University of Washington
Arizona
No. 3 Dawgs Put Heat On No. 19 Wildcats In Sweep
November 08, 2015 | Volleyball
TUCSON, Ariz. – The third-ranked Husky volleyball team completed the desert sweep for the fifth year in a row, putting in a textbook effort on the road today to defeat 19th-ranked Arizona in straight sets at the McKale Center. Sophomore Crissy Jones led the Dawgs in kills for the first time this season with 10 on a .450 attack percentage, and senior Cassie Strickland had 20 digs and banged three aces to help lead the 25-16, 25-17, 25-20 victory.
Entering today, the Huskies had already had seven different players lead the team in kills in a match this year, the most in the Pac-12. Jones makes an eighth, as she tied her season-high and also had four blocks for a team-high 12.0 points. Washington (22-2, 12-2 Pac-12) completed the season sweep of Arizona (16-10, 6-8 Pac-12) and earned a ninth-straight win in the head-to-head series.
The Huskies hit .307 and held Arizona to .152 today, after the Wildcats had hit .261 in the previous meeting in Seattle, a high for any UW opponent this year. Washington's tough serving, strong block and back row defenders combined to make life tough on the home team today. Senior middle Melanie Wade had seven block assists, adding five kills on a .455 percentage. Along with Strickland's 20 digs, sophomore Courtney Schwan had 13 digs and missed a double-double by one kill, as she had nine on 26 swings with just one error for a .308 percentage.
Watch highlights of UW's sweep in 3 minutes
Strickland's three aces moved her up into a tie for third on the UW career aces list with 142, matching Christal Morrison (2004-07) and Dragana Djordjevic (1991-95). UW's passers held Arizona without an ace, and the Huskies had edges in kills (45-38), blocks (8.5-4.0) and digs (55-52). Sophomore Tia Scambray also added seven kills, six digs and two blocks, and sophomore Bailey Tanner was great all around with 24 assists, five digs, two blocks, and four kills on a .500 attack percentage.
“I'm pleased with the way we served and passed the ball all weekend. I think that was a big part of our success. Siding out over 70-percent again in this match just puts a lot of pressure on teams. I think there's still a little bit more in this team defensively. We're not quite blocking the way we want to, just a few plays here and there that we could make, so we've got to push ourselves to get better.”
There is no worthy adversary for a Cassie Strickland serve. The @UWVolleyball star earns the #12Best Moment! https://t.co/rOzHGNIGJ1
— Pac-12 Networks (@Pac12Networks) November 8, 2015
After a back and forth rally, Jones hit a sharp angle from the left for a kill and the first point of the day. A couple misses by the Cats made it 3-0 and then a touch Schwan serve was passed too tight and Arizona's setter was called for a back row attack. Scambray's first kill from a Strickland bump set made it 5-0 Huskies and Arizona needed the early timeout. Arizona scored its first point in serve-receive out of the break, but Lianna Sybeldon hammered her first kill to answer. Wade hit off the block for her first kill and then Sybeldon tapped down a hanger above the net for a 10-4 lead. Sybeldon and Tanner had a stuff block, and then Schwan ended a long rally with a soft touch over the block to build a 12-5 advantage. Strickland pummeled a jump serve ace for 15-7 and the Wildcats called their final timeout. Strickland missed long on her next serve, but Crissy Jones tooled the block and then UA missed wide up the sideline for 17-8. Tanner had a sharp angled kill on the left pin for 18-9 and then moved over to the right and finished another rally with her second kill for a ten point lead. A third Tanner finish had the Dawgs up 20-10. Jones put one down on the right in serve-receive from Tanner to get to set point at 24-15. Wade finished on UW's second chance to claim the set, 25-16. The Huskies hit just .238 in the set, but held Arizona to .150. Strickland had nine of the team's 21 digs in set one.
Consecutive blocks from Wade and Jones got the Huskies off on a run to start the second set. Strickland's serve put the Cats in trouble, and UW converted in transition as Jones tipped one over the block, and then Scambray hit off the blockers hands and out for a 6-1 lead, prompting the UA timeout. This time Strickland came out of the break and smacked an ace off the defense. She had another tough serve that led to a Jones transition kill before finally missing to snap the 8-0 Husky run. Wade and Scambray each converted in serve-receive to get the Dawgs a 10-3 edge. Sybeldon used a lefty touch to put one down in the middle for 12-5. A Wade serve was overpassed and Schwan tapped it down for 14-5. Destiny Julye got her first kill down inside the blockers to make it 17-9 Huskies. Wade shut down another rally with a block straight down for 18-10. Tanner, playing front row, still got an assist with a bump set to Julye who hammered it down. Another huge block down from Wade and Tanner kept the Dawgs pushing towards the finish, up 21-14. Seniors Kim Condie and Justice Magraw each subbed in for the first time during the latter stages to serve. Schwan padded her kills total with three down the stretch, including a roll on set point to seal it, 25-17. The Dawgs hit .444 in the second set, with Schwan getting five kills on 10 swings without a miss to go with six digs, and Jones adding four kills.
The Husky block got rolling in set two, listen to the smack of this rejection by Bailey! https://t.co/CexnCN6iPO
— UW Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 8, 2015
The teams were even through the first six points of the third set, with Scambray and Schwan putting down early kills. Wade finished off the blockers hands, and Tanner tooled the block on the right as the teams continued trading sideouts. The first two-point lead for either side came for the Huskies at 9-7 after Arizona hit one long, and then Schwan converted in transition after a soft touch by the block. Scambray tooled the block on the left as the Huskies expanded their lead to 12-8. A 3-0 run by Arizona cut the Husky lead to one, but UW answered right back with a 3-0 run of its own to get to the media timeout at 15-11. During the run, Jones and Scambray each killed Tanner sets, and then Strickland hit another jump serve ace straight to the court, her third of the day, and the 142nd ace of her career, tying her for third all-time at Washington. Arizona scored in serve-receive in the next rally, but the Huskies forced an error, and then Scambray got up to block another UA attempt to push the lead to 17-12, and Arizona took timeout. Arizona scored a pair out of the break before serving long for 18-14. Condie checked in and had a perfect pass that let Beals set Julye for a kill through the block. Arizona crept within two, but Schwan laid out for a pancake dig, and Julye was able to go high hands for a big kill for 20-17. Another right side swing from Jones couldn't be controlled by the Cats, and then Jones and Wade threw up another roof for 23-19 Dawgs, with Arizona calling timeout. Washington ended the match with continued defensive pressure that forced the Wildcats into a pair of errors after out of system rallies, as the Huskies finished off the sweep, 25-20. The Huskies outhit the Wildcats, .250 to .095 in the final frame with six more digs from Strickland and five from Schwan, and three kills apiece from Schwan, Jones, and Scambray.
Washington heads back home for a huge match-up this coming Thursday against seventh-ranked Stanford, which remains one game behind the Huskies in the Pac-12 race.
