serves early, which helped the UW defense key on the Stanford attackers. Sybeldon and Courtney Schwan got a block on first team All-American Inky Ajanaku for a 13-8 lead, and Wade and Scambray roofed Ajanaku again for 16-11 and a Stanford timeout. Strickland broke the set open with back-to-back aces to make it 20-11, capping a 6-0 Husky run. The Cardinal would cut the gap to five points, but UW got kills late from Vansant and Nelson and one more ace from Wade, the sixth of the set for UW, to take it, 25-18. The Huskies hit .346 in the set and held Stanford to .172, with Sybeldon killing all three of her swings.
Set two saw Stanford pick up its offense but the Huskies got even hotter themselves. There were 11 tie scores in the set, as the teams were even through the first 14 points at 7-7 until the Cardinal opened up a two point advantage at 7-9 with a block of Vansant. But Washington would not let the Cardinal out of sight, Sybeldon and Nelson stuffing Jordan Burgess to get within one, and Vansant putting down a Bailey Tanner set for 10-11. Down 10-12, the Huskies regained the lead with a 3-0 run with Schwan finishing from the right side, then Wade getting a kill off a Stanford blocking error, and Scambray finishing in transition set by Strickland. UW led 15-14 at the media timeout. Vansant got a big kill to edge the Huskies up by two, and then Wade dialed up her second ace for 18-15, and Stanford took time. Vansant extended it to a four point run out of the break before Stanford got an Ajanaku kill. Nelson and Vansant added to their totals, but a Stanford ace pulled them back within two at 21-19. Schwan followed with a blast crosscourt from the right for 22-19, but UW missed its next serve. But Scambray hammered up the line from the left, and then after another Stanford timeout, the Cardinal misfired wide up the line for set point, 24-20. On UW's second chance, Nelson took a tough wide set and smartly wiped it off the blockers and out for a kill and the set, 25-21. The Huskies hit .424 in the set with 17 kills compared to 12 kills for Stanford and a .281 mark. Nelson finished all three of her swings and Vansant had five kills.
The Dawgs came out swinging well in set three and looked poised to earn the sweep, but the Cardinal would rally. Early on, Vansant racked up three kills and then served an ace on a Stanford rotation error for a 6-3 lead, but Stanford got back even on three straight UW errors. The Huskies made another 4-1 run for a 10-7 lead, with Wade and Scambray stuffing Boukather, and Stanford took time. Another Husky block from Vansant and Wade made it 12-8 Dawgs, but a 3-0 Stanford run cut the gap down to 13-12 and forced a UW timeout. The Cardinal continued to push on tough serving from Brittany Howard, and it turned into a 6-0 run overall before Howard missed serve for 14-15 Stanford. The teams went back and forth for several points, until UW got back level at 19-all on a Vansant finish. Nelson tied it again at 20-20 with a kill, but Stanford got two straight for 20-22 and UW took its last timeout. Nelson just missed wide out of the break for 20-23, but Vansant came back with a finish on the next point to stop the bleeding. Ajanaku got Stanford to set point at 21-24, but Stanford missed its first serve, and then Burgess sent one wide for 23-24, and Stanford took timeout. On their third chance, the Cardinal got a strong pass and set right to Merete Lutz in the middle for a quick kill to end it, 23-25. The Huskies hurt themselves with their own errors in the frame, making eight, to hit just .128 while Stanford hit .250. Vansant's seven kills and .385 hitting percentage went for naught.
Once again in the fourth set the teams battled evenly through the first 20 points, but a three point Husky run earned a 13-11 lead and forced a quick Cardinal timeout. Scambray had consecutive kills in the run. Lutz had a kill out of the break to stop the run, but UW quickly fired off another three points on a Stanford error, a Scambray kill, and Strickland's fourth ace of the night, forcing Stanford's second timeout at 16-12. A big block from Wade and Scambray added another before Burgess got a sideout, but she then missed her first serve. Washington continued to push away with another Scambray kill assisted by Vansant for 19-13. Wade tipped over and down for 21-15, and Vansant answered Stanford points with two more kills to keep UW on track. Tanner found Sybeldon for a sharp angle slam to get the Dawgs to match point, 24-19. Strickland went for a little too much on her first serve, finding the net. On the next chance, Vansant had an easy pass up to Tanner who set up Wade for a blast into the seam that the Cardinal couldn't retrieve, and the Huskies stormed onto the court to celebrate the 25-20 clincher. After the shaky third set, the Huskies were back on track in the fourth, hitting .457 with 18 kills and just 2 errors on 35 swings, holding off the Cardinal who hit .343. Scambray's 5 kills and .455 attack percentage were big in the set, as were the three kills on three attempts for Wade.
