University of Washington
UCLA
Dawgs Stop No. 8 UCLA For Top-10 Twofer
November 01, 2015 | Volleyball
SEATTLE – There was not much time for the fifth-ranked Husky volleyball team to pat itself on the back after upsetting No. 1 USC on Friday night, as No. 8 UCLA brought an eight-match win streak of its own into Alaska Airlines Arena less than 48 hours later. But the Huskies showed their all-around abilities and resilience once again, turning back the Bruins in four sets, 25-20, 24-26, 25-15, 25-20 in front of 2,720 fans.
Washington (20-2, 10-2 Pac-12) gave UCLA (18-4, 9-3 Pac-12) its first defeat since the Huskies beat the Bruins down in Los Angeles on Oct. 2. The Huskies also broke a tie for second-place in the Pac-12 with UCLA, and beat the Bruins for the sixth-straight time overall, and the 13th straight time in Seattle. Another streak continued, as UW pushed its Pac-12 home winning streak to 27 in a row.
The match was hard-fought from beginning to end, with lengthy rallies and plenty of exceptional digs and on-time blockers. The Huskies hit .278 and held UCLA to .156, and matched the Bruins dig for dig, as both teams finished with 73 in just four sets. Senior Pac-12 Libero of the Year Cassie Strickland had a season-high 23 digs, and four more Huskies had double figure dig totals. Senior middle blocker Lianna Sybeldon paced the offense with 14 kills, hitting .480.
Watch the best plays of the victory in 3 minutes
After a solid first set victory, the Huskies had a set point chance at 24-23 in the second set, but UCLA won the final three points to suddenly level the match at a set apiece. Washington came out in set three with the first five points and regained the momentum, and then closed things out in another well-played fourth set.
Head Coach Keegan Cook was pleased with how the Dawgs answered after letting the second set slip away. “I just told them that I was most proud of their response. The way that they worked the last two sets, it wasn't pretty, it was a lot of hard work, and it's worth a lot,” said Cook. “There were a lot of good volleyball plays out there, and I think that's why both these teams are where they're at in the season.”
Washington had a big edge in kills, 63 to 47, and had 11 blocks to 7 for UCLA. Both teams served five aces, with Tia Scambray scoring three of those for the Dawgs. Scambray had 10 kills and 13 digs plus two solo blocks, and sophomore Courtney Schwan had a double-double as well with 11 kills and 12 digs, her most kills since Sept. 24 at WashingtonState. Both Husky setters also had double-doubles, as Katy Beals had 26 assists and 11 digs, and Bailey Tanner had 28 assists and 11 digs plus four kills and two blocks.
Sophomore Crissy Jones had nine kills without an error on 24 swings for a .375 attack percentage and she also posted five blocks. Freshman Destiny Julye had nine kills and senior Melanie Wade hit .357 with six kills and four blocks.
Courtney Schwan landed the first kill of the day for the Dawgs off a Strickland bump set. Strickland smacked an ace straight to the floor and Scambray razored a kill at an acute angle for a 5-4 Husky lead. Destiny Julye stepped into the middle of the court to find a long bump set from Beals and she placed it perfectly for a kill and an 8-7 lead. A couple more lengthy rallies were capped by Julye kills as UW went up 10-7. Schwan hammered off the block and out long for a 12-9 edge. Scambray wiped one off the block for a point to get the Huskies to the media timeout up 15-12. Wade and Jones scored UW's first block of the day out of the timeout, and then Wade put one away in transition to get the Dawgs a five point cushion. The next point was passed tight to the net, and Scambray blocked UCLA's setter's dump attempt to make it 18-12 and the Bruins took time as the Dawgs were on a 4-0 run on Strickland's serve. The Dawgs got one more on Strickland's arm before she just caught the net, making it 19-13. A couple UCLA errors kept the Huskies moving ahead, 21-14. UCLA got back into things with a 3-0 run, but then served wide for 22-17. UCLA scored a couple more late to make it 23-19, and the Huskies called a timeout to refocus. The teams swapped service errors as UW reached set point. Schwan found her way through the trees with her fourth kill of the first set to end it, 25-20. The Huskies hit .257 in the first set and held UCLA to just .057.
Strong defense by both teams continued to be the story early in the second set. Schwan dropped in an ace and Sybeldon pounded down her first two kills as the teams were tied 5-5 after the first 10 points. Beals hopped over to set an off-target pass and Schwan banged it down for 8-8. A phenomenal dig by Tanner let Strickland bump set Scambray for a kill as UW moved back up one, 10-9. UCLA won a long rally to take the first two-point lead for the Bruins, but Julye killed one from the left, and then Julye and Wade had a stuff to tie it back up at 14-all. A Husky service error brought up the media timeout with UW trailing, 14-15. The Bruins took the first two points out of the break to open up a three-point lead, with Schwan getting a crucial kill of a Beals set to stop the bleeding. Sybeldon and Tanner then stuffed a big Bruins swing for 16-17. But UCLA countered back with two points and UW called timeout down 16-19. Schwan delivered out of the break again from the left pin for 17-19, and then Sybeldon finished in transition to get back within one.
