Dawgs Sweep Gaels In First Match Of Double-Header

Saturday, August 26

Seattle, Wash.

12:00 PM

University of Washington

2-0

Saint Mary's (California)

0-2

Saint Mary's

Washington

August 26, 2017 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – Third-ranked Washington improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 3-0 win over Saint Mary's in the first match of a day-night double-header at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Huskies set the stage for a top-10 showdown with ninth-ranked Creighton at 7 p.m. tonight by completing a 25-15, 25-17, 25-19 sweep of the Gaels.

Sophomore Kara Bajema, starting for the first time at outside hitter, had her first career double-double with 10 kills and a career-high 10 digs and hit .318. Senior Courtney Schwan led all players with 12 kills, hitting .323, with seven digs, and senior Carly DeHoog hit .467 with eight kills on 15 attempts and just one error, adding four blocks.

As a team, the Huskies hit .260 and had 11 blocks to hold Saint Mary's (0-2) to a .124 attack percentage. Bailey Tanner set the first two sets and had 21 assists, then Jade Finau set in the third set and dished 13 assists. Tanner and Scambray each served up three aces apiece as the Huskies fired nine aces while surrendering none to Saint Mary's.

"I thought first and foremost we did a nice job serving and passing," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "Saint Mary's is a very good serve-and-pass team and we did a really nice job on both sides of the ball. Tia Scambray served well, Bailey Tanner served well, and our passers held up against a strong serving team. Carly and Kara, playing her first match of the season, both did a really nice job. All three of our outside hitters hit over .300 and that's usually a good sign."

Schwan started things with her first kill on the first point, and Tanner's first ace made it 4-1 Huskies early. The Husky block kept producing sideouts, as DeHoog got one on the right side and then Lauren Sanders stuffed one in the middle, and one point later it was Bajema stopping a tip try for an 8-5 lead. Bajema aced the Gaels and then Sanders put down a kill on a slide for 12-6 and a Saint Mary's timeout. Scambray and Schwan both notched aces and Avie Niece picked up a big kill out of the middle as the Dawgs extended to a 17-10 lead. The Gaels inched back with a 3-0 run, but Bajema wound up and blasted a Tanner set over the block, and then Sanders and DeHoog had another stuff for 19-13. Sanders had a solo rejection in the middle to force a Gaels timeout, and then out of the break she hit down an overpass off a Shayne McPherson serve for 22-14. A dig from Scambray led to a fast Bajema blast from the left to get to set point, and a Saint Mary's service error ended it, 25-15. The Huskies hit just .143 in the set but held the Gaels to .000 with seven team blocks in the set, four from Sanders.

Scambray's second ace tied the second set up at 2-2. DeHoog finished a Scambray set on the right for 5-all. DeHoog poked one through the block for UW's first lead of the set at 7-6. Schwan ended a long rally by banging off the block and out on UW's side for an 11-8 Husky lead. Tanner joined the ace brigade with two in a row to get to 15-11 Dawgs. DeHoog had a big swing on the left side for one sideout and then rotated to the right and finished another through the block for 17-13. Consecutive kills from Sanders and Bajema forced a Gaels timeout at 19-14. A wall of Sanders and Tanner sent back one Saint Mary's swing, and then Niece had a solo stuff on the next point for 23-16. Tanner turned on a Bajema dig and spiked it to get to set point at 24-16. Tanner set Bajema on the pipe for the kill to end it, 25-17. The Dawgs finished at .289 in the second set, holding Saint Mary's to .182, with DeHoog finishing with four kills on five swings. Bajema had eight digs in the set alone.

Jade Finau started set three at setter and picked up an ace on the second point. Niece and Sanders connected with Finau out of the middle as the Huskies went up 5-2, and then a DeHoog and Sanders block combo made it 7-2. A 3-0 Husky run included an ace from Scambray and a Saint Mary's miscue for 12-5 and the Gaels called for time. UW kept the run going out of the break as Scambray had a perfect set from deep in the court to Schwan who finished crosscourt for 13-5. The Gaels cut into the lead but after closing within four, the Huskies pushed back out to a seven-point cushion at 19-12, as Bajema tapped down a Gaels overpass, and then added two more on big swings to secure her first ever double-double with her 10th kill. Schwan hit a sharp angle from the left and had a roll shot fall for 22-15 Dawgs. Niece bounced back after a couple errors by smashing down an overpass for 23-18, and then Finau set her again on the next point for another blast to reach match point. An attack error by Saint Mary's finished the sweep, 25-19. The Huskies hit .324 in the final frame, with Schwan putting down five kills on 11 swings without an error, and DeHoog and Bajema adding four kills apiece.