Season Ends For No. 8 Huskies At No. 1 Nebraska

Saturday, December 10

Lincoln, NE

1:00 PM

University of Washington

29-5

Nebraska (NCAA Elite Eight)

31-2

Washington

Nebraska

December 10, 2016 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

LINCOLN, Neb. – Washington volleyball put together yet another memorable season, but the finish had a frustratingly familiar feel to it, as top-seeded Nebraska knocked out the Huskies in the Elite Eight for the second straight season. In front of 8,355 red-clan fans at their home Devaney Center, the defending champion Huskers (31-2) blocked UW's efforts to reach the Final Four with an excellent all-around performance that Washington (29-5) was unable to match.

Despite a 10-match win streak and three straight sweeps to reach the Elite Eight, the Dawgs fell behind early in sets one and two and went into the break down two sets to none with nothing much going right. But despite the early struggles, the Huskies showed the resiliency that helped them win the Pac-12 title for the third time in the past four years, and battled hard for set three. But UW couldn't turn the tide all the way, as Nebraska closed out the win, 25-16, 25-10, 25-21. It was a third straight season-ending loss to the Huskers, who won in the Elite Eight last year and in the Sweet 16 in 2014.

Washington falls to 4-6 all-time in Elite Eight matches. The Dawgs made it to the Regional rounds for the fifth year in a row, one of only five teams with an active streak of that length. The Huskies will also have a bright future ahead, graduating just one senior in Kameron McLain, and returning All-Pac-12 selections Bailey Tanner, Crissy Jones, and Pac-12 Player of the Year Courtney Schwan, along with junior standout Tia Scambray and All-Freshman Team pick Kara Bajema.

"Tough match obviously for us," said second-year Head Coach Keegan Cook. "I thought Nebraska executed extremely well right out of the gate on both sides of the ball and hit assignment after assignment. We were a little slow out of the gate and it continued into the second set. They played well and there's not much you can do about that except for weather the storm. I'm very proud of our performance in the third set, being able to come back and play a competitive set."

Jones led the Huskies with nine kills and was named to the Lincoln Regional All-Tournament Team after the match. Five of her nine kills came in the third set as the Dawgs tried to rally. Schwan had seven kills today and a pair of solo blocks, while Bajema hit .625 with five kills and no errors on eight attempts.

After nearly being eliminated on Friday, saving two match points before beating Penn State, the Huskers seemed to play with a weight off their shoulders, as they hit a scorching .437, the highest by any UW opponent since Penn State in the 2013 Final Four. The Huskies hit just .088, their lowest mark of the season.

Schwan picked up the first point of the match on a swing that Nebraska dug but couldn't set. Nebraska then scored the next four points as the Huskies showed some signs of nerves and UW quickly called its first timeout. The Huskers served long out of the timeout and then hit a quick out of bounds for 3-4. Scambray had UW's first official kill on a set by Schwan for 4-5. A Schwan roll kill out of the back went down for 5-7. Schwan picked up two more kills from the left pin as the teams traded sideouts to 7-9. But the Huskies then hit out of bounds twice and Nebraska won a lengthy rally with an out of system kill as part of a 5-1 run to make it 8-14 and UW used its final timeout. The Huskers picked up two more points before Jones put away her first kill to snap the run and make it 9-16. Bajema had her first kill and a tough Jones serve led to a Nebraska error for 11-17. Schwan had a big solo rejection for 13-19 Huskers. Nebraska won two more long rallies to get the crowd on its feet at 14-21. Jones dropped a tip down for 16-23. But the Huskies couldn't mount a rally, and Nebraska closed out the set, 25-16, hitting .467 compared to just .097 for the Huskies. It was just the third first set loss of the season for the Huskies.

The Huskies made more uncharacteristic errors to start the second set and quickly fell behind 0-5 and had to take another early timeout. Washington could not get on the board, as Nebraska had three more transition kills for 0-8 and UW used its last timeout. Jones finally got the Huskies on the board with a right side kill. Bajema tapped down a 50-50 ball and then Jones served up an ace for 3-11. A slide kill from Bajema and some tough Scambray serving helped the Huskies inch back within eight points at 7-15 after being down as many as 11. Schwan's second solo block shrunk the lead to seven at 9-16 and Nebraska called its first timeout. The Huskers got a kill in serve-receive and then UW had a poor pass that resulted in a NU block as the Huskers quickly pulled away again with a 5-0 run. Nebraska emphatically closed things out again with the final four points to win the set, 25-10.

Jones started set three with a big swing for a kill on the first point, and Scambray followed that with a transition kill for 2-0. Bajema put a slide through the block for a 4-3 lead. Schwan had two roll shots fall but Nebraska pulled ahead, 6-7. The Huskies pushed back with a block from Jones to retake the lead, 8-7, but Nebraska had a kill and then their fifth ace of the match for 8-9. Destiny Julye came back with an ace of the Huskers for a 10-9 Washington lead. The lead swung back to Nebraska again, with Jones finishing from the right for 11-11, and then UW went on top again as Bajema finished a slide kill after Nebraska overpassed the Jones serve. Again Nebraska won two straight to go up, but Jones tied it at 13 with a back row kill off the block. The Huskers got to 15 first at 14-15 for the media timeout. The media break seemed to disrupt the Dawgs as the Huskers came out with three straight to open up a 14-18 lead and UW had to take a timeout of its own. Nebraska got one more point with a block out of the break, but then Tanner had a huge block for the Dawgs to snap the run for 15-19. The Huskers continued to inch towards the finish but Jones tried to delay it with a pair of right side kills keeping UW within five points. The Huskies pulled within four points, but Nebraska had a kill off the block to get to match point at 19-24. Scambray saved the first with a kill off the block touch. The Huskers then hit long after a tough float serve from Scambray made it 21-24 and Nebraska called timeout. Out of the break, Nebraska got a solid pass and put its first swing away from the left pin to end it, 21-25. Washington had its best hitting at .200 but still couldn't stymie the Nebraska attack as it hit .324. Jones got rolling in the third, finishing six kills on a .556 percentage.