University of Washington
California
Huskies Stay Alive In Five Again At Cal
September 27, 2014 | Volleyball
BERKELEY, Calif. – For the second time in a week, the fourth-ranked Husky volleyball team was pushed against a wall, but came out swinging and landed the final punch, as UW prevailed in five sets over California after being down a set on two occasions. The fourth-ranked Huskies improved to 13-0 and 2-0 in the Pac-12 with the 18-25, 25-13, 22-25, 25-21, 15-7 victory at Haas Pavilion in front of 1,047 fans.
Watch Washington's fifth-set highlights in 60 seconds above.
It was the third straight year that the Huskies needed five sets to top the Golden Bears (8-4, 0-2 Pac-12) in Berkeley, though the previous two years UW had saved match points to win. Washington won a fifth set for the fourth time this season, including another just last Friday against Wisconsin when UW again had to rally from two sets to one down.
Senior All-American Krista Vansant became the fifth Husky to pass the 1,500 career kills mark with her first kill of the night, and she would then add on to that in a big way, as she finished with a season-high 27 kills and 11 digs for a double-double. Freshman Tia Scambray added 15 kills on 31 swings with four errors for a .355 attack percentage, and added 10 digs and a pair of aces.
The Huskies were a bit of Jekyll and Hyde tonight, as in the three sets UW won, it hit .538, then .400, and then .556 in the fifth to close it out, with 10 kills and no errors on 18 swings. The two they lost, the Huskies hit .100 and .188. But overall, UW hit at a .318 clip, while Cal posted a .244 mark overall. Christina Higgins had 17 kills to lead the Bears. Washington had six aces to just two for Cal, and the teams were even with 14.0 blocks a side.
“We played well when we had to and made plays when we had to, but I didn't like the way we started the match,” said Head Coach Jim McLaughlin. “It was uncharacteristic with lots of errors. Then we were good in game two, and not good in game three. Good again at the end of game four and all of game five. I appreciate the fight in these guys, but we've got to be prepared to start the match a little better.”
Freshman Crissy Jones had her best outing in several matches, as she had six kills on 11 swings to hit .545, and added four blocks. Junior Melanie Wade hit .417 with six kills and four blocks, and junior Lianna Sybeldon added eight blocks despite an off-night on offense with five kills but four errors. Katy Beals was the third Husky with a double-double as she had 32 assists and 12 digs, and Bailey Tanner added 27 assists and a pair of aces.
Bailey Tanner stepped to the service line on the first point and sent one off the Bears for an ace. Lianna Sybeldon had the first kill a point later from Tanner for 2-1. Vansant's 1,500th career kill came from the left side crosscourt and she added another on an overpass to make it 4-1 Huskies early. Sybeldon and Courtney Schwan blocked Higgins for a 5-1 lead, but Cal called with three of the next four to close the gap. Vansant's third early kill had the Huskies up 7-4. The Bears crept within one before Kaleigh Nelson's first kill made it 8-6. Scambray smacked one up the left sideline for 9-7. A fast transition set from Tanner to Scambray was hit straight to the court for an 11-8 edge. But Cal got rolling with three straight to tie it at 11 for the first time since 1-1. Scambray hit to regain the lead, and then Cal fired wide. Scambray then dropped an ace short for a 14-11 edge. But Washington then made a pair of errors to give up the lead again and have things even at 14. Schwan rolled one short for a kill to make it 15-14, Huskies at the media timeout. Cal took its first lead at 16-15 but Vansant put one off the block and down to level it. The Bears opened up a 17-19 lead after surprising UW with a swing for a kill at what looked to be a free ball, and the Huskies took timeout. Washington could get nothing going after the break, however, and took another timeout after Cal had quick transition kills for a 17-21 lead. Nelson finally ended the 5-0 run with a right side kill, but Cal came right back in serve-receive to make it 18-23. An ace gave the Bears set point, and Cal closed it out on the next point to win, 18-25. Cal's Maddy Kerr had 12 digs in the first set alone, helping hold UW to just a .100 attack percentage while the Bears hit .296.
Nelson got a kill off the block from a Scambray set to open the second set. Wade put one down and then a big Sybeldon block in the middle made it 3-1. Freshman Crissy Jones checked in for the first time and had an assist to Scambray for a kill and a 5-2 lead. Jones then had a razor sharp angle for a kill and 6-3. Vansant connected for a couple kills as the teams swapped points in serve-receive. A triple block from Wade, Nelson, and Scambray kept the alternate points going with UW up 10-7. Scambray then broke through with another to give UW back to back points and an 11-7 lead. Jones then had a solo stuff for a 13-8 lead and the Bears took time. Jones got in on another stuff with Sybeldon right out of the timeout, and then a Strickland dig led to a Scambray transition kill for a 15-8 edge. Jones delivered another kill from the left on a Tanner set for 16-9. Vansant landed another kill to push it to 18-9. Scambray had a terrific dig that led to a Jones tip kill and a 20-10 lead as Cal took its second timeout. Nelson got a one-on-one roof to keep UW moving ahead, 22-11. Scambray's latest swing got the Dawgs to set point at 24-13, then the Huskies posted one more stuff, their sixth of the second set, to finish it off, 25-13. Washington rolled up a .538 attack percentage with Scambray going off for five kills on seven swings without an error.
