University of Washington
California
Huskies Tame Bears Behind Sybeldon, Scambray
October 24, 2015 | Volleyball
BERKELEY, Calif. – For the fourth straight year, the Husky volleyball team left Berkeley with a win under their belts, but after three-straight five set nailbiters from 2012-14 at Haas Pavilion, Washington was especially pleased to take care of business in straight sets tonight. Senior Lianna Sybeldon and sophomore Tia Scambray combined for 19 kills with just 1 error between them on 30 swings, as the fourth-ranked Huskies wrapped up the first half of Pac-12 play with the 25-15, 30-28, 25-16 win.
There was still some adversity for UW even in the sweep, as Washington had to save six set points in set two before prevailing, 30-28, but the Dawgs controlled the first and third from start to finish, and hit .388 for the night, compared to .121 for the Bears. The Dawgs also held a big edge in blocking, with nine blocks compared to just one for California (7-13, 1-8 Pac-12).
“Happy to get out of Berkeley in three sets. They've played us tough here for the last many years and we knew they would play us tough again. Despite what the records indicate, they have some talented players who can do a lot of good things and we saw one of them, Lillian Schonewise, what a night she had (16 kills). We knew they were a dangerous team and we played them with the same intensity we want to play every Pac-12 opponent.”
Washington finished the first run through the league in second place with an 8-2 record, 18-2 overall, and will start the second half hosting the league-leading Trojans next Friday, the only remaining undefeated team in the country. 10th-ranked UCLA following in on Sunday for an 11 a.m. matinee.
Sybeldon wrapped up a phenomenal week, hitting over .700 in both matches, as she had 19 kills at Stanford (hitting .720) and backed that with 10 kills tonight with just one error on 12 swings for a .750 mar, with five blocks to boot. The 2014 All-American raised her NCAA-leading attack percentage to .502 for the year.
Scambray posted nine kills on 18 swings without a miss for a .500 percentage, and also served two aces and had three blocks and five digs plus consistent passing in serve-receive. Sophomore Courtney Schwan also had her best match since returning from her foot injury, as she had seven kills and hit .417, dropping in a pair of aces as well.
“We asked the outsides to do a lot, and we made some changes in that last set as well to work on some things and people still responded and made plays. Tia and Courtney had particularly strong nights,” said Cook.
Strickland and the Dawgs prepare for S2. Washington hit a white-hot .500% in the first frame, holding Cal to .121%. pic.twitter.com/mOtjEZGUHU
— UW Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) October 24, 2015
Crissy Jones put the first kill down for the Dawgs in the first set to spark UW on an early 5-0 run on Kim Condie's serve. Sybeldon and Jones had a block in the run and Scambray put one down through the block. Wade's first kill kept the Huskies on top, 7-4. Beals had a dig and Strickland bump set to Scambray for a kill in transition, and a couple errors from the Bears had the Dawgs up 10-5. Destiny Julye tooled the block for her first kill and a 12-7 edge, and she added another after a sprawling Scambray dig on the next point for 13-7 and Cal took the first timeout. A long rally with several pick-ups by the Dawgs on Bear blocks eventually resulted in a third Julye kill, and Sybeldon scored her first kill to cap a 4-0 run that made it 15-7. A right side Jones blast from Tanner pushed the lead to 18-9. A solo stuff from Scambray sent the sophomore back to the service line, and she went from the net point to one at the service line, as the bottom dropped out of her float for an ace and a 22-11 lead as Cal took its last timeout. Washington rolled to the finish, with a left side rocket from Julye, and a Sybeldon quick kill to reach set point. Jones put away her fourth kill of the set to end it, 25-15. The Huskies hit .500 in the frame, with Sybeldon and Scambray also getting four kills apiece. Bailey Tanner had 11 of the 15 sets in the set.
Courtney Schwan checked in to start the second set, and immediately dropped in an ace with the help of the net and her next serve produced an overpass that Sybeldon tipped over for a kill. Scambray closed down the line for another rejection on the next point for a quick 3-0 Husky lead. Cal rallied back to win six of the next eight points, getting a net-aided ace of its own to take a 5-6 lead. UW responded with a 3-0 lead back to take an 8-6 lead with Scambray getting another ace off the tape. Wade connected to the sideline off a Beals set and the Bears got caught in the net to make it 10-7. Another ace, this one driven off the defense by Wade, made it 12-7. Cal clawed back to within a point at 13-12, but Schwan got a right side kill to drop to stem the tide. Cal spun an ace down for 14-all, but Sybeldon pushed down a kill on the next point to get to the media timeout with a 15-14 lead. Cal went on top with a couple points before missing serve for 16-all. Cal's defense made it tough for the Huskies to finish, but Wade got one to fall for 18-19 Bears. After UW went down 18-21, Jade Finau checked in and set Schwan for a roll shot kill, but Schwan missed long in transition on the next point. The Bears got to set point at 21-24, with Jones saving the first with a right side finish. Wade and Tanner then posted a stuff to save a second and Cal took timeout. Out of the break, Wade got a touch on the block, and then hit it back over deep for a kill to tie it up, 24-all. The Bears got a kill in serve-receive to get a fourth set point try. Scambray erased that one with a right side blast off the block, but Cal responded with another point from their middle. The Bears dug a big blow from Wade, and had a swing at it, but Tanner got a big rejection on the right pin to keep it going. A third straight Schonewise kill for Cal made it 26-27, but this time Sybeldon finished for 27-all. The Dawgs got a dig on the next rally, and made it work with a Schwan kill on the left to get their first set point at 28-27, and Cal took timeout. But the Bears stayed alive with a kill in serve-receive. Another Schwan finish on a tip got the chance back for UW. A long back and forth followed, with the Huskies nearly winning on two different blocks, but Tanner back set to Jones who put the set away with a heavy swing, ending it 30-28. Washington saved a total of six points to steal the set, hitting .273 overall compared to .200 for the Bears, and UW used five big blocks while Cal had none.
What a rally to end it!! Dawgs save SIX set points and take it with this final swing from Crissy https://t.co/gSsV1DLJ4c
— UW Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) October 24, 2015
Washington came out sharp early again in the third with the first three points. Strickland's jump serve led to a free ball and a Jones kill for a 5-1 lead. Tanner had a great dig and Scambray put one away in transition for a 6-1 edge. The Bears closed the gap a bit, but Scambray put one to the deep corner for a kill and an 8-4 lead. Tanner had a kill at the left pin, and Schwan banged one hard off the block as UW stayed on top, 12-8. Sybeldon had a solo rejection in the middle for 14-9, and Cal missed wide on the next rally for 15-9 at the media timeout. Schwan collected an ace out of the break to finish off a 4-0 run to 16-9. Wade won a joust at the net and Sybeldon had a kill on the slide to force Cal into its last timeout at 21-15. Senior Justice Magraw checked in to serve, and helped the Dawgs get on a run to match point, as Schwan tipped for a kill, then she teamed up with Sybeldon for a stuff to get to match point. Beals set Sybeldon on a slide, and the senior put down her 10th kill of the night to end it, 25-16. The Huskies hit .417 in the third set and held Cal to a .000 mark.
