University of Washington
Saint Mary's (California)
No. 8 Dawgs Get Defensive In Sweep Of Gaels
September 12, 2015 | Volleyball
SEATTLE – Through the first two weeks of the season, the Husky volleyball team has led the NCAA in offensive efficiency, but tonight Washington put its defense to the test with a team-wide digging display, overcoming St. Mary's in straight sets. Washington (8-0) had a season-high 66 digs with four players reaching double-digit dig totals to take down the Gaels (5-3) by a 25-19, 25-18, 25-14 count in front of 1,427 fans at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Sophomores Courtney Schwan and Tia Scambray and senior Katy Beals all had 12 digs tonight, and senior Cassie Strickland had 11, all helping to hold the Gaels to a .105 attack percentage, while the Dawgs had another strong performance on offense, hitting .336. Schwan, Beals, and Scambray all completed double-doubles as well, with Schwan getting a match-high 14 kills, Scambray adding 11, and Beals totaling 25 assists.
The Dawgs had a season high 66 digs tonight. Tia had 12 and gives her thoughts. pic.twitter.com/tklGMxYW9r
— UW Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 12, 2015
Defense has been a constant focal point over the offseason and through the early practices and matches this fall, said Head Coach Keegan Cook, who got a win in his first time going against his alma mater and the place where he spent his first eight years as an assistant coach.
“It's been an emphasis since the spring that all of our players get better defensively and it came together a little bit tonight. I was impressed,” said Cook. “The biggest challenge tonight was the serve and pass challenge. I think St. Mary's had 15 aces the other night against Northridge. The battle we were fighting tonight was they were hitting a lot of tough serves and I thought our three passers held up tremendously well in those situations,” referring to Strickland, Scambray, and Schwan.
The Dawgs also got another career-best showing from sophomore Carly DeHoog, who had nine kills on a .438 attack percentage. Melanie Wade hit .467 with nine more kills and four blocks, while Lianna Sybeldon had five kills and a team-best six blocks. Bailey Tanner was also just off a double-double with 18 assists and eight digs.
In the first set, Scambray served up an early ace and UW got its first kill from Carly DeHoog for a 5-4 lead. The Huskies had some uncharacteristic errors early but Schwan killed a long back and forth with a big swing from the right to fire up the team and the crowd and put UW up 7-6. Scambray picked up a couple kills on the left as the teams were tied at 10-10. DeHoog smacked one down from the right and then Schwan went off the hands in transition to get a 14-12 lead for the Dawgs. Sybeldon found the range out of the middle to make it 17-14. Jones and Wade got all of the Gaels swing on the right for UW's first block, and then senior Kim Condie's tough serve was overpassed and Wade jumped up to smack it down for a 20-15 lead, prompting St. Mary's last timeout. Condie kept her serving run going with a couple nice digs, and Wade finished for a 21-15 lead. DeHoog made the most of a tough set off the net, skimming it down low for a kill, and Wade added her fourth kill to get to set point at 24-18. After one Gaels point, DeHoog finished in serve-receive from Beals to end the set, 25-19. Despite the slow start, the Dawgs warmed up to .308 for the set, with St. Mary's at .206. DeHoog killed all four of her attempts and Schwan had six kills and six digs.
After the Gaels took the first point in set two, the Huskies scored four straight on Scambray's serve, with DeHoog, Wade, and Schwan all putting down the sets from Beals. Beals had a diving one-fisted dig that DeHoog hit down on the second contact, and on the next rally, Scambray set DeHoog for another right side kill. A third straight from the sophomore made it 7-2 Dawgs. Schwan smashed one so hard that it deflected off the back row Gael back over to UW's side and out long for the kill. Jones and Sybeldon assisted on a stuff, and then Strickland bump set Jones for a finish to make it 11-4 and St. Mary's called time with the Huskies on a 4-0 run. The Gaels broke the run but Jones answered back, finding the sideline crosscourt, and then Sybeldon and Scambray stuffed one down to make it 13-5. Another roof put up by Wade and Jones made it 15-7. DeHoog and Sybeldon knocked down another block to keep the lead comfy at 19-11. A back row blast from Scambray couldn't be handled, making it 20-12. St. Mary's trimmed a couple points off the lead and the Huskies called a timeout at 22-16. The Gaels crept closer by two, but Wade ended the run with a tip into the middle, then DeHoog and Wade blocked the SMC swing to get to set point at 24-18, and the Gaels used their last timeout. The set did not last much longer, as Scambray drilled a jump float over and down for an ace to cap it, 25-18. Washington hit .444 in the set and held St. Mary's to .150. Five different Dawgs had at least three kills in the set, led by DeHoog's five, and UW had five total blocks.
A perfect pass from Scambray led to a Sybeldon kill on the first point of the third. A thunderous stuff from Sybeldon and Jones put the Huskies up 3-1. Jones connected on the right, then Scambray assaulted the floor from the left as UW pushed to a four-point lead at 7-3. Freshman Destiny Julye landed her first kill up the line after a long rally to make it 9-4. Sybeldon stuffed another for an 11-6 lead and the Gaels took their first timeout. The Dawgs put two more onto the lead with transition kills from Sybeldon and Julye for 13-6. St. Mary's scored twice but UW countered right back with three in a row, Strickland laying out for some highlight digs, and Schwan finishing off three straight rallies to make it 16-8. After St. Mary's took its last timeout, Sybeldon sent back another Gaels swing, and Jones found the far corner from the left for 18-9. The Huskies continued pushing towards the finish, with Jones hammering off the block and Scambray shooting to the floor from the right to make it 23-14. A tough Scambray serve was overpassed and Wade got up to slam it down for match point, and Schwan converted on the next rally in transition to cap it, 25-14. The Huskies got their points the old-fashioned way in the third, racking up 19 kills while St. Mary's had only four. Strickland had 10 digs in the third set alone.
The Huskies now head back out on the road, traveling to Norman, Oklahoma for the Oklahoma Invitational, which will pit UW against Maryland out of the Big Ten next Thursday, and the Sooners next Friday, for the final two matches before Pac-12 play.
