University of Washington
Portland State
Huskies Finish Northwest Challenge With Sweep
August 30, 2015 | Volleyball
SPOKANE, Wash. – All thirteen Huskies on the roster saw meaningful playing time this afternoon as UW mixed and matched and swept Portland State to finish a 3-0 opening weekend at the Northwest Challenge. After a 3-0 win earlier in the day against Boise State, the 10th-ranked Huskies finished their stay at Gonzaga's Martin Centre with a 25-12, 25-19, 25-13 win over the Vikings.
The Dawgs remain perfect in the Northwest Challenge, which rotates sites between UW, Gonzaga, Boise State, and Portland State each year. The Huskies came out on top for the eighth-straight season.
The Huskies will now get set for a double-header home debut next Friday, Sept. 4, with Buffalo up first at 1 p.m. and Murray State at 7 p.m.
Washington had six different players record at least six kills, including freshman Destiny Julye, who made her first career start, and had six kills on 16 swings. Sophomore Courtney Schwan had 10 kills on 12 swings without an error in just two sets, and she was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. The .833 attack percentage for Schwan is the third-best by a Husky in the rally scoring era, with a minimum of 10 kills.
Sophomore Tia Scambray added nine kills, sophomore Crissy Jones had six, and middles Melanie Wade and Lianna Sybeldon also had six apiece, both hitting .500. Sybeldon was also named to the All-Tournament Team. Wade had eight big block assists, as UW outblocked Portland State, 10.0 to 4.0. Senior Katy Beals paced the offense with 21 assists and she matched her career-high with four aces, while Cassie Strickland had 13 digs and a pair of aces in just two sets.
Head Coach Keegan Cook said the variety of lineups had all been practiced so he was pleased to see the continued success. “We talked about keeping the standard high even when different pieces are moving around and people are getting different opportunities,” he said. “I was not only pleased that we got to do that but also that the players who went in performed at a high level.”
On Julye's first time on the court, Cook liked what he saw offensively. “She had some nice swings, particularly on the left. As she gets better at learning how to block and make those movements, she's just going to keep having a bigger impact.”
In set one, the Dawgs got going with a Scambray kill and an ace from Beals. On her second career swing, freshman Julye picked up her first kill for 3-1. Sybeldon registered three early kills to keep the Huskies siding out, and a Husky block with Wade at the center made it 8-6 Dawgs. A tough serve from Strickland was overpassed and Carly DeHoog knocked it down for 9-6 and a PSU timeout. Strickland continued with her best serving run of the opening weekend, earning another overpass and then hitting an ace to the floor for a 12-6 lead. Beals served her second ace for a 15-8 advantage. Senior Justice Magraw subbed in for the first time this season to serve and remained in the back row. Julye banged another kill off the block on the right side to make it 18-10. Schwan ended one point with a stuff and another with a roll shot kill, and Magraw picked up a couple digs as the Huskies doubled up the Vikings at 22-11. DeHoog killed another PSU overpass for set point at 24-12, and then she and Sybeldon teamed up to roof the Viking swing and clinch the set on the next point. The Dawgs finished the set hitting .424 and holding PSU in the negatives at -.042. Schwan's five kills on seven swings led while Strickland had six digs to go with her pair of aces.
Starting set two, senior Kim Condie donned the libero jersey and sophomore Crissy Jones checked in as well. Both Condie and Jones had some fantastic sprawling digs early in the set and Scambray converted three kills in a row to help establish a 5-2 lead. Sophomore Jade Finau checked in for a run at setter with the Huskies down a point, and she set up Schwan for a kill to make it 7-7. Condie had a bump set to Schwan for a big swing to tie it at nine. The Vikings inched ahead throughout the middle part of the set, with UW lurking one or two points behind. The Dawgs tied it back up at 17-all after Jones had a left side kill and then earned a rejection along with Wade. Schwan put away her 10th kill and then PSU tipped one wide to make it 19-17; with the Huskies on a four-point run the Vikings called time. After the break, Schwan and Wade kept the momentum going with a stuff, and they backed that up with another moments later to make it 21-17. It was a 7-0 run from 15-17 to 22-17 before the Vikings snapped it, but the Huskies finished up the final few points to take the set, 25-19. Schwan was a perfect 5-for-5 in the set and Jones was one kill behind, going 4-for-5 as UW hit .346 as a team.
Strickland returned to the court as libero in set three. A nosediving ace from Scambray tied the set at 4-4. A perfect dig from Scambray led to a transition kill by Jones as UW built a 9-6 lead. Scambray took one hanging above the net and placed it over in open space, and one point later she tipped down over the block for a 14-9 Husky lead and the Vikings took time. An ace from Beals, a Vikings error, and a Scambray kill high off the block had the Huskies rolling. Beals fired another ace to extend the run and make it 18-9. Portland State overpassed the next Beals serve and Scambray pummeled it to the floor, then Beals dialed up her third ace of the run to force the second PSU timeout at 20-9. Portland State snapped the eight-point Husky run out of the break, but Julye got a booming kill for 21-11. Wade brought the Huskies to match point with a kill on the run set by Beals, and a Vikings miss ended it at 25-13. Washington hit .367 in the third set, with the serving run by Beals the turning point. Wade and Sybeldon each had three kills on four swings without a miss.
