No. 17 Stanford Snaps Washington’s Win Streak

Wednesday, October 26

Stanford, CA

7:00 PM

University of Washington

18-3, 8-3Pac-12

Stanford

13-6, 7-4Pac-12

Washington

Stanford

October 26, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score PDF

By: UW Athletic Communications

PALO ALTO, Calif. – The last time the Husky volleyball team lost to Stanford, it responded with a seven-match win streak. Washington will hope for a similar response, as it was taken down by 17th-ranked Stanford for a second time, falling in straight sets at Maples Pavilion in front of 1,338 fans. The seventh-ranked Huskies (18-3, 8-3 Pac-12) had their win streak ended at seven, and lost for the first time on the road this year.

Final scores were 25-16, 25-20, 26-24, as the Huskies also lost a first set for the first time this year, and lost in straight sets for the first time since the 2013 NCAA semifinal against Penn State. Courtney Schwan, Tia Scambray, and Crissy Jones all finished with nine kills apiece and Bailey Tanner had 30 assists, but UW could not slow down Stanford All-American Inky Ajanaku who had 11 kills on 14 swings without an error for a .786 attack percentage. Washington was outblocked for the first time in Pac-12 play, 8.0 to 5.0, and Stanford had a big edge in digs as well, 47-33.

Washington had a season-low .155 attack percentage while Stanford's .347 mark was far and away the best any UW opponent has hit this season, as the previous high was a .265 mark by Hawaii on Sept. 11. The Dawgs struggled with their passing early which made it tough to get into their offense. Things improved in the second set and UW then had leads of 10-4 and 19-16 in the third set but Stanford battled back. The Huskies saved three match points from 21-24 down, but Ajanaku came up with two more kills on the last two points to end the Husky rally.

"Stanford was outstanding in serving and passing and most of the time the team that does that will come out victorious," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "Other teams are allowed to play well, and they performed at a high level tonight. We hung in there, especially in the third set, but we couldn't make it over the hump. Hopefully we respond not too differently in our preparation for Cal than if we had won this match. Your behaviors when you win or lose should not be drastically different, so I expect us to prepare well, and give a good Cal team our best shot on Friday."

In the first set, some poor passing early forced Cook to call timeout after giving up the first four points. Scambray killed a swing in serve-receive out of the break to get on the board. Schwan and Jones picked up their first kills as the teams swapped sideouts, Stanford doubling up the Huskies at 5-10. DeHoog put away her first kill from the right pin for 8-12. The Cardinal extended the lead to 9-16 and UW used its second timeout. Jones put away a Tanner backset out of the break and then went back and dropped an ace on the sideline for 11-16. But Washington continued to have trouble with the Cardinal serving and a 3-0 Stanford run made it 11-19. Bajema's transition kill off the block made it 14-20, but the Huskies would get no closer. A Husky hitting error ended it, 16-25, as UW lost the first set for the first time all season. Stanford hit a scorching .536 and UW hit just .121.

The first block of the match for the Dawgs gave UW its first lead at 3-2, and Jones then followed with another on the next point, assisted by Scambray. Jones put away a quick from Tanner for a 5-3 lead. Stanford retook the lead with a 4-0 run, ending it with a hitting error for 7-7. Tanner dumped on second contact for her first kill for 8-all. A Schwan rocket from the left and a Cardinal error put UW back up, 10-9, but Stanford immediately came back with a 3-0 run to force UW into a timeout at 10-12. Scambray had a back row kill after Tanner tracked a set down over the first row for 11-12. Stanford dialed up an ace for 11-15 and UW had to take its last timeout. Bajema smashed one in serve-receive out of the break, but UW missed its next serve for 12-16. Another quick this time to Jones was put down and then a tough Destiny Julye serve led to a Stanford error for 14-16, but the momentum was short-lived again as Stanford had a 3-0 run to 14-19 before Jones had a swing past two blockers for her sixth kill. Another late Cardinal ace had it at 17-23. Schwan and Bajema had back-to-back kills to inch closer, but Stanford got to set point at 19-24. The Huskies saved the first with a block for 20-24, but the Cardinal ended the next rally with a block of their own for 20-25, as UW went down two sets for the first time this season. The Huskies closed the hitting gap a bit in the second, but Stanford still hit .290 compared to .219 for UW, and had three aces in the set compared to none for UW.

The Huskies turned to freshman Avie Niece to try and shake things up at the start of set three, as she returned to the court for the first time since Oct. 9 at Oregon State due to a shin injury. Schwan and Scambray had two straight booming kills, and then Niece got in on a block with Jones. A tough Schwan serve led to a Stanford error as UW went up 4-1 to force Stanford's first timeout. The Cardinal broke the UW run out of the break but Jones answered with a bang off the block. Jones had another kill on the right pin and then rotated back and served up her second ace for an 8-4 lead. Another tough Jones serve was freeballed to UW and Bajema pulled the transition set for 9-4, and Stanford used its last timeout. After the timeout, Washington had a miscommunication to let a set drop, then was aced, as Stanford grabbed four straight points with UW barely getting a swing and the Huskies took timeout up 10-8. The lead vanished with two more Husky errors for 10-10 before Tanner broke the six-point run by killing a Stanford overdig. Stanford took a one point lead, but Schwan got fired up with a big kill to tie it and then Bajema served an ace to put UW back up. Tanner won a joust at the net for a 14-12 lead, but the Cardinal got the next two to tie it again. The Dawgs won a great rally with Scambray capping it with a kill off the block, and then Schwan dropped an ace short for an 18-15 lead, capping a 3-0 run. Stanford had a 3-0 run back to tie it at 19, and Washington used its last timeout. The Cardinal missed serve out of the timeout for 20-19, but UW donated serve right back for 20-all. Scambray missed long in serve-receive on the next point as Stanford took the lead. Another wild rally went to Stanford as the gap hit 20-22 before Jones finished out of the back row, but Stanford returned fire in serve-receive for 21-23. Schwan was blocked on the next point as UW went down three match points. Schwan saved the first with an offspeed shot, and then Stanford hit into the net to waste a second. A tough Julye serve forced Stanford out of system and Jones got the dig that let Schwan wipe off the block for a kill to tie it at 24-24. But Stanford got its next attempt down out of the middle to earn another chance. Tanner tried a dump but it was dug, and the Cardinal finished after a back-and-forth to close out the match, 24-26.

The Huskies will try to get back on track on Friday night at California, with an 8 p.m. start at Haas Pavilion in another Pac-12 Networks match.