Hot Husky Hitting Leads Sweep Of No. 21 Wildcats

Friday, October 5

Tucson, AZ

6:00 PM

University of Washington

12-3, 4-1Pac-12

Arizona

14-3, 3-2Pac-12

Washington

Arizona

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

October 05, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score PDF VIDEO: Samantha Drechsel Postmatch Interview VIDEO: Top Husky Highlights VIDEO: Pac-12 Network Recap

By: UW Athletic Communications

TUCSON, Ariz. – An efficient Husky offense hit a season-best .333 and 15th-ranked Washington got out of the McKale Center with a straight set win over 21st-ranked Arizona, winning 25-18, 25-23, 25-23. The Huskies (12-3, 4-1 Pac-12) were led by the 14 kills from sophomore Samantha Drechsel and handed the Wildcats (14-3, 3-2 Pac-12) their first home loss of the year.

It was the seventh-straight win for the Huskies in Tucson and the 14th in a row overall in the series, but one of the biggest as the Wildcats were coming off a big road sweep at the Oregon schools last week.

"The best thing that I think our group did was practice hard, particularly in serve-receive, siding out on offense," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "We had to have some really good side-out performances late in two of those sets. We really had to find a way to get a side-out against a good serving team and certainly stoked to see that growth."

Washington's .333 attack percentage was made of 43 kills on 102 swings with just nine errors. The Huskies held Arizona to a .173 mark. The Dawgs had a big edge in blocks, 9.0 to 1.0.

Drechsel hit .333 herself with 14 kills on 30 swings and four errors. Junior Kara Bajema had nine kills and two aces, hitting .273, and senior Destiny Julye hit .316 with eight kills, an ace and two blocks. Junior middle Avie Niece was error-free with seven kills on 14 swings to hit .500 and she had five block assists.

Ella May Powell dished 35 assists and Shayne McPherson's 15 digs were the most for either side.

"Ella May did a nice job distributing the ball, all the hitters were involved. We challenged all of them to find ways they can score and I thought that showed. We still made some unforced errors, we saw that late in the third; to hit as well as we did and still have two deuce sets, we still are making some young mistakes."

UP NEXT: Washington visits the surprising Arizona State squad which got out to a 3-1 start in Pac-12 play. The Huskies and Sun Devils play Sunday at 12 noon, only available on a live stream through Arizona State's website.

SET 1: Bajema collected the first kill for the Dawgs set by Powell for a 2-1 lead. Shayne McPherson went on a long run to track down a dig and after UW sent it over, Bajema and Niece teamed for a block for 4-1. Julye hammered off the right block for her first kill and 7-3 and then an Arizona error made it 8-3 and the Wildcats called time. After the break, the Dawgs kept the momentum going with a pancake dig from Julye that led to a Bajema finish, and Bajema then served up an ace for a 10-4 lead. Grote and Drechsel posted a block and then Grote tapped down an overpass for 12-4 lead. The Wildcats made their first run, scoring four straight to cut it to 12-8 but Drechsel hit down an overpass to snap that and the Huskies ran back with three more points, Emma Calle serving for the Dawgs and producing a couple Arizona errors. Drechsel got a kill on the left off the top of the block for 16-8. Drechsel put another down from the right and Bajema hammered right past the block to the floor for a 19-13 edge. A couple UA errors had the Dawgs within two of the finish at 23-16. Niece killed a slide to get to set point at 24-17. Julye finished it off with a booming kill for 25-18. The Huskies hit an impressive .370 in the opening set and held Arizona to just .097. Bajema was on target with five kills and no errors on eight swings to hit .625 in the frame.

SET 2: The Dawgs seized the momentum right from the start of the second set with a 5-0 run on the serving of Powell. Drechsel had to kills on the left and Niece put away a quick in transition to force the Wildcats into an early timeout. Julye finished from the right for a 7-2 lead, but the Dawgs cooled off with a few errors to let Arizona fight back to within a point at 8-7. Drechsel had a solo rejection on the left for an 11-8 lead, but the Wildcats aced the Huskies twice in a row and then forced an overpass that was killed as UA took its first lead at 11-12 and the Huskies took time. Out of the break, Bajema nailed a pass and Julye converted on the pipe set to tie it. Drechsel then stepped into the court and looped a kill to the corner for 13-12. Niece and Julye then swung up for a stuff on the right side, forcing an Arizona timeout at 14-12. Arizona responded out of the break with four of the next five points to go back up one. An ace from Julye put the Dawgs back up, 18-17. Arizona evened things at 19-all with a block, but the Huskies had a 3-0 run as Powell dumped on second contact and then a tough Bajema serve led to a free ball for the Dawgs that Grote finished for 21-19. Bajema then smacked the back line with an ace for 22-19. The Wildcats snapped the run with a kill and then Drechsel missed just long and UW took timeout at 22-21. Drechsel fired back out of the break and connected for 23-21. Drechsel put one down inside the block for set point at 24-22. After a service error, the Dawgs finished it, 25-23, as Niece hit the Powell set off the block and out. The Huskies hit .343 in the set while Arizona was at .265. Drechsel had five kills in the frame and Niece killed four on four attempts with a pair of blocks.

SET 3: Arizona called a very early timeout in the third after two errors gave the Huskies a 2-0 lead. Niece finished a Powell set and a block by Bajema and Grote made it 4-1 Dawgs. Julye had a pair of sideouts and then Grote had a solo block in the middoe for an 8-3 Husky lead and the second Arizona timeout. Drechsel caught fire, ending a long rally high off the block for 10-4, then tooling the block two points later, and putting one down on the right pin for 12-6 Dawgs. Powell bumped up a tight set to Bajema and she cut it sharply cross for the kill for 15-10. Arizona crept within three points, but Drechsel banged off the block and out on UW's side, then an Arizona error was followed by a Niece and Powell stuff to push the lead back to 18-12. But the Huskies stalled there for four points, as Arizona got right back into it at 18-16 with UW taking timeout after a couple hitting errors. The Wildcats scored again out of the break before Niece put down a slide to snap the five-point run and make it 19-17. Washington sided out three times, a Julye kill, a Bajema spike, and a block by Grote and Julye, but missed three straight serves to keep Arizona within a point. Bajema pounded another kill to get the Dawgs to 23-21, but a manic rally with multiple tips and overpasses around the net ultimately fell ASU's way for a tied set at 23-23, prompting Coach Cook to take timeout. Out of the break, Drechsel came through again with a kill off the block for match point at 24-23. Arizona's first swing was pushed wide out of the middle for the final point the Dawgs needed, taking it 25-23. The Huskies outhit the Wildcats again, .293 to .152, with six big kills from Drechsel and four from Bajema, and six digs from McPherson.