Dawgs Pull Together To Pass Test From Beavers

Sunday, October 9

Corvallis, OR

3:00 PM

University of Washington

14-2, 4-2Pac-12

Oregon State

8-9, 1-5Pac-12

Washington

Oregon State

October 09, 2016 | Volleyball

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CORVALLIS, Ore. – Down a starter, mixing and matching, and trying to find its rhythm on the road, Washington clawed its way to a lead against a game Oregon State squad, and then finally put the hammer down late to complete a big sweep of the Oregon road trip. The eighth-ranked Huskies (14-2, 4-2 Pac-12) saved four set points in a row in the first set, and came back from six-points down in the third, winning both sets 26-24. The Dawgs then closed out the Beavers (8-9, 1-5 Pac-12) in the fourth set, 25-12.

Coming off one of their most complete efforts two days ago in a sweep at 20th-ranked Oregon, the Huskies had to make some adjustments as freshman middle blocker Kara Bajema was out with a foot injury suffered during the win over the Ducks, when she had a career-high 12 kills. To find the right combo, Head Coach Keegan Cook called on every Husky available tonight, as 11 players saw the floor, including a start for senior Kameron McLain, and a versatile effort from junior Crissy Jones who moved into the middle blocker spot partway through the match.

Washington improved to 10-0 this year away from home including 6-0 in true road matches. After winning the final six points of the first set to shock the Gill Coliseum fans, the Huskies dropped the second set, 17-25, and trailed 14-20 in the third set before stepping up to nip the Beavers again in that frame. By the fourth set, the Dawgs were rolling, hitting 16 kills while OSU only mustered three.

"We had to run with some different lineups to make up for Kara being out," said Cook. "We took a couple different looks at it, and that's hard to do, to be flexible enough to make any lineup work. I didn't think we did a very good job of that in the first two sets, then the third and fourth I liked the way we came together. I thought Crissy's flexibility to do what was needed for her team. She had an equal impact from the service line and hitting from the middle and blocking as well. We've talked about wanting to be a team that can be flexible when needed and I thought she embodied that tonight."

Jones had 12 kills, hitting .324, and she served three aces, including two in a row that came at the crucial moment when UW went from down 22-24 in the first set to level at 24. Junior Courtney Schwan had an excellent line as she led all players with 21 kills and added 17 digs, while hitting .421 with four assists. Freshman Shayne McPherson had 21 digs to lead all players, and freshman Avie Niece had eight blocks and five kills. Junior Bailey Tanner tied her season-high with four kills, adding 40 assists, two aces, nine digs, and three blocks, and helping the Huskies hit .275 in the midst of all the lineup changes.

Tia Scambray had a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs and served up an ace on set point at 25-24 in the third. Junior Jade Finau also had 10 assists in two sets with junior Carly DeHoog adding six digs and five big block assists. Contributions continued from McLain who had three kills, hitting .500, and Destiny Julye who dug a career-high nine balls. Freshman Cailin Onosko also checked in to serve in one set with the Dawgs earning a point on her float serve.

The first point was pushed just long by Schwan but she came back with a big swing on the second rally for her first kill. Senior Kameron McLain picked up her first kill for 4-4 as the teams kept trading off. Schwan busted through the block from the left pin for 5-5 and then UW took its first lead at 6-5 on its first block by Avie Niece and Carly DeHoog. DeHoog's first kill made it 7-5 but OSU responded with a 4-1 run to go back up a point. An OSU ace and a block against Niece made it 9-12 and the Huskies took their first timeout. The Beavers took two more points on serve before serving long. Jones and McLain had sideouts with big swings to keep UW in striking distance down four, but UW couldn't find its serving rhythm early. Cailin Onosko checked in to serve and her first one produced an overpass that Schwan hit down for 14-17, but OSU came back with two points and the Huskies took their final timeout. Schwan hammered one down in serve-receive from Finau out of the break. A Tanner ace pulled the Dawgs within two at 17-19 and OSU took its first timeout. Scambray had an offspeed swing go down and an OSU miscommunication got the Dawgs back within a point at 20-21, but the Husky momentum ended there as some ball-handling issues helped a 3-0 Beavers run to set point at 20-24. Jones saved the first with a big swing off the block on the right and OSU then had a double on the set for 22-24 and OSU used its final timeout. A long back-and-forth was finally finished off by Scambray tooling the block to save a third set point, and then Jones got the Huskies back even at 24-24 with an ace. Jones backed it up with a second-straight ace to put UW ahead 25-24. Jones served again, and then came up with a big dig, Scambray was nearly blocked but Tanner covered it, and McPherson bump set Scambray inside the net and she lined it off the block and down to give the Huskies the stunning 26-24 win. The Huskies pulled it out despite being outhit, .283 to .316, but had 20 kills to just 13 for OSU. Schwan led the Dawgs with seven kills hitting .333 while Scambray had three kills and seven digs.