Nelson delivered a big kill to get UW out of an 0-2 hole to start the third. Two straight Bears blocks against Scambray had UW in a 1-5 deficit and the Huskies took an early timeout. Wade put away a much-needed quick set from Beals out of the break for 2-5. Jones ended a long rally with a finish off the blockers and then Vansant and Sybeldon had a block to get one back and make it 5-8. But Cal came back with three in a row to build its biggest lead at 5-11 before serving long. Washington cut two points off the lead but Cal grabbed them right back to make it 8-14 and UW took its last timeout. Nelson hammered one to break UW out of the slump but Cal answered on its next swing for 9-16. Sybeldon hung in the air to tap down a roll attempt and get the Huskies within five at 11-16. However, Cal went on another 3-0 run to break it open to 12-20. Jones had a kill and a block, and a Vansant kill of an overpass got it back to 16-21 and Cal took its first timeout. Wade led a triple block on the next point to creep UW closer, and then Vansant delivered a kill on another over-dig for 18-21. Cal had a slide kill to break Strickland's excellent service run and make it 18-22. Vansant was then blocked as Cal pushed back ahead by five. The Bears got to set point at 19-24, with Vansant saving the first one from the right and a second one from the back row. She then served up an ace for 22-24 and Cal took timeout. The Bears had another bad pass on the next point but Higgins bailed them out with a kill off the block to end it, 22-25. Similar to the first set, Washington hit just .188 compared to .290 for the Bears.
Vansant had an error to open the fourth set but bounced back with a couple kills for 2-2. But UW gave away a couple errors and had to take timeout down 2-5. Beals set Wade in serve-receive for a kill out of the break. A stuff from Sybeldon and Scambray got the Dawgs within a point at 5-6. The teams traded the next six points until a Strickland serve led to a Cal error and UT got even at 9-9. Vansant connected in transition from Tanner to put UW up 10-9. Wade and Vansant then rejected a Schonewise swing for 11-9 and Cal took timeout. Strickland then fired an ace to the back line to make it 12-9 before her next one found the net, ending a 5-0 run. Vansant answered right back with a left side smash. Nelson buried one from Beals on the left for 15-11. A Wade kill and a Bears swing long made it 17-12. The Bears cut a couple off but Nelson terminated from way off the net to earn a crucial 18th Husky point. Sybeldon got hold of one in the middle for 19-15. Vansant had a crucial swing off the defense for a point to make it 20-17 as Cal continued a late push. Vansant had two more answers as the teams continued trading points, UW going on top, 22-19. Beals went quick to Nelson on the right for a rocket to the court and Cal took timeout at 23-20. Vansant set Scambray in transition out of the break who cut one to the sideline to get UW to set point, 24-20. The Bears saved the first with a kill, but Beals found Nelson on the next point and she banged it home to end it, 25-21, and send things to a fifth. Seven kills from Vansant in the fourth helped the Huskies hit .400 while Cal was just off that pace with a .357 mark in the set.
Scambray got UW off on the right foot in the fifth with an ace, and then Jones hit off the block and down on the right side on the second point. Cal came back with a kill in serve-receive but then made an error for 3-1 Dawgs. A big dig from Scambray led to a Vansant finish for a 4-1 lead, and then Jones and Wade roofed Cal's Smith-Gooden for 5-1 and the Bears signaled for time. Cal earned a kill out of the break to snap the 3-0 Husky run, but Vansant responded with a kill. She then leaned back to knock one from outside the pin over the net and down for a 7-2 edge, and then hammered through the block to make it 8-2 Huskies as the teams swapped sides. The Bears put one down to break another three-point Husky push, and added a second kill for 8-4 UW. Beals found Vansant again on the right side this time and she hit high off the block and out for 9-4. Cal bumped one over the net and UW let it go, but it found the sideline for a kill, and the Huskies needed timeout with the lead down to 9-6. Scambray got the big kill off the block out of the timeout for 10-6, and then after a long rally, Wade bump set Scambray for another kill through the blockers and an 11-6 lead, as Cal burned its final timeout. Cal sent one long on the next rally as UW extended its lead. Wade continued to serve, and added another dig that led to Scambray hammering from the left for 13-6. The Bears snapped UW's 4-0 run on the next rally, but Sybeldon hammered a quick set to get UW to match point at 14-7. Tanner ended the match the way it started over two hours earlier, as she deposited an ace off the defense to cap it, 15-7. Washington was on fire when it mattered most, hitting .556 led by Vansant's five kills on seven swings without an error, with three more kills from Scambray and five digs.
Washington comes back home next week to host the Los Angeles schools, USC coming first on Wednesday, Oct. 1, for a 7:30 p.m. match.
