Huskies Upset In NCAA Round Two

Saturday, December 2

Seattle, Wash.

7:00 PM

University of Washington

25-8, 14-6Pac-12

Illinois

23-10, 12-8Big Ten

Illinois

Washington

December 02, 2017 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – Washington's quest for a sixth straight Sweet 16 appearance and its first Final Four in four years was cut short tonight in the NCAA second round at Alaska Airlines Arena. The eighth-seeded Huskies were up two sets to one and leading in the fourth, but a resilient Illinois squad rallied and flipped the script, winning the fourth on a big run and carrying that momentum to a fifth-set victory. The Dawgs finish the season with a 25-8 record following the 25-22, 17-25, 20-25, 25-17, 15-9 loss.

Washington had to say farewell to a decorated senior class of seven tonight, a group that won two Pac-12 titles and posted 116 total wins, one short of tying the school record. Carly DeHoog, Jade Finau, Marion Hazelwood, Crissy Jones, Tia Scambray, Courtney Schwan, and Bailey Tanner all took the court for the final time tonight for the Dawgs.

"Congratulations to Illinois and Coach Tamas," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "I thought they were pretty resilient there in the fourth set when I thought we had a good run going, and they took some high, hard swings in the fifth set."

On the senior class, Cook said "I am in gratitude to this group of young women. Never have I seen such resiliency in a collection of athletes. They reached a rare place of excellence that few groups have attained. This University should be proud of the students, athletes, and women they have become."

"You play enough volleyball that your relationship to losing starts changing. The thing that you're most bummed about is getting more time together. We were playing to have one more practice together, one more Tuesday, one more film session, one more trip on a plane and on a bus. Winning and losing, at some point you play enough volleyball where you realize it's not completely in your control, but you always want more time together for sure."

Crissy Jones was proud of how the Huskies stayed connected on the court even in the waning moments of the loss. "I brought the group in and said that the one thing we regretted about losing to Nebraska was going out as separates. So I just told the group, 'Let's do it right this time. Let's go out together and fight for each other and remember how much this means to us and how cool it is to play together.'"

While Washington will surely miss all of its talented senior class, sophomore Kara Bajema had an inspiring final match of her season, as she posted a career-high 26 kills with 11 digs for a double-double. It was her third 20-plus kills performance since joining the starting lineup on Nov. 4.

DeHoog put down 17 kills with six digs and three blocks, hitting .289, and Schwan had a double-double with 14 kills and 14 digs. Scambray had 18 digs and an ace and set the new UW school record for career sets played at 467, while tying for third in school history in career aces with 146. Tanner had a season-high 53 assists tonight plus nine digs and three blocks.

Illinois wound up hitting .287 for the match, bettering Washington's .256 mark. UW was outblocked for just the fourth time this season, as Illinois had 13 and UW had 9. The Huskies also had just two aces compared to four for the Fighting Illini, the fourth time all year UW had fewer aces than its opponent.

The fifth-set loss was a painful theme for the Huskies this season, who played seven five setters in Pac-12 play, their most since 1990, and with the loss tonight UW went 3-5 on the year in fifth sets. The second round loss is UW's earliest NCAA exit since a second round defeat at Minnesota in 2011.

A perfect pass from Schwan let Tanner set Sanders for a kill on the first point of the match. The Illini scored three straight but Schwan landed her first kill and then DeHoog had a kill after Illinois overpassed a Scambray serve for 3-3. Jones and DeHoog sent back the first block of the match for 4-all. Illinois had a setter dump and then an ace to go on top, 5-8, with Bajema coming up with a big kill sharply crosscourt for 6-8. UW missed a connection on a set and Illinois scored in transition to make it 7-11 and UW called its first timeout. Bajema crushed a right side kill out of the break to get the sideout. Washington hit one wide, got blocked, and then tipped too easy to Illinois and they converted for 9-16 and UW used its last timeout. DeHoog ended the run with a kill after a Scambray bump set and Schwan got one closer with a kill off the block for 11-16. Jones dove back off the net to punch up a dig and Bajema banged through the block for 13-17. The Huskies got within three at 15-18 but Illinois doubled the lead back up with a 3-0 run. Washington fought right back with a 3-0 run of its own, as Bajema blasted one down, then Schwan set DeHoog across court for a right side finish, and Sanders hit down an overpass of a Tanner serve for 18-21, forcing Illinois' first timeout. Out of the break, DeHoog and Sanders sent back the first Illinois swing for 19-21, but Illinois got a kill on the next point to break the run. A couple more Illinois kills got them to set point at 20-24. Schwan saved the first with a block straight down on the left pin, and then she erased another with a kill off high hands for 22-24, and Illinois used its final timeout. Illinois ended it quickly with a kill straight to the floor out of the timeout to win the set, 25-22. Illinois hit .314 in the set while the Huskies hit .238. Schwan had six kills in the set and UW had a 5-2 blocking edge but was out-dug, 12-16.