Jones and Sybeldon put down a huge block to put UW back up 21-20 but UCLA answered to tie it. Sybeldon lit up the next set for 22-21 Dawgs. The Bruins got the sideout, and then served up an ace to swing the lead back. Wade had two swings on the next rally, and put the second one away off two blockers for 23-23. Schwan covered a tip attempt, and then Scambray got the kill on a touch in transition to get the Huskies to set point, 24-23, and UCLA took its last timeout. On the next point, the crowd and Husky coaches thought the Bruins got away with a double hit on the set, but it went uncalled, and UW got the point to tie it up. A long scramble with the ball flying back and forth across the net followed, but UCLA's setter hit down an overdig to get the Bruins to set point, 24-25. The Huskies went to Julye on the next point but she hit long from the left pin to give UCLA the set, 24-26. UCLA won despite the Huskies outhitting the Bruins, .229 to .208, and despite Sybeldon going off for seven kills on nine swings without an error in the set.
Some excellent serving from Scambray got the Dawgs off to a quick start in the third set, as Schwan had a transition kill, and Scambray floated a pair of aces to help UW take the first four points. It became 5-0 as Tanner put her first kill of the day off the block on the right side before UCLA earned a point. But the Bruins donated serve, and then Schwan got another kill on the left from Beals for 7-1 and the Bruins took the early timeout. Another four-point Husky burst with a Sybeldon kill from Tanner and a Jones kill on a touch pushed it to 11-3. Jones had another crosscourt kill and then she closed down the line with Sybeldon for a roof and the Huskies had a 10-point lead at 13-3. A solo rejection on the left pin by Scambray made it 15-5. The Bruins had their first 3-0 run to make it 15-8, but Julye put the next one away up the left sideline. Julye added another in transition for 17-8 and UCLA took its last timeout. The freshman added a third straight out of the timeout for 18-8 after a great Strickland dig. Schwan smacked one past the blockers cross court for 21-11. The Bruins made a run with four in a row, but a block from Sybeldon and Jones and a Scambray point off the blockers brought UW to set point at 24-15. An error by the Bruins ended it, 25-15, as the Huskies went up two sets to one. It was all about defense in the set, as UW had 22 digs, six apiece from Strickland and Scambray, to limit UCLA to .070 in the third, while UW hit .189, Julye killing all three of her attempts.
This big stuff block from Lianna and Crissy helped the Dawgs close out the third set!! One to go! https://t.co/ITm7zAPoih
— UW Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 1, 2015
Heading into set four, Scambray collected the first kill on a combo, and Wade and Tanner each landed points for the early 3-1 lead. Scambray laid out for a couple digs on a long rally that was capped off by a right side Jones blast, and then Sybeldon put away her 10th kill in transition on the next point to make it 6-2 and the Bruins took an early timeout. Another great dig by Scambray earned Sybeldon another chance that she put down for 7-2. Scambray put away a Strickland bump set following a diving dig by Tanner, and a Sybeldon strike had the Huskies up 9-3. The Bruins earned three straight points to cut into the lead, but Tanner set Wade in serve-receive for a big kill for 11-7 Dawgs. Wade sparked another 3-0 run for the Dawgs to make it 15-9 and force UCLA's last timeout. She started with a kill in serve-receive, and then had a solo block followed by a stuff assisted by Tanner to cap the run. But the Bruins answered out of the timeout with a 3-0 run of their own for 15-12, before Schwan cracked one off the defense to snap that streak. UCLA tried to serve short to Sybeldon, but she handled it and Beals set her for the quick blast and an 18-13 lead. A big rejection from Sybeldon got the Huskies to twenty first at 20-14. UCLA put the pressure back on with another 3-0 run to cut the lead in half, making it 21-18, but Tanner found Jones in serve-receive on the right for a kill. Tanner tipped one over and down to make it 23-19, and then Scambray served up a timely ace for match point at 24-19. Scambray missed her next serve, but UCLA floated its own service long to end the slugfest, 25-20 in UW's favor. Washington had its best offensive display in the final set, hitting .447, while UCLA was at .294. Sybeldon ran up another six kills on seven swings without an error, and Scambray added four kills and four digs.
The Huskies will get back on the road next week, heading to play two more top-25 squads in Arizona State next Friday and Arizona on
