No. 10 Dawgs Ace No. 20 Ducks In Eugene

Sunday, November 19

Eugene, Ore.

1:00 PM

University of Washington

22-7, 12-6Pac-12

Oregon

16-10, 9-9Pac-12

Washington

Oregon

November 19, 2017 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

EUGENE, Ore. – The Husky volleyball team completed a season sweep against 20th-ranked Oregon today with a straight set win at Matthew Knight Arena in front of 2,266 fans. Washington (22-17, 12-6 Pac-12) leaned on its tough serving, notching eight aces, and had 14 kills from sophomore Kara Bajema to sweep the Ducks (16-10, 9-9 Pac-12) by a count of 25-22, 25-19, 26-24.

It was the final road match of the regular season for UW, which returns home to host Arizona this coming Wednesday in a Give Back match to raise funds for Puerto Rico. The Huskies will then close the regular season with Senior Night against WSU at Alaska Airlines Arena on Friday, Nov. 24.

The Dawgs won in Eugene for the fifth year in a row and have now won nine of the past 10 against their Northwest rivals. Bajema hit .357 for her 14 kills, with Courtney Schwan adding nine kills on a .226 percentage, serving up three aces, and adding eight digs. Senior libero Tia Scambray led all players with 16 digs and a pair of aces. Sophomore Avie Niece also had a good line of stats with six kills on a .308 percentage with four blocks.

"It was tough November volleyball," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "We've been battling through the Pac-12 conference all year, playing a lot of five set matches. It was a difficult match. I wouldn't call it clean or the highest level we've played, but we were pretty connected, and didn't let anything going on around us affect that we were going to play hard for each other. We made a lot of hitting errors early in sets one and three and fell behind but kept pushing forward and they stayed connected to each other and to me. It's hard to sweep a match like that on the road."

The Dawgs hit just .211, but held Oregon, the second-ranked offense in the Pac-12, well below its usual mark at .185. The Huskies had 46 kills compared to 35 for the Ducks while Oregon had a slim lead in digs (51-48) and blocks (8.0-6.0).

Oregon had a chance to extend the match with a set point at 23-24 in set three, but the Ducks missed a serve, Scambray then served an ace, and Bajema and Lauren Sanders teamed for a block to finish the sweep.

"Kara was swinging courageously and going for it when you need your hitters to go for it," said Cook. "I'm just stoked for her. She took good swings late. Destiny Julye had some serves and good digs late that were critical, and good serves from Courtney and Tia to give us set points. We'll need to be a great serving and passing team in December."

Schwan slammed the first kill for UW in the first set for a 2-1 lead. Niece and DeHoog slammed down the first block for the Dawgs for 3-1. Up 4-2, the Huskies hit a rough patch, hitting out twice and getting blocked twice as part of a 6-0 run for the Ducks that made it 4-8 and UW took timeout. DeHoog ended that run with a big swing from the right set by Scambray. The Dawgs were still down five when Jones tooled the block on the right for 9-13. DeHoog hit off the block and down on the left for 11-15. A tough dig from Schwan let Scambray set Bajema for a kill for 14-17. Schwan banged one to the deep corner crosscourt and then capped a lengthy rally with a roll shot kill to pull the Huskies within a point at 17-18 to force an Oregon timeout. A tough Shayne McPherson serve forced an Oregon error out of the break that tied it up, and McPherson backed that up with an ace as the Dawgs surged ahead for the first time since 4-3 at 19-18. A block by the Ducks gave them the lead back at 19-20, but Jones and Sanders answered back with a huge block to tie it back up. McPherson had a perfect pass and Tanner set Jones for a kill for 21-21. After a Niece middle kill, Schwan dropped an ace right to the back line to get the Dawgs up again, 23-22, forcing Oregon's last timeout. On the next point, DeHoog rose up and posted a huge stuff to get UW to set point, 24-22. A dig from Schwan let Finau find Bajema for a kill to end it, 25-22. It was a 13-5 Husky run to win it from down 12-17.

Bajema got rolling with three kills early in set two, staking the Huskies to a 4-3 lead. A couple errors from the Ducks was followed by an ace for Scambray to push it to 7-3 Dawgs. Oregon got a couple back on a Husky error but then Bajema ripped to open court for another kill. Sanders dropped a tip over for 9-5. McPherson had a couple digs on a long rally that ended in an Oregon error and a Ducks timeout at 12-7. Schwan kept Sanders' serving run going with two straight kills at the left pin for 14-7, and then Jones and Niece roofed the Ducks on the right side for 15-7 and UO used another timeout. Sanders served long to snap her run out of the break but Niece responded with a swing down inside the block. But the Ducks then went on a 4-0 run to cut the lead in half to 16-12 and the Huskies took their first timeout. Washington answered back with a 3-0 run as DeHoog had a kill from Finau and then a Duck overpass off a Schwan serve was hit down by DeHoog for 18-12. The Dawgs then rejected another for 19-12. Washington challenged two calls in a row by the officials, winning both, the result being two straight kills for DeHoog instead of errors, and a 21-13 lead. Jones ran behind Tanner for a slam to get the Dawgs to set point at 24-16. Oregon saved three in a row and Coach Cook took a timeout to regroup. Oregon sent over a free ball on the next point and Tanner set Sanders in the middle who put it away for the 25-19 win. Washington outhit Oregon, .318 to .194, led by five Bajema kills on a .625 percentage.

Niece opened the third set with a quick kill in serve-receive and then Jones fired an ace. Oregon scored four straight to take the lead, with Bajema finishing out of the back row to snap that run. But the Dawgs then hit twice out of bounds and got aced to fall behind 4-8 and needed an early timeout. Out of the break, Bajema tooled the block, and two points later she punished a ball straight to the floor. Schwan ended a rally to get UW back within 7-9. Oregon pushed ahead again by five points, but Niece hammered a quick to the sideline and then Schwan sent an ace down short for 11-14. Two solo blocks from Oregon kept the Ducks up 13-18. Bajema served up an ace for 15-18 but then overpassed for a Ducks point for 15-19 and UW called its last timeout. Jones put a tip in a smart spot for a kill out of the break. The Ducks missed two in a row to help the Dawgs pull back within one at 18-19 and Oregon took time. Destiny Julye, who served, had a couple nice digs on a rally that Jones finished to tie it up at 19 but she then missed serve. Tanner set Jones for a combo kill for 20-all. The Dawgs made a mistake and let an ace go between their passers for 20-22, with Schwan getting a key kill off the block on the next rally to get back within one. Tanner found Bajema for a huge kill in transition on the next point, and then Schwan had a huge ace to put the Dawgs up 23-22. The Ducks tied it up with a kill in serve-receive and then the Ducks had an ace of their own to get set point, 23-24. Oregon served into the net to miss that one, and then it was Scambray's turn to smack an ace to bring UW to a match point at 25-24. Oregon tried to set the slide but Bajema and Sanders tracked it and stuffed it back down to give the Huskies the win, 26-24, scoring the final three points. The Huskies hit just .150 in the set compared to .231 for the Ducks, but five service aces helped make up the difference, and Bajema hit .375 with five kills while Scambray made eight digs.