No. 20 Bruins Snap Long Seattle Skid

Friday, October 19

Seattle, WA

6:00 PM

University of Washington

UCLA

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

October 19, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score PDF Watch: Highlights vs. UCLA

By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – 20th-ranked UCLA snapped fifteen years of futility in Seattle tonight, holding off the Huskies over four sets to win at Alaska Airlines Arena for the first time since 2003. 19th-ranked Washington (13-7, 5-5 Pac-12) continues to show stretches of strong play but despite some significant lineup shifts tonight, the Dawgs dropped their third-straight, all against top-20 competition.

The last time UCLA (11-5, 6-3 Pac-12) won in Seattle, Courtney Thompson was a freshman setter for the Dawgs. Thompson was back on the floor tonight, getting honored by the season-high 3,113 fans in attendance for her legendary collegiate and professional career before she goes into the Husky Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Thompson's ceremony came at intermission, with the Huskies trailing two sets to none. And Washington looked to honor Thompson's fighting spirit by rallying back, as UW came from down four points to win the third set, and then had the fourth set tied at 20-20. But UCLA made the late plays to close out the Huskies, 26-24, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21.

UCLA got a tremendous showing from outside hitter Mac May, who had 27 kills and hit .404. Washington was led by Kara Bajema with 14 kills and Samantha Drechsel added 13, but the Huskies hit .196, their fourth time in the past five matches hitting under .200, all losses. Washington did have an edge in blocks, 11.0 to 9.0, thanks in large part to eight from sophomore Lauren Sanders.

Freshman Claire Hoffman made her collegiate debut tonight, starting at outside hitter as Head Coach Keegan Cook looked to try and balance out UW's offense. Drechsel moved to the opposite position, and Destiny Julye played a back row role, where she had five kills and hit .333. Hoffman, the Pleasant Hill, Ore. native, had five kills and seven digs in her first ever start and some strong serving.

"When you run a 5-1, your three pin hitters are really important, and we've been struggling to find consistency from whatever three players we play at that position, so we made a switch tonight and brought in Claire Hoffman," said Cook. "I was really encouraged by her serving and passing, I thought she did a nice job in those two phases of the game. I liked what Destiny Julye did out of the back row, that was a nice wrinkle.

"But you look at it, it was a lot of serve and serve-receive. We got aced a significant number of times, they only got aced once, and their elite outside hitter did a really nice job … and our outsides were a little one-dimensional, so they got after us a little bit."

UP NEXT: Washington has a full week to regroup before heading into the second half of conference play. The Huskies start on the road at Utah a week from tonight on Friday, Oct. 26, then go to Boulder to take on Colorado on Sunday, Oct. 28.

SET 1: Moving to opposite, Samantha Drechsel got the first swing of the match and finished it. Claire Hoffman's first career swing was put down for a kill off the Bruin block for 2-2. Hoffman then served UCLA into a couple errors for a 5-3 lead. Bajema chased down a tight set and put it through the block for 7-4, then she teamed up with Avie Niece for a block that forced a UCLA timeout at 8-4 Dawgs. Out of the break, Emma Calle bumped one over her head to Bajema for another kill and 9-4. A nice pancake dig from Powell let Drechsel finish from the left for 11-7. Drechsel and Sanders rejected one on the right for 13-9. The Bruins made a run, scoring five of the next six to get it level at 14-all. But Destiny Julye got it back with a booming kill from the back row. After a UCLA error, Shannon Crenshaw struck out of the back row as well for 17-14. Powell dumped a tight pass behind her for a kill and 18-15. The Dawgs ended two straight rallies with blocking errors, and then UCLA had a block for a third-straight point to tie it at 20-20 and the Huskies used their first timeout. McPherson saved UW from a near-block on the next point and Drechsel finished it for the big point. But UCLA responded with two-straight blocks to take its first lead since 2-3 at 21-22. The Bruins however missed their next serve and then hit out on their next attack for 23-22. But the lead swung back again after a Bruins kill and then their fifth block of the set, with UW taking timeout at 23-24. Hoffman had a perfect pass out of the break and Julye hammered out of the back row to save it, but UCLA tipped to an open spot to get a second chance, and then aced the Huskies to win it, 24-26. Washington hit only .051 in the set while UCLA was not much better but better enough, hitting .125.

