University of Washington
Stanford
Middles Drive No. 3 Huskies Past No. 6 Stanford
November 13, 2015 | Volleyball
SEATTLE – Senior middle blockers Melanie Wade and Lianna Sybeldon were the centers of attention for the third-ranked Husky volleyball team tonight, combining for 28 kills and just four errors between them to lead the Dawgs to a four-set victory over No. 6 Stanford. Wade and Sybeldon had plenty of help, as five players had at least eight kills and the Huskies hit .329 as a team to beat a fifth-straight ranked opponent.
The 23-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-15 victory was Washington's fourth win over a top-10 team at Alaska Airlines Arena this season. The Huskies (23-2, 13-2 Pac-12) avenged an earlier five-set loss at Stanford (17-6, 11-4 Pac-12) with the win tonight, and stayed in sole possession of second-place in the Pac-12 race, trailing USC by one in the loss column. This was the second time UW got payback for an earlier road defeat, as the Huskies upset then-No. 1 USC two weeks ago.
No. 3 @UWVolleyball knocks off No. 6 Stanford in four sets to improve to 23-2 on the season. #PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/bZxbbMHf9A
— Washington Huskies (@UWAthletics) November 13, 2015
In order to snap Stanford's six-match win streak, the Huskies had to win the serve-and-pass battle, and they were able to get that done. Washington had six aces to just one for the Cardinal, and the spot-on passing from libero Cassie Strickland, and outside hitters Courtney Schwan and Tia Scambray let UW's setters, Katy Beals and Bailey Tanner, keep the middles heavily involved.
Wade ended up tying her career-high with 11 kills, hitting .600 on the night, and adding eight block assists and an ace, as she scored a career-high 16.5 total points. Sybeldon led all players with 17 kills, as the nation's leading hitter upped her percentage even more, finishing the night with a .517 mark.
Wade, the Palo Alto, Calif. native who always enjoys a win over her hometown Cardinal, also gave credit to the passing. "Our passers did a really good job, and that put the setters in a really good situation so they could set whoever they wanted," Wade said. "I ended up being in a lot of one-on-one situations because we were passing so well."
Scambray had a great all-around match, posting a double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs, hitting .333 on the night and adding five blocks and an ace. Both setters had double-doubles, as Beals had 27 assists and 10 digs plus two aces, while Tanner tied her career-high with 30 assists and 10 digs, plus a career-high four blocks, with five kills and an ace. Beals went over the 2,500 career assists mark in the match, now with 2,524, seventh all-time at Washington.
Strickland had a match-high 20 digs and tossed in an ace, as she took sole possession of third in school history with 143 career aces. Sophomore opposite Crissy Jones also was very effective with eight kills and just one error on 17 swings for a .412 percentage. Schwan chipped in eight kills as well plus 11 digs.
The Huskies outdug the Cardinal, 71 to 63, and held Stanford to just .193 on offense after the Cardinal had hit over .360 in its past two matches. UW had a big blocking edge with 13.0 stuffs to just 5.0 for the Cardinal, who got 14 kills from Jordan Burgess and 13 from Merete Lutz, but played without leading outside hitter Haley Hodson.
Hodson's absence and a reconfigured Stanford lineup gave UW some fits in the first set, but the Huskies were able to adjust and wear down Stanford from there, despite many three-point runs back and forth all night.
“There were certainly adjustments to make,” said Head Coach Keegan Cook. “I thought Stanford did a great job with who they had on the floor, and played as if they were ready to go, and we were kind of unsure as we started out. As we settled in, in the second, third and fourth sets, it just got better and better, which is something that we love to see.”
Washington ran its program record Pac-12 home winning streak to 28 straight, and will look to add another on Sunday afternoon with California comes in for a 2:30 p.m. start.
(Here's a few of those aforementioned posters in the stands tonight. #ILoveHuskyVolleyball 🖍💜💛) pic.twitter.com/7ecmagOVv9
— UW Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 13, 2015
