University of Washington
Oregon State
Sybeldon Earns Block No. 500 In Sweep Of Beavers
November 19, 2015 | Volleyball
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The second-ranked Husky volleyball team got its final regular season road trip started in impressive fashion tonight, as a well-balanced Husky attack got in and out of Gill Coliseum with a 25-19, 25-10, 25-21 win over Oregon State. Washington (25-2, 15-2 Pac-12) earned its eighth-straight win, hit .396 for the night, and had five players with six or more kills.
Senior middle blocker Lianna Sybeldon, who leads the nation in attack percentage, reached a defensive milestone in the second set tonight, as she posted the 500th block of her career, becoming just the third Husky to hit that milestone along with current Husky Associate Head Coach Leslie Gabriel (613 career blocks) and school record-holder Makare Desilets (677). Sybeldon had seven blocks tonight to get to 501 for her career, while adding six kills on a .455 percentage.
Sophomore Tia Scambray's 10 kills led the Dawgs and she hit .474 with an ace and two blocks. Sophomore Crissy Jones had nine kills, hitting .421, with four blocks, and sophomore Courtney Schwan also had nine kills and nine digs. Freshman Destiny Julye had a great night with eight kills on 12 swings without an error for a .667 percentage.
Watch the top plays from the sweep at OSU in 3 minutes.
Sophomore Jade Finau saw an increased role tonight and she served her first two aces of the season and had a season-high 13 assists. Senior Katy Beals had 20 assists and senior Cassie Strickland led the way defensively with 13 digs.
Oregon State (5-22, 3-14 Pac-12) was held to a .190 attack percentage, as UW had an edge in kills (45-36), aces (6-1), and blocks (9.5-3.0). Mary-Kate Marshall led the Beavers with 15 kills, hitting .448, but UW sided out at 76-percent and defeated OSU for the 25th straight time.
“Mary-Kate Marshall was outstanding, I thought we did a good job on offense to weather that,” said Head Coach Keegan Cook. “I thought Tia was outstanding and really raised her level of play tonight and Lianna was great defensively as well, especially in the second set she was making great moves. We know Jade is capable, she showed it last year and every day in practice, and as the match went on and she got more comfortable, she began exploring her options more and she really got going.”
The Huskies came out with the first three points of the match in a variety of ways, as Tia Scambray killed the first swing from the right, then Wade and Julye had a block for point two, and Scambray got a service ace off the top of the net for a 3-0 lead. Schwan picked up her first kill and then Sybeldon was at the center of a triple block to make it 6-3. The Huskies went on a 4-0 run with Sybeldon earning a solo stuff, then Scambray tooling off the block, and a tough Schwan serve led to an OSU error for a 10-5 lead and a Beavers timeout. Schwan's serving kept the run going, as OSU had an overpass that Crissy Jones tapped down, then Schwan sent an ace off the defense, and yet another overpass was put away by Sybeldon for 13-5 before the Beavers snapped the 7-0 run. Scambray landed a kill to the back line from the right, and an OSU error made it 17-9 Huskies. A roll shot kill from Schwan made it 19-11 and forced the second timeout from the Beavers. Jade Finau subbed in in the latter stages of the set, and had assists to Sybeldon and Scambray as the Huskies kept pushing forward. Jones had a heavy swing from the right set by Finau for 23-16. The Beavers saved a couple set points, but Wade got the last one down to end it, 25-19. Washington outhit Oregon State, .270 to .200 in the frame, with five kills from Scambray leading the way.
A tremendous defensive effort on a long rally early in the second set included a one-handed dig from Schwan then a pancaked second touch from Wade was eventually won by Schwan tooling the block for 3-1. Washington's block stepped its game up as the Huskies made a move, as Sybeldon was in on consecutive blocks, and then Tanner had transition assists to Sybeldon and Jones, followed by one more stuff from Sybeldon and Jones for 10-3 Dawgs and the Beavers needed the timeout. Out of the break, Tanner again kept it rolling with an ace for 11-3, before the Beavers snapped what finished as a 7-0 run. Finau subbed in again and found Jones for a right side kill and a 12-5 lead. Sybeldon and Jones teamed for yet another stuff block, and Jones went deep to the crosscourt corner from the right for a 15-7 advantage. Julye heated up with four kills in a six-point span before checking out, and then Finau notched an ace for a 20-10 lead. After an OSU timeout, Finau had another ace, and OSU went into the net to get UW to set point at 24-10. Senior Justice Magraw dove for a dig on the next point, and Finau set Schwan for a finish to seal the set, 25-10. The Dawgs missed just one attempt to hit .423 in the set, with four blocks helping hold OSU to just .029. Sybeldon had four block assists and Jones had three, while Julye hit .800 with four kills.
Check out this fantastic rally with a pancake second touch from Mel that got the Dawgs up in Set Two!! https://t.co/3maoo4V9ZP
— UW Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 19, 2015
Julye picked up where she left off in the second set with the first kill of the third set, and then Schwan pummeled one up the line for a quick 2-0 lead. The teams swapped points and were even at 5-5 until consecutive finishes from Scambray got the Dawgs a small advantage. Strickland bombed her first ace of the match for a 9-6 edge. Scambray and Scwhan showed their savvy on consecutive points, as Scambray worked a tight set high off the block for one kill, and then Schwan placed an offspeed shot deep up the line for a 12-9 lead. The Beavers hung tough, closing within one, but Sybeldon put down a joust above the net for 15-13 Dawgs at the media timeout. A block from Wade and Scambray greeted the Beavers out of the timeout, and then Jones and Julye cracked consecutive right side kills to push the lead to 18-15 and the Beavers took timeout. OSU pulled within one but a big Wade swing ended a rally for 20-18 Huskies. The Beavers answered, but Sybeldon and Jones each had first ball kills to make it 22-20 and Oregon State took its final timeout. Finau had a dig and Sybeldon turned to bump set to Scambray for a kill through the block to make it 23-20. Scambray turned back an OSU swing to get the Dawgs to match point at 24-20, and on a second chance, Finau fed Sybeldon for a finish with authority, ending things, 25-21. Washington hit a sizzling .515 in the final set with 18 swings and just 1 error on 33 attempts, while OSU had its best mark of .333. Scambray had five kills on eight swings in the set.
Washington moves on to Eugene to face a Ducks squad fighting hard for a tournament bid. The Huskies and Ducks will serve it up at 4:00 p.m. on Friday.