SET 2: Sanders started the second set off with a stuff block. Sanders then ended a long rally with a solo rejection for 3-1. Drechsel finished one off the block and down for a 6-5 Husky lead, but the Huskies needed timeout after a 4-0 UCLA run made it 6-9. Hoffman stepped into an out of system set from Drechsel and hit it straight down for 7-9. Bajema and Niece fired away for a couple kills to keep the Dawgs within two at 13-15. The Bruins stretched it to five after killing a lengthy rally for 14-19 and the Huskies used their final timeout. Drechsel and Sanders had a block out of the break to try and spark UW. A soft block from Sanders let Powell get Bajema for a kill for 17-20. The Dawgs could get no closer, as UCLA closed out on a 4-1 run to end it, 19-25. The Bruins outhit the Dawgs, .268 to .189 in the set, with seven kills from Mac May.

SET 3: Kills from Bajema and Drechsel made a 3-1 early lead in the third set. Julye fired again from the back row for 6-5 Dawgs. The teams traded sideouts, with Drechsel tying it at 9-9 in serve-receive. After Bajema finished, she teamed with Sanders for a block and then Sanders and Powell roofed a second in a row to give the Huskies a lead, 13-12. But UCLA came right back with a 3-0 run punctuated by an ace for 13-15 at the media timeout. Another Bruins ace made it a three-point gap at 14-17. After a timeout down 15-19, the Huskies got a much needed point off a block to end a broken play, and then Drechsel had a transition kill on the left to make it 17-19. Bajema then tooled the block and got the Dawgs within one at 19-20. Niece tipped over and down and then the Dawgs moved ahead on a Drechsel right side finish at 22-21. UCLA tied it, but Bajema answered from the left. Sanders and Powell then came up with a huge rejection on the right to make it set point at 24-22 and UCLA called time. Out of the break, the Bruins sailed one wide and the Dawgs stayed alive with the 25-22 win. UW got its offense going in the third, hitting .366, with 16 kills and just one error in the frame. Bajema put away six kills and hit .429.

SET 4: Washington's first ace finally came on the first point of the fourth set from Hoffman. The teams traded sideouts all the way up to 9-7 Dawgs when UCLA missed one wide. Powell and Drechsel turne din a highlight as Powell dug to dig up a tip close to the net and Drechsel turned in on it and hit it down on two for the kill. But after that highlight play, the Bruins scored five straight points to go up 10-13 and the Huskies needed timeout. Bajema finished in serve-receive to snap that run out of the timeout. Julye connected yet again on the pipe set for 13-15. Hoffman's serve earned UW a free ball and Niece put it away for 15-17 and then a UCLA net error got the Dawgs back within one. One lengthy rally was finally finished by Drechsel on the right, and then UW just got over a near-block and then followed with a block of its own by Drechsel and Sanders to tie it, 18-18. UCLA then hit wide for a third-straight Husky point and sixth in the last seven, and UCLA called timeout at 19-18 Dawgs. The Huskies missed serve out of the break and then UCLA scored in transition for 19-20 but then missed its next serve. UCLA came back with two more points, however, to regain the edge at 20-22 and the Huskies used their last timeout. UCLA blocked Bajema out of the break and then tipped for a kill to reach match point at 20-24. Bajema saved one with a kill but UCLA's setter took a tight pass and the Husky block was nowehere to be found as she tapped it down to end it, 21-25. UCLA outhit UW in the final frame, .308 to .171, despite five kills from Drechsel who hit .364.