Illinois took the first two points of the second set with DeHoog putting one over the block and down to get the Huskies on the board. Illinois had three blocks in the early going of set two to build a 1-5 lead until Avie Niece put away a quick kill to stop the bleeding. A couple Illinois mistakes got UW back within two at 5-7. Crissy Jones dropped in the first ace of the match to get it to 7-8 and her next serve was overpassed and Niece hit it down for 8-8. Bajema put the Dawgs up, 9-8, with a finish from Tanner before Illinois got Jones off the line on the next point. The Dawgs brought the crowd to its feet with a couple dives to keep the ball off the floor and capped off by a Bajema kill inside the block for 11-9. Illinois tied it, but Niece put one down and then DeHoog killed an overpass for 13-11 and Illinois called time. Illinois got a sideout but DeHoog fired back from the right. Illinois got event at 14 but UW then got on a roll as Schwan put one away and Jones and Tanner stuffed one. Tanner then took a big swing on a free ball for a kill and Schwan added another in transition for 18-14 Dawgs. Jones and Bajema each had kills and Illinois hit one wide for 22-16 as UW continued to pull away. Bajema landed another to reach set point and then Niece put one off the block in transition to end it, 25-17. The Dawgs hit a sizzling .500 in the set while Illinois was no slouch at .323, but Bajema led the way with eight kills in the frame on 12 swings and Niece killed all four of her attempts.

Bajema wound up and hammered one again on the first point of set three. Niece and DeHoog finished Tanner sets as the teams went back and forth early. McPherson had a perfect pass and Bajema soared in to crush one on the pipe for 6-5 Dawgs. Illinois made the first mini run of the set with three straight to go up 8-10, but Schwan rolled one over and down out of the back row and then two straight serves from Destiny Julye led to Illinois errors as the Huskies went back on top. Two more long rallies ended in Illinois errors and the Illini called time at 13-10 Dawgs. Out of the break, Scambray lofted a set that DeHoog finished for 14-10 before Illinois got a kill to snap the 6-0 Husky run on Julye's serve. Jones went deep crosscourt from the right for a kill and Bajema tooled the block for 18-15. The teams went back and forth, with DeHoog punishing the block on the left for 20-17. DeHoog had a soft block that let Tanner find Niece in transition for a big kill and a 21-17 lead that prompted an Illinois timeout. Illinois jumped right back into it with a kill in serve-receive, a transition finish on the next point, and then a kill off a Husky overpass that made it 21-20 in a hurry, and UW took timeout. Out of the break, DeHoog delivered a clutch right side kill for 22-20, and she got another down inside the block on the next point. Scambray then delivered a huge ace to bring the Huskies to set point at 24-20, and DeHoog put her third kill away in the closing 4-0 run to give the Dawgs the set, 25-20. DeHoog racked up seven kills in the set on 10 swings to hit .700 as UW hit .316 as a team and limited Illinois to .205.

Bajema dented the floor in transition on the first point of the fourth set and then killed an overpass on the next rally. Schwan and Niece shut down an Illinois slide for a 4-1 lead. A Scambray serve was overpassed and DeHoog put it off the block and out for 6-3. Bajema dug one up and over and Illinois let it go and it fell on the line for a gift of a kill and 8-4. Tanner dumped one to the sideline for 10-7 Dawgs. Illinois cut the lead to one at 10-9 but Bajema ripped another up the line to the floor to keep the lead. Schwan ran for a tight set and tipped it off the block and down for a kill for 13-10 and Illinois took time. The Huskies hit one into the net and Illinois threw up a block to tie things back up at 13-all before Schwan spun one off the defense for a kill to regain the lead. Jones and Tanner roofed one straight down for 16-15. The Fighting Illini pushed ahead with three straight points, a kill, a block, and a Husky error for 16-18 to force a Husky timeout. Washington could not get back on track, as the Illinois run hit seven in a row and UW had to call timeout yet again now down 16-22. Illinois scored one more before Schwan finished from the back row to end the streak, but Illinois scored on its next swing to reach set point at 17-24. A double contact on the next point ended it, as Illinois won 25-16, winning 10 of the final 11 points and 15 of the final 19 in the set. UW hit just .048 in the set while Illinois was at .281.

DeHoog put a left side kill off the block on the first point of the fifth. DeHoog tipped for a kill for 2-1, but then Illinois reeled off four straight points to take a 2-5 lead and the Huskies had to use an early timeout. Illinois had an ace out of the break to extend the lead to four, but UW won a marathon rally on an Illinois error on the next point to get some fire back and make it 3-6. But Illinois won another lengthy battle for a five-point lead at 3-8 as the teams changed sides. Jones finished crosscourt from the right for 4-8, but Illinois answered and then UW was aced for 4-10, forcing the final Husky timeout. Bajema got the much-needed kill in serve-receive out of the timeout, but Illinois scored on its first swing. After an Illinois block made it 5-12, the Huskies got two in a row back, both times Bajema finishing hard through the block for 7-12, forcing the first timeout by Illinois. On the next point, Scambray got a dig and Tanner bumped a long set to Bajema who finished again for 8-12. Schwan had a great dig on the next point, but too much traffic kept Tanner from reaching it and it fell for 8-13. DeHoog came through with a rocket from the left pin for 9-13, but UW served into the next to go down five match points at 9-14. Illinois needed just one, getting a kill to end it, 9-15. UW couldn't slow down Illinois in the fifth as they hit .364 compared to .227 for the Huskies despite four more kills from Bajema.