University of Washington
USC
No. 5 Dawgs Fall In Classic At No. 2 USC
October 04, 2015 | Volleyball
LOS ANGELES – In the most anticipated Pac-12 match through the first half of the 2015 season, the fifth-ranked Huskies and second-ranked Trojans delivered a tremendous battle that saw both teams giving a supreme effort to remain undefeated. Ultimately, the Trojans pulled it out on their home floor, as UW couldn't quite cash in on four set point chances in an epic fourth set, USC prevailing 25-16, 22-25, 25-21, 33-31.
Washington (13-1, 3-1 Pac-12) gave USC all it could handle even without sophomore kills leader Courtney Schwan, who injured her foot Friday at UCLA. But freshman Destiny Julye gave the Dawgs a huge boost, leading the team with 15 kills, when her previous season-best was just six.
The Huskies were trying to sweep the Los Angeles swing for the third-straight year, but the Trojans (16-0, 4-0) held on to snap a five-match Washington win streak in the head-to-head.
The defining fourth set had 27 tie scores and 15 lead changes, and from 9-9, neither team had more than a two-point lead the rest of the way. The Huskies had the first set point chance at 24-23, then USC had three tries that UW saved and the Dawgs then went back up one for set points at 28-27, and 29-28, missing one on a net touch by the block, and another by reaching over for a tight pass just a moment before the ball broke the plane.
The Trojans came back with two straight to earn a fourth match point, but UW responded with a pair of phenomenal blocks from Lianna Sybeldon to get a fourth set point chance at 31-30. Those blocks came with senior defensive specialist Kim Condie stuck in the front row as UW ran out of subs. USC saved that one, and got a fifth match point as Sybeldon's tip fell a millimeter wide. Crissy Jones' final swing then landed long to end the thriller.
The point of the year thus far? The Dawgs stayed alive with this scramble and STUFF for 30-30 http://t.co/GSqnt4rI7c
— UW Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) October 4, 2015
Head Coach Keegan Cook, despite suffering his first loss as a head coach, was happy with the way the Dawgs stayed aggressive and determined to the very end. “You want to put yourself in position to have chances, and then what are you going to do in those chances? I want them to swing and go for it, so I liked the way that the end of that match played out. The second thing was we had two set points there with Kim in the front row. We had some miscommunications where we weren't able to get a great swing. That's the biggest mistake that we can make, because communicating is something we aspire to be great at. So as we get better at it, we'll be able to communicate in really critical situations.”
Along with the 15 kills from Julye, Sybeldon provided 10 kills, Jones had nine, and senior Melanie Wade had seven kills without an error on 14 swings to go with five blocks. But UW never consistently rolled on offense as it has all season except the second set, which saw UW hit .293. Overall, the Huskies hit just .143, the previous season-low being .225. The Trojans, who came in second behind UW in attack percentage were held to .227, but senior Samantha Bricio proved USC with the lion's share of its offense and a number of kills to stem Husky momentum. Bricio had 27 kills and three aces to lead all players. UW was outblocked for the first time this year, 11.0 to 10.0, and the Torjans had 81 digs to 66 for the Huskies, who were led by the 15 digs of senior Cassie Strickland. Condie, along with her rare front row appearance in set four, had six digs, an ace, and was one of UW's most effective servers.
“Kimmer made a bunch of big plays, and Destiny was really impressive, she had quite a night. Carly was good,” Cook said of DeHoog, who had five kills on 12 swings without a miss, “but we've got to be better on offense and move the ball around a little better.”
The Trojans took four of the first five points of the match, until Sybeldon delivered UW's first kill in serve-receive to make it 2-4. Another Sybeldon blast to the sideline got the Dawgs within one at 4-5. A tough Strickland serve produced a USC error for 6-7 Trojans. Carly DeHoog put a kill sharply down crosscourt for 7-8, and a USC misfire got the Dawgs back even at 8-all, but USC came back with a pair to keep the lead. Wade had a kill, but another couple Trojan points made it 9-12 and the Huskies took their first timeout. The Huskies couldn't break out of the rotation until a USC service error after the deficit had reached seven. USC posted a couple blocks and the Huskies had to take timeout again down 10-18. Sybeldon got a soft kill into the middle out of the break, and Jones added one from the right for 12-19, but the Dawgs could not slow down the Trojans who reached set point at 15-24. The Trojans closed it out on their second chance on a UW error, 16-25. The Huskies hit only .108 in the set while USC was at .394, and USC had four blocks to none for the Dawgs, and two aces to none for UW.
Wade's serve was overpassed for a USC error on the first point, and another shank from Wade's floater got the Dawgs the early 2-0 lead. Tanner had some strong serves, with Sybeldon tipping for a kill and Destiny Julye putting one down from the left in transition for a 5-1 Husky lead. Julye followed with another from the right for 6-2. Washington let USC right back into it with a service error, a couple shanked passes, and an attack error to make it 7-7. It was a six-point run before USC served long, making it 8-9 Trojans. Wade connected on a slide for a sideout at 9-10. DeHoog buried her fourth kill on four swings thus far for 11-12 as the teams kept siding out. Julye got credit for a solo stuff on a joust at the net to tie things up at 12-12. A transition Scambray kill gave the Dawgs the lead back at 14-13, and she followed that up with a straight-up solo rejection to make it 15-13 Dawgs at the media timeout. Kim Condie had a key pass that let Tanner set Wade for a quick kill, and Condie then bump set Scambray for a kill off the block as UW pushed ahead 18-16. Beals then floated UW's first ace off the defense for another point and USC called timeout. Tanner tipped a tight set over and down for a kill for 20-17, but the Trojans answered with a pair of kills from Bricio and the Huskies took their first timeout at 20-19. The Huskies had to send a free ball over but a punched dig by Scambray led to a USC error. Julye tooled the block two points later to make it 22-20. Julye continued to make veteran plays from the left pin as UW dug some big USC swings and Julye banged two more in transition to get the Huskies to set point at 24-20. The Trojans killed one in serve-receive and got another in transition for 24-22 and the Huskies took timeout. Out of the break, Sybeldon had a big swing dug by USC, but Scambray returned the dig of a Bricio blast, and Tanner found Jones on the left who banged off the block and down to seal the set, 25-22. The Huskies hit .293 in set two, holding USC to a .186 mark. Julye had six kills on nine swings without an error to give UW a huge lift.
