Dawgs Fall In Straight Sets To Sun Devils

Sunday, October 7

Tempe, AZ

12:00 PM

University of Washington

12-4, 4-2

Arizona State

13-4, 4-2

Washington

Arizona State

Kara Bajema hitting over the San Diego block 2018

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

October 07, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score PDF

By: UW Athletic Communications

TEMPE, Ariz. – Last season in Tempe the Huskies dug out of an 0-2 hole to avoid an upset, and UW did the same two weeks ago in Corvallis, but back in Tempe today Washington never put it together, falling in straight sets to Arizona State. The Huskies (12-4, 4-2 Pac-12) fell at Arizona State (13-4, 4-2 Pac-12) today for the first time since 2000, ending a streak of 16 straight wins in the Wells Fargo Arena. Set scores were 25-23, 25-17, 25-22.

Junior Kara Bajema was the bright spot, tallying 17 kills and hitting .267, but similar to UW's loss to Utah last week when Bajema had 22 kills, the Huskies struggled to find another consistent option on offense. Bajema added 11 digs for a double-double. Senior Destiny Julye had seven kills, five digs and an ace.

UW has started slow in its Sunday Pac-12 matches this year following big wins on Friday nights. Head Coach Keegan Cook said, "Externals can challenge you in terms of can you still play your principles, can you show up with the right intensity and the right execution and certainly that's something we have to build on. When we're on the road or playing at an early time or playing in the second match, can we come out with the same execution? We've got some work to do there."

The Huskies hit just .150 today, second-lowest this season, while Arizona State hit .176. But the serving line cost UW as Washington's one ace was a season-low, while they made nine service errors. The Huskies had not had fewer than three aces in a match this year. On the other side, ASU hit eight aces, a season-high for a Husky opponent, missing just five.

"I didn't like us in either phase of the game," said Cook. "Arizona State did serve the ball outstanding, and I think teams in our conference have learned how valuable that is. We're used to being on top of that battle, but I thought our serving was timid and error-prone, and then our receive, we fought off some good serves but if you get aced eight times you can't see it as a successful day."

UP NEXT: The Huskies look to bounce back next Friday in the Bay Area, taking on California on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. followed by a match with No. 2 Stanford on Saturday, Oct. 13