University of Washington
UC Davis
Block Takes Its Toll On Aggies In 3-0 Win
September 12, 2014 | Volleyball
SEATTLE – A dominating blocking performance from the front row Dawgs coupled with another strong offensive showing was enough to propel No. 5 Washington to a 25-15, 25-14, 25-18 win over UC Davis this afternoon in Alaska Airlines Arena. The Huskies (8-0) had 14.0 blocks as a team while the Aggies (2-5) had just one, and UW hit .412 as a team with a balanced attack.
The Huskies will be back in action later this evening to take on UNLV, which picked up a win against SeattleU. this afternoon at the ConnollyCenter. First serve for the match tonight is 7 p.m.
Eight different Huskies earned a kill today, with nine from senior Krista Vansant, eight from junior Lianna Sybeldon, to go with eight block assists, and seven from senior Kaleigh Nelson who needed just 11 swings, hitting .636 for the day. Junior Katy Beals had 15 assists, two aces, and five digs, while redshirt freshman Jade Finau had a new season-high with 17 assists and an ace. Freshman Courtney Schwan had a strong overall stat line with five kills on a .312 attack percentage plus an ace, seven digs, and two blocks.
“It was just good volleyball from start to finish. We were more consistent, and things are happening with a little greater regularity. I think we moved forward a little bit,” said Head Coach Jim McLaughlin, who did say the Huskies had to improve on a season-high 14 service errors. “Our serving wasn't good, we missed too many, and we don't have to hit home runs, just make good contact and hit good spots. But the offense was pretty good, there were very few hitting errors and good passing.”
A few early errors had things tied at 3-3 in the first set before UW earned a kill. Schwan got the first up the line for 4-all, and then Sybeldon and Nelson had a rejection followed by a Davis error for a 6-4 Husky lead. A triple block with Vansant, Sybeldon, and Crissy Jones and a UC Davis miss made it 10-6, Dawgs, and Davis called timeout. Another UC Davis miscue and a Vansant punch down on an overpass made it 13-6 before Schwan just missed a serve long. Katy Beals dropped consecutive sweet serves in for aces in the middle of the Aggies defense to push the lead to 17-9 and force the second UC Davis timeout. A Schwan kill off the block made it 19-10, then UC Davis shanked a Vansant pass and Nelson hammered it for a kill. Nelson's fourth kill of the set made it a 10-point cushion at 22-12. Sybeldon got the most of a rejection in the middle to get the Huskies to set point, and then on the next point, she blocked a ball up in the air and jumped up to attack it back down for the kill and the set, 25-15. Washington hit .357 for the set and held UC Davis to a -.042 mark, with Nelson and Sybeldon leading UW with four kills apiece.
Wade and Vansant started the second set with a block of Aima Eichie. UC Davis came back with three straight to take an early lead, 1-3. Vansant put away a Beals set out of the back row for 3-5. A line drive ace for Finau got UW within one at 5-6, but UC Davis came back with one from Katie Quinn. The Huskies came back with a 3-0 run to tie it at 8-8, Vansant ending a marathon rally with her best swing of the day thus far from the left, hammering off the back row defense. Jones picked up her first kill from the right and added a second off a Finau set two points later for 10-10. A Nelson tip kill put UW back in front for the first time since 1-0, at 11-10. Vansant slammed one off the blockers for 12-10 and UC Davis took timeout. A Vansant float caught the tape and trickled over for an ace and a second Davis timeout at 16-11. Nelson added another out of the break on a back set from Beals. Nelson and Wade then roofed the Aggies straight down for an 18-12 edge. Vansant hammered a pipe set and Wade served an ace for a 20-12 cushion. Kim Condie subbed into serve following a Jones-Sybeldon block, and UW earned another triple block to get to set point at 24-14. A third-straight block closed it out, Sybeldon and Vansant on the last one, taking it 25-14. The Huskies hit .345 in the set and did not make an error, and held UC Davis to a .000 mark thanks to 9.5 blocks in the second set alone, five from Sybeldon and four from Nelson.
Freshman Tia Scambray came in for the first time to start the third set. Beals, playing in the front row for the first time, dumped for a surprise kill on the first point. Jones had a crosscourt kill from the left to tie things at 5-5 early, then she put UW up a point with a kill from the opposite side. Jones' third kill of the set on a back set from Finau made it 9-7 Dawgs. Scambray terminated a bump set from Beals for an 11-9 lead. A soft block from Sybeldon transitioned to a quick kill set from Finau, and then UC Davis swung long to make it 15-11, as the Aggies called timeout. Sybeldon killed another and the Aggies misfired for 17-11 as Scambray continued to serve. Sybeldon poked down a kill on a dig over the net and Vansant hit off the block to make it 19-13 and the Aggies called their final timeout. UC Davis crept within four points but Beals set Vansant on the right and she hit straight to the floor for 21-16, then Wade and recently checked in Carly DeHoog had a big block to add another. DeHoog smashed her first kill of the day to get the Dawgs to match point at 24-18. A Finau serve put UC Davis in trouble, and she then set Sybeldon who dropped one over the block to end it, 25-18. Washington had its best offensive set in the third, hitting .536 with four kills each from Jones, Sybeldon, and Vansant.