USC's first serve of the third set clipped the tape, but Strickland dove to save it and Julye killed a Trojans overpass for the first point. Both teams were repeatedly out of system and scrambling over the early points, but a four-point USC run made it 3-5 Trojans before Sybeldon answered with a strike from Tanner. Jones had a booming kill and then a booming stuff block to get UW back even and then a couple more big Strickland serves made it 8-6 Dawgs to cap a four-point run. The Trojans came right back with a five-point run of its own to take a two-point lead back the other way, as Jones barely missed long twice from the right and UW needed timeout down 8-11. Scambray had a kill high off the hands to break the run for 9-11. The teams traded points with Wade ending a long rally with a block, and Julye getting another kill off the blockers for 12-14. A Condie serve was overpassed and Sybeldon jumped up to spike it down to get UW back within one at 14-15. The teams went into another back and forth swapping of sideouts, with UW creeping within a point again and again. Wade put one down in serve-receive to make it 18-19, but USC got another kill and UW made an out of system error to drop back by three, 18-21, and took timeout. The Trojans added two more to the lead before Julye ended a frantic rally with a kill for 19-23, and she got another on the next point with a touch off the block for 20-23. Sybeldon had a diving dig after a block touch to spark a long rally that ended with Jones finding room in the far corner to make it 21-23, and USC took timeout as the Dawgs were on a 3-0 run. USC's setter beat UW with a dump on second contact out of the timeout to get to set point, and the Huskies were dug in serve-receive and Bricio terminated in transition to close out the set, 21-25. The Huskies only hit .075 in the third compared to .200 for USC. Julye had six more kills in the frame and Wade had three block assists.
Jones rolled a kill through the block for UW's first kill of the third set, and Sybeldon tipped for another to even up the third set at 4-4. Condie then skimmed an ace off the tape for a 5-4 Husky lead. Shaky passing from the Dawgs put them down three, 6-9, but a rejection from Tanner got the Huskies back within one, and then Tanner jumped on an overpass to bang it down to get UW back level at 9-9. The Dawgs moved back in front at 12-11 as Sybeldon found the perfect spot for a tip. The teams started trading points once again, but the Trojans got back up by one on a Bricio ace for the media timeout at 14-15 USC. The Huskies leveled it up on a Trojans misfire out of the break. Strickland's big serve earned UW a free ball and Jones converted on the right for 16-15. The Trojans answered again with two straight but Jones tied it with a tip for 17-17. DeHoog read the USC tip attempt and she stuffed it back down to swing UW back in front, 19-18, and the Trojans took timeout. Scambray's serve earned UW another free ball, and DeHoog killed that to make it a two-point lead. Again, USC had a response, earning the next two points to tie it, 20-20, and the Huskies called timeout. The Trojans earned another point to take the lead, but sailed their next swing for another tie score at 21-all. Julye tied it again at 22-22 after a wild rally with several scrambling saves by both sides. Julye got another to fall on the right side, with a fortunate bounce off the net for 23-23. Condie targeted Bricio with a tough float serve, and it was passed above the net with Sybeldon rising up to pound it down, and UW reached set point at 24-23, forcing a USC timeout. The Huskies had a free ball chance on set point, and Sybeldon had a swing in her sights, but USC blocked it and the Huskies couldn't control it, bumping it over and wide and UW took timeout at 24-24. The Pac-12 ace leader, Bricio, got the Dawgs for one to swing match point in their favor, but UW saved it on a Trojans attack error for 25-all. USC went back up match point again, but Jones delivered a right side blast in serve-receive. The Trojans had a third chance wiped away on a Wade slide kill, then USC hit into the net and the Huskies had set point again, 28-27. The Huskies seemingly had a dig, but a late whistle was blown for a UW blocking error. The Trojans served long to give the Dawgs a third chance, but another net error was called on UW for reaching over on a tight pass. USC gained a fourth match point, then a stunning point had Sybeldon chopping away and digging the ball up in a blur on her side, then USC got a swing but Sybeldon swung out to stuff Bricio and extend things again, knotting the set at 30-30. On the next point, Sybeldon blocked Bricio, USC kept it alive and Bricio took a second swing on the second contact, and Sybeldon stuffed that one back down to put the Dawgs back up, 31-30. But Bricio bounced back with a kill, and on UW's next serve-receive, Sybeldon tipped for the sideline and it fell just barely wide. Down 31-32, Jones had a good rhythm swing but put just a bit too much on it and it went long, and USC had crossed the finish line first, 31-33.
Things won't get much easier for the Huskies, as they return home to host 14th-ranked Arizona after just two days to rest, on Wendesday, Oct. 7. Then sixth-ranked Arizona State, which also remains undefeated, comes to town on Friday, Oct. 9, for a 7 p.m. match-up.
