University of Washington
UCLA
Dawgs Sweep No. 11 UCLA With Gritty Defense
October 03, 2015 | Volleyball
LOS ANGELES – Through twelve straight victories to start the year, the Huskies led the NCAA by a wide margin in offensive prowess, hitting .361. Facing their first ranked opponent of the year, on the road, the Huskies saw their leader in kills Courtney Schwan go down with an injury in the first set tonight against 11th-ranked UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. But the fifth-ranked Dawgs gritted their teeth, saved three Bruins set points in the first, and proceeded to win with dominant defense in straight sets, 31-29, 25-16, 25-15.
The first set had the feel of a fifth set with the Pac-12 title on the line, as there were 15 ties, and eight lead changes, and multiple set points for each side, while UW called on several subs to step in when Schwan went down, including freshman Destiny Julye and seniors Kim Condie and Justice Magraw. After the Huskies (13-0, 3-0 Pac-12) weathered that storm, they picked up steam the rest of the way, posting a season-high 17.0 blocks in just three sets, the most by a Pac-12 team this year in a three-set match, and holding UCLA (10-3, 1-2 Pac-12) to just .070 on offense.
Head Coach Keegan Cook had one word to start his postgame comments: “Adversity. In that first set, we were humming along and then we let them back in, and we were playing at a medium level, and Courtney got hurt on top of that. We had to call upon everybody. We ran out of subs, we ran a 5-1, they all made plays, and that was a big deal to win that one. After that, we were solid defensively, it looked like Washington defense. We wore on them with our serving and our blocking.”
All-American senior Lianna Sybeldon had one of the best matches of her standout career, putting down 13 kills on a .500 attack percentage with seven block assists to lead the victory. Fellow senior middle blocker Melanie Wade had eight block assists plus five kills, and sophomore Crissy Jones matched her career-high with eight block assists as well.
On Sybeldon's night, Cook said, “How lucky are we to have one of her? (Setting Sybeldon) was the game plan going in, and I think after 25 points of volleyball we hadn't set her on a quick. After that she took over. Our servers were good tonight, but the wing blockers did a great job. Tia was incredible against their opposite, and Crissy helped us out huge as well.”
Pac-12 Libero of the Year Cassie Strickland was all over the court with 19 digs and she hammered four service aces, moving her past Jill Collymore for fifth on the UW career aces list with 132. Sophomore Bailey Tanner had a double-double with 15 assists, 11 digs, and added three kills on five swings. Sophomore Tia Scambray also had a big defensive night with 12 digs and five blocks, while sophomore Carly DeHoog hammered all eight of her kills over the final two sets, hitting .500 for the match but .636 over sets two and three.
The teams traded points early in the match but the Huskies made the first big run, and got the block tuned up early with three straight rejections, Wade teaming with Jones for the first, and with Scambray for the next two, building an 8-3 lead and forcing a UCLA timeout. Strickland also banged her first ace of the night during the run. The Bruins responded with a 3-0 run, but a left side Tanner kill from Beals got the lead back to 10-6. Washington had some sloppy passing and another three-point run by the Bruins put them in the lead, 13-15, and UW called time. Tanner's third kill of the set was followed by a Bruins miss and the Dawgs were back to level at 19-all, then Schwan capped two long rallies with off-speed kills from the left to make it 21-19 and force UCLA back to its bench. Up 22-19, the Huskies had to endure a stretch where UCLA scored three straight to tie the set, and on the point that made it 22-all, Schwan landed awkwardly after a swing and suffered a left foot injury, needing to be helped off the court. Freshman Destiny Julye stepped in, and two points later she grabbed a solo block to get the Huskies a set point chance at 24-23. UCLA saved it, but Sybeldon earned another, as Beals set her three times in the same rally, the senior finding pay dirt after UCLA had kept one alive with a kick save, and crashed into the scorer's table for another. Jones had a swing at that set point, but it went long for 25-all, and then UCLA went on top for its first set point. Sybeldon tipped for a kill, and Magraw subbed in for the first time to serve, but the Bruins got another set point chance at 26-27. Sybeldon saved it once again with a blast to the sideline. At 27-28, UCLA's third opportunity was wiped away on a clutch block from Jones off a tip attempt. Out of subs, Jones went back to serve, and Scambray finished off the block to get the Dawgs a third set point, but Jones missed her ensuing serve. Magraw had a perfect pass and the Dawg block rose up again with Wade getting the most for 30-29. One more marathon rally had to close out the set, and after four digs from Strickland and a point that crossed the net 12 times, it was the freshman Julye that banged off the block and out for the final point, giving the Dawgs the heart-pounding 31-29 win.
Seven huge blocks by the Dawgs, five assisted by Wade, and 11 digs in the first set alone by Strickland helped pull out the frame. Sybeldon had six kills without an error, and Tanner killed all three of her swings and had six digs in the set.
Strickland had another big early serving run in the second set, lacing an ace off the defense to cap an early 4-0 Husky run that gave them a 6-2 lead. DeHoog came through with back-to-back kills from the right pin to extend the Husky lead to 10-4, and then Julye hammered one through the block for another point and UCLA took timeout at 11-4 Dawgs. The Bruins quickly got right back into the set with a pair of blocks, a hit out of bounds by the Huskies, and then a service ace for four quick points and UW took timeout at 11-8. DeHoog got UW out of that rut with a kill in serve-receive. But the Bruins roofed two more UW swings before DeHoog converted again on the right to hold the lead at 13-10. Strickland had a tremendous dig on a long rally and Sybeldon finally smashed it away, and she then teamed with Jones for a stuff for 15-10. The Dawgs made another big move from the net and the service line, as Sybeldon put down a kill, then Strickland crushed another ace, and on the next rally, Jones and Wade stuffed down another swing for a 20-13 lead and UCLA took its last timeout. Scambray put two kills down from each side of the net to keep the Dawgs moving forward, and a kill from DeHoog that nestled just down in the far corner got UW set point at 24-16. The set ended in the same way as the first, though with less suspense, as Julye tooled the block to cap it, 25-16. DeHoog had five big kills in the set, on six swings without an error for a .833 percentage, as UW hit .286 and held UCLA to just .083.
Strickland picked up her fourth ace on the second point of the third set, getting help off the tape for a quick 2-0 lead. The Husky block picked up another, and Julye took a little off for a kill to the sidelines, and then Wade and DeHoog teamed up with another rejection for 6-3. But the UCLA defense stiffened and the Bruins surged with four in a row to go up 6-7 until Julye finished to tie it back up. The Dawgs retook the lead as Scambray hung in the air to get a block on the right side for 10-9, and then Condie floated an ace over and down. The block then forced UCLA's Lawless to try and go around, and she was wide as UW was back up 12-9. Wade poked down a ball that was drifting over the net after Jones hit off the block to make it 14-10. A 4-1 Husky run on kills from Wade and DeHoog, a line drive ace from Wade, and one more DeHoog put-away from a Beals set made it 19-13 Dawgs and prompted the final Bruins timeout. Out of the break, UCLA got a sideout, but UW came right back with a Sybeldon kill and Jones got one down in transition for 21-14. Sybeldon and Julye then collected a stuff and one more Sybeldon hammer on a quick set from Tanner got the Dawgs to match point at 24-15. The match ended appropriately on one final rejection, as Sybeldon and Scambray sent back the last UCLA swing to end it, 25-15. The Huskies hit .273 and held UCLA to a .000 percentage with six blocks in the final set. Sybeldon had three kills on four swings with four of the block assists.
Washington now heads into a battle of the unbeatens, as the Huskies travel across town to the Galen Center to face No. 2 USC on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.
