Dawgs Rally From 0-2 But Fall In Five In Corvallis

Friday, November 17

Corvallis, Ore.

6:00 PM

University of Washington

21-7, 11-6Pac-12

Oregon State

20-9, 10-7Pac-12

Washington

Oregon State

November 17, 2017 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

CORVALLIS, Ore. – In spite of recording their most digs as a team in 13 years, Washington could not dig itself out of an 0-2 hole at Gill Coliseum, and lost in five sets to Oregon State for the second time this season, both matches ending 13-15 in the fifth. Courtney Schwan had a career-high 31 digs, the most by a Husky outside hitter since 1991, and Tia Scambray also had a career-high 26 digs, but despite the defensive grit Oregon State (20-9, 10-7 Pac-12) hung on for the 26-24, 25-20, 21-25, 19-25, 15-13 win.

The Huskies (21-7, 11-6 Pac-12) had their three-match win streak snapped in spite of controlling nearly every stat in the final box. Washington hit .254 compared to .187 for OSU, had 74 kills to 66, a big blocking edge with 14.0 to 6.0, and a whopping 112 team digs compared to 93. UW also had one more ace than the Beavers, 6-5, but missed nine serves while the Beavers missed only three.

The 112 digs is the most for a Washington team in the 25-point rally scoring era, which dates to 2009. The last time the Huskies had more was the school record 127 digs effort on Dec. 11, 2004 in a win over UCLA, when sets were played to 30. The last Husky to record 31 digs was libero Jenna Orlandini on Nov. 31, 2013, but no outside hitter has had that many since Ashleigh Robertson had 35 on Oct. 12, 1991. That season was also the last time that the Huskies played seven five-setters in Pac-12 play. UW dropped to 3-4 in those fifth sets this year.

Head Coach Keegan Cook congratulated Oregon State on another great match. "We've played 10 sets of high level volleyball with them this season," said Cook. "We're close to the team we want to be, but we're not there yet. A match of this intensity is exactly what we will see in December. We did not handle that intensity well for the first two sets. Hitting errors, overpasses, and tentative serving defined those first two sets.

"But I thought we had an outstanding response coming out of the break as we flipped the match and our serving picked up and we managed tough swings and extended rallies," said Cook. "In the fifth set, both teams executed at a high level but I didn't like our execution after point 10. We missed sets, and took safe swings when we needed to swing high and hard. Still I'm grateful for a match like this late in the Pac-12 season. We'll be better because of it."

Offensively, sophomore Kara Bajema led the way with 22 kills, another new career-high by one. Schwan had 14 kills to go with her 31 digs and she also shared the team lead with six blocks and two aces. Crissy Jones had 12 kills and nine digs, and Carly DeHoog had 12 kills and four blocks. Bailey Tanner had a double-double with 36 asissts and 16 digs, and Jade Finau was just one dig away with 22 assists and nine digs. Both Husky middles were efficient as Lauren Sanders had six kills and six blocks, and Avie Niece had seven kills and six blocks, both hitting .294.

Jones took a little off on the first swing of the match and got it to drop for a kill. Oregon State hurt the Huskies with two early aces and UW overpassed for an easy Beavers kill. Down 3-8, the Huskies had to take timeout. Niece capped off a lengthy rally that included a couple Shayne McPherson with a kill to get the Huskies a point out of the timeout and then Niece and DeHoog assisted on a block for 5-8. DeHoog had four swings on one rally and finished the last one to make it 7-9. OSU had another three point run to get a five point lead back but UW responded with a Bajema kill off an overpass for 10-13. McPherson dialed up an ace to pull the Dawgs within a point at 13-14. Niece continued her strong offense with a sharp quick kill for 15-16, but UW then got blocked on the next rally and swung long on the point after that for 15-18 and needed time. A third unforced error made it 15-19 before Courtney Schwan got one down from the right to snap the OSU run. Bajema and DeHoog had sideouts to keep UW in it, then Bajema scored a point tooling the block, and Sanders had a solo rejection to make it 20-21 and force the Beavers to take time. The next Beavers swing was blocked but landed just out on UW's side for an OSU point, but Crissy Jones answered back with a blast out of the middle for 21-22. Schwan cut it to one again at 22-23 with a kill in serve-receive, and the Dawgs finally tied it up at 23-all as Niece put one down in transition after a nice soft block and Scambray dig. Another tough Scambray serve forced OSU out of system and Schwan had a dig that let Jones hammer off the block for a third point and UW's first lead since 1-0, at 24-23, with OSU calling its last timeout. The Beavers got a kill to save it and then the Huskies hit one long on the next point to fall down a set point, and then OSU aced the Huskies, their third ace of the set, to win the final three points and take the set, 26-24. The Dawgs fell despite outhitting the Beavers, .213 to .196, as OSU's three aces made up for it.

DeHoog had a kill, Schwan got an ace off the tape, and then DeHoog and Niece stuffed one for three straight early in set two. Four points back for OSU gave them a 3-7 lead, but the Huskies got a couple back with an OSU error and a Bajema kill from Tanner. Schwan dropped one into the middle from the left to cap a 3-0 Husky run for 8-9 Beavers. Jones went line for one kill and crosscourt for another for 10-11. Bajema spiked one to the sideline to cap a great rally that included three near blocks for UW and Bajema had a tough dig herself to extend it. Sanders and Bajema combined for a stuff to make it 14-14 but the Beavers answered with a kill and an ace for 14-16, and the Huskies took timeout trailing 15-18. The teams traded sideouts with some heavy swings by Schwan and Jones, but UW couldn't slow down Oregon State's offense, which pulled away and closed out the set, 20-25. Oregon State outhit the Huskies .224 to .209 in the set despite four kills on seven attempts from Jones and seven digs from Schwan.