Despite the end of the first set, it was OSU that came out with seven of the first 10 points in the second set and the Huskies had to call timeout. McLain got the Huskies out of the rut with a swing off the block and out but OSU answered right back. McLain then served up an ace that was shanked for a Husky point, and the next play ended with a rejection from DeHoog and Niece for 7-9. McLain then had a big dig and DeHoog finished in transition to keep the streak going. But after pulling within one point, the Huskies surrendered a four-point run right back to OSU to go down 8-13 before Schwan ended that with a spike. Jones had a kill on a slide for 11-14. Scambray got the lion's share of a stuff block and had a kill in serve-receive to keep UW trading points. A big block from Tanner and McLain got UW within a pair at 14-16, and then a tough float serve from Jones led to a Beavers error and OSU took timeout. Scambray reached over too far on a tight Beavers pass for an error out of the break, and another UW error was followed by a Beavers transition kill and the Huskies had to take timeout back down four at 15-19. Poor passing kept the Huskies on the short end for four more points as UW went down 15-23 before Jones finally broke the seven-point OSU run. The Beavers got to set point at 17-24, and the Beavers converted their first chance this time for the 17-25 win.

Jones pounded a kill on a slide for 4-4 early in the third set. Schwan drilled one up the line to even things at 5-5. Oregon State used a 3-0 run to take the lead, 5-8, with Schwan delivering on the right pin to stop that. Niece smashed a Tanner set and a Beaver error was compounded two points later by a marathon rally that included a diving up from Scambray and eventually a Tanner bump set that Scambray hit high hands for a point to 9-11. The run continued on Julye's serve as Jones struck out of the middle to get UW back within a point, and then a dig from Schwan was set perfectly from Julye to Scambray to tie it at 11. Another long rally was capped by a Schwan roller out of the back row that fell happily to the floor for a 12-11 lead and the Beavers took timeout. The Beavers ended the 4-0 streak out of the break but Schwan struck out of the back row with a fastball this time for 13-12. But two straight blocks from Oregon State and a Beavers tip went down. Another broken play was finished by a Beavers kill from the back row and it was 13-16 OSU and the Huskies needed timeout. Out of the break, Schwan tooled the block to snap the Beaver run. But UW donated serve back with an error and lost the next two points as well and had to use its last timeout. Consecutive kills from Schwan were followed by a block by Schwan and Niece as UW tried to build momentum down 17-20 and on a 3-0 run, but OSU got a transition kill on the next rally to get back on the service line. Niece put away a Tanner quick set for 18-21. A Beavers error was followed by a play where DeHoog blocked a tip, and OSU dug it up but over the net and Scambray hit it down for 20-21 and the Beavers took their final timeout. On the next rally, the Huskies popped one up above the net and OSU seemed to have a clean swing, but DeHoog flew in out of nowhere to block the shot and keep the rally going, and then DeHoog and Niece blocked another swing this time for the point for 21-all. Oregon State got the sideout, but DeHoog responded with a lefty blast from the right for 22-22. Oregon State then hit one just long for 23-22 Dawgs. Scambray had a swing at the next point but overcooked it long, but DeHoog got a touch call on the next play for set point Dawgs, 24-23. A Beaver swing just caught the endline on the next swing to tie it, but Jones delivered on a slide swing for a second chance at 25-24. Scambray then dropped her next serve short for a critical ace and the Huskies had pulled out yet another incredible nailbiter, 26-24, to take the 2-1 lead. Washington ended up at .304 for the set while the Beavers finished at .200, while Schwan had seven kills and nine digs, McPherson added eight digs in the set, and Jones had four on eight swings.

This time after the dramatic set win, the Dawgs pounced at the start of the next set. A couple Scambray kills on the left pin and a big back row swing from Scambray all landed for a 5-2 Husky lead in the fourth. Tanner capped off a long rally with a dump for a kill and a 6-2 lead and OSU took the early timeout. Schwan hit a sharp angle from the left to keep Scambray's serving run going and then the Beavers were in the net as the lead moved to 8-2 before a serve went just barely out. Schwan kept delivering on the left with two more heavy blows for a 10-3 lead. The Beavers sent one long for 11-3 and the Beavers used their final break. Jones came right out of the break and floated another ace to add one more point before OSU broke the 4-0 and 8-1 Husky run. Now with everything seeming to click, Tanner took a tight pass and somehow contorted to spike one for a 13-4 lead, and she then rotated back and floated another Husky ace for 14-4. Oregon State used a 3-0 run to cut into the lead, but any further thoughts of a comeback were quickly erased, as Schwan put down a roll shot, and then the Huskies rejected two Beaver swings on the right pin and then the left pin, and moments later a third in the middle to build the lead to a set-high 12 points at 19-7. Scambray tooled the block off a Schwan set and then Schwan terminated out of the back row as the Dawgs continued rolling to the finish up 22-10. Jones and Tanner ended another long rally with a rejection for the next point, and Schwan lofted a long set from the back of the court over Scambray's right shoulder, and she waited on it and dropped it down on the opposite sideline for match point at 24-10. Tanner won a joust at the net to finish off the win, 25-12. The numbers were lopsided in the fourth, as the Huskies piled up 16 kills compared to only three for the Beavers. Schwan hit .714 with five kills, and Scambray added five on a .333 mark, and Niece was a part of three blocks.

The Huskies now come back home to take on the mountain schools. Utah, coming off an upset win at Stanford today, visits next Friday, Oct. 14, at 7:00 p.m., and Colorado will follow on Sunday.