University of Washington
Washington State
Washington Claims A Share Of Pac-12 Title
November 29, 2015 | Volleyball
SEATTLE –Washington volleyball followed the blueprint tonight that has brought it success all season, and it paid off for the Dawgs with the program's fourth Pac-12 conference championship, and the second in the past three seasons. The second-ranked Huskies (28-2, 18-2 Pac-12) swept rival Washington State (16-16, 5-15 Pac-12) in front of a season-high 5,213 fans at Alaska Airlines Arena to share the 2015 Pac-12 title with USC.
The winning formula for the Dawgs was a balanced offensive attack and tenacious defense, tough serving and great passing. It resulted in a 25-14, 25-15, 25-17 victory for the Huskies, and it's a blueprint that UW now hopes will take it far in the NCAA tournament which will begin next week. The win tonight gives UW the automatic bid from the Pac-12, and the Huskies will learn their draw tomorrow night as the NCAA Selection Show airs on ESPNU at 6 p.m. Pacific time.
This is Washington's fourth Pac-12 title in program history, all coming over the past 12 years. Washington won in 2004 and 2005, and last in 2013. This is the first time UW has shared the Pac-12 title. USC held the lead for the past several weeks, but was upset on Wednesday by UCLA, and the Huskies took care of business to finish tied at the top. Washington and USC split the season series, 1-1.
The six Husky seniors with their families before tonight's win.
It all made for quite a memorable Senior Night for the six Husky seniors that were honored before tonight's match, as the group picked up its second conference title. Katy Beals, Kim Condie, Justice Magraw, Cassie Strickland, Lianna Sybeldon, and Melanie Wade have now led the Huskies to a record of 114-15 since the 2012 season, needing two more wins to match the 2004-07 class for most wins in program history.
The seniors helped Head Coach Keegan Cook claim a Pac-12 title in his first season as a head coach. Cook couldn't have been more happy with how the team performed under the weight of expectations.
“It was a sum of what our season has been,” said Cook. “Just an entire team of people contributing and making a difference for us, and that's who we are and who we're going to try and be through the end of the year. Exactly how you'd want it.”
On his senior class that helped with his transition from assistant to head coaching duties, Cook was effusive. “(The seniors) deserve it and much, much more. Those six players made a huge impact on this program. They've gone 18-2 (in Pac-12 play) three years in a row, been to a Final Four, they're as special a group as there has been at Washington for sure.”
While all the seniors contributed to tonight's win, sophomores Courtney Schwan and Tia Scambray helped send the seniors to the tourney in style with big matches. Schwan had 11 kills to lead all players and hit .526 with eight digs, while Scambray had 10 kills on a .333 percentage with a couple blocks.
Strickland had one of her best serving nights, as she cracked two aces to move up another spot on the Husky career aces list to No. 2 all time. She passed Genne Terry (146 aces; 1982-86) with aces No. 146 and 147, and is now nine away from Sanja Tomasevic's school record of 156.
Beals had a double-double with 17 assists and 11 digs, and sophomore Bailey Tanner also was in double double figures with 23 assists and 10 digs, and also had seven kills, as the pair helped the Huskies hit an efficient .351 tonight compared to .157 for the Cougars.
Senior middles Lianna Sybeldon and Melanie Wade had big nights, as Wade hit .500 with seven kills and two service aces, and Sybeldon had six kills plus five blocks. Sophomore Crissy Jones had nine kills and hit .444, while Condie and Magraw both played meaningful stretches, Condie coming away with five digs and Magraw with one as she served UW on a run to end the second set.
Cook was able to get all the seniors into the starting lineup for the start of the match. The first kill came from one of the six seniors, as Wade hit a slide set from Beals. The teams traded the first several sideouts, even at 4-4. Schwan connected with a Tanner set from the right and then Sybeldon scored her first kill for a 6-5 lead. Scambray and Jones got their first kills in transition as Schwan's tough serving put WSU out of system. Jones dropped a tip over and down to make it a 5-point Husky run at 9-5 and the Cougars took timeout. Strickland sent her first serve of the match straight to the floor for an ace, tying her for second all-time at UW and putting the Dawgs up 11-6. Wade finished a quick set from Tanner to push it to 13-7, but the Cougars put a three-point run together to cut the lead in half before missing serve, and Wade followed that with a huge blast off a Cougar to get back to 15-10. After Schwan won a joust at the net to get to 17-11, the Cougars took their second timeout. Sybeldon and Schwan hung up in the air to block a WSU tip attempt out of the break. Tanner floated a service ace, and then Sybeldon and Jones scored another stuff as the Dawgs broke things open up 21-12. Sybeldon annihilated a set from Tanner, and Scambray put away a Strickland bump set from the left for 23-13. On set point, Scambray lit up a set from Wade to end things, 25-14. The Dawgs hit an outstanding .485 in the set, with WSU at .242. Scambray was on fire with five kills on six swings without an error for a .833 mark.
Washington kept up the pace early in the second set, with Scambray ending a marathon rally with a kill. Tanner then hit down an overpass and Scambray's seventh early kill made it 3-0 Dawgs. Wade had a kill and Tanner got one on a WSU net violation, then Wade served an ace off the tape for a 6-2 lead. Schwan hit down an overpass, and then Jones tooled the block to make it 8-3 and force the Cougars into a timeout. WSU responded with a three-point run to get back to 8-6, but Sybeldon silenced that run with a kill in serve-receive. WashingtonState scored three more in a row to tie things up at 9-9 and the Huskies took their first timeout of the night. The Cougars served long, and Wade tipped for a kill as the teams traded points. A block from Wade and Tanner made it 13-11 Huskies. Tanner got hot offensively, getting three kills in a six-point span, using the block effectively, and a WSU swing into the net had the Huskies up 17-12 as WSU called its last timeout. Serious Sybeldon hangtime resulted in a blast to the court for 19-14, and then Jones smacked down an overpass off a tough Tanner serve for 20-14. Schwan hammered one down after a big Tanner dig, and then the Husky block helped close it out as Washington roofed the final three WSU swings of the set with Justice Magraw starting things from the service line. Sybeldon got in on all three, with Scambray assisting on two blocks and Jones on the third, as the Huskies closed out the set, 25-15, finishing on a 14-4 run. The Huskies hit .361 in the set and limited WSU to .081 thanks in large part to the four blocks in the set. Tanner matched Scambray's line from the first set, with five kills on six swings without an error.
Out of the intermission, Scambray put away the first Husky swing for the first point. The Cougars took an early two-point lead, but Tanner answered from the right pin, and Schwan finished through the block to tie it quickly back up at 4-4. Washington got rolling on Schwan's serve once again, as Scambray and Jones had transition kills from the left and right pins, and then Schwan dialed up an ace for a 9-5 lead and the Cougars called timeout as UW was on a 7-1 run. The Dawgs kept streaking, with short Schwan serves disrupting WSU, as the Cougars sent one wide and Sybeldon finished a Tanner set. It was 12-5 before the Cougars got a kill to snap the six-point streak, but Jones answered right back in serve-receive for 13-6. Out of the break, Strickland bombed an ace up the sideline to take sole possession of second on the UW career list. Her big serve earned another free ball for UW and Wade converted, as the Huskies opened up a 10-point cushion at 18-8. The Cougars worked their way back into things with a six-point run before missing serve for 19-14. Schwan got a roll shot kill, and then Wade went back and dropped an ace in to make it 21-15. Condie subbed in and earned herself several diving digs as Schwan finished another for 22-16. Washington reached match point on another Schwan put-away, and on UW's second chance, Sybeldon had a big swing dub back up and over her way, and she batted it back deep and it fell for a kill and the Huskies closed it out, 25-17. Condie had five digs in the set, and Schwan and Jones each had four kills apiece.
The win also marked a 30th consecutive Pac-12 home victory for the Huskies, extending that record. UW has gone 10-0 in conference play at home in each of the past three seasons. It is now 13th straight wins for the Huskies over Washington State.