UW came out swinging to start the third set as DeHoog had the first two kills from the right, then Niece hit one off the block in transition, and Schwan served an ace to cap an opening 4-0 run. Bajema and Sanders had kills, but the Huskies missed a couple serves to let OSU hang in early. A Jones right side finish was backed up by Schwan popping up a dig then retreating to find the Tanner set and hit off the block for 9-4. An ace from Jones hit the back corner to make it 11-5 Dawgs and the Beavers called time. Back-to-back put-aways from DeHoog and Bajema got the lead to seven points at 14-7. Washington hit a rough patch with an overpass and an attack error out of bounds as the lead shrunk to 15-11 and the Huskies took time. UW made two more errors as the lead dropped to two before Jones got one off the block and down to break the five-point Beavers run. Sanders helped rebuild the lead with a block right in the middle, and OSU then left a swing short for 18-13 and OSU called for time. Some tough defense forced another Beaver error for 19-13 before the Beavers got a sideout. A roll shot from Schwan scored for 20-15 and she followed that with a smash off the block and down from a Scambray bump set. Niece then saved a play by deflecting a dig up on second contact as UW sent it back over, and Niece then got up and teamed with Schwan for a rejection on the next OSU swing for 22-15. But the Beavers wouldn't go away, winning five of the next six points to force a Husky timeout at 23-20. Out of the break, DeHoog capped a back and forth rally from the left pin off the block for set point, 24-20. Oregon State saved one, but hit long on the next rally for a 25-21 set win for the Huskies. The Huskies held OSU to a .116 mark in the third set while hitting .282 themselves, as DeHoog had four kills and hit .500 and Schwan had six digs.

DeHoog opened the fourth set the same way as set three, with a slam from the right. Bajema made a crosscourt bump set from DeHoog work from the 10-foot line, getting it down off the block for 2-1. Schwan muscled up to end a marathon rally as the Huskies inched ahead early, 5-3. A tough Jones float serve was fumbled by OSU for an ace and 8-5. Bajema had a couple uncharacteristic errors but responded back with two huge kills as the teams went back and forth. Sanders killed a quick and then Bajema fired a service ace to make it 14-11. The Beavers scored three straight to tie it back up at 14, but Jones stopped the bleeding with a right side kill and then Schwan hung in the air to stuff down a tip attempt on the next point. A Husky triple block followed with Niece in the center for 17-14 and the Beavers took time. Another tough Jones serve took OSU out of system and the Dawgs blocked a third straight. Jones then set Schwan for a smash in transition to make it 19-14. A sixth-straight point was put away by DeHoog off a Scambray set as UW continued to score without a setter. Schwan bump set over her head and DeHoog got another for 21-14 before OSU scored to break the 7-0 run on Jones' serve. Schwan answered right back from the right side for 22-15 and the Beavers called their last timeout. A busted play was saved by Schwan who chased down and flicked the ball into the campfire for a kill for 23-16. Bajema hit an overpass off the defense and down to get to set point at 24-18. On the second chance, Jones tipped over the block and down to end it, 25-19, and force set five. Washington posted a .356 mark in the fourth to control things, with Schwan getting six kills without an error and Bajema adding six more.

The fifth set opened with a repeat of the past two, a DeHoog rip for a kill. OSU got help from the net for an ace, but Bajema tied it at 2-2 with a hard swing to the court. UW had some passing woes and gave up three straight, with Jones ending a key rally to get the Huskies back on track. Two straight Scambray serves were overpassed and both led to OSU blocking errors on the setter as the Huskies tied it back up at 5-5. Oregon State won a wild rally that had every Husky diving around the court but was ultimately hit down by OSU after an overpass for 5-6, and UW took time as much to catch its breath. Schwan tied it back up at 6-6 with a roll shot in serve-receive. DeHoog found hands from the left and then Bajema had a transition kill from the left for 8-7 Dawgs as the teams switched sides. Scambray dug a hard swing and Finau went to Bajema again, who came inside and tooled the block for 9-7 and the Beavers took time. The Huskies had swings at both of the next two points but couldn't convert, and OSU tied it at 9-9 before serving long. Sanders hammered down a Finau quick for 11-10 Dawgs. Two more long rallies went Oregon State's way and UW had to call time down 11-12. OSU had a swing to score again but UW sent it back with a crucial block. The Beavers got a sideout with a tip, and then the Dawgs misfired long to suddenly face two match points. A block by Schwan and Sanders erased the first. On the second, it was another marathon rally, and UW had chances to tie it up, but couldn't get the clutch kill, and OSU made them pay with a final kill to take it, 13-15. Washington had 22 more digs in the fifth set alone, and outhit OSU, .194 to .175, but the Beavers had three more kills, and an ace.

Washington will now play its final regular season road match at No. 20 Oregon on Sunday at 1 p.m. live on Pac-12 Networks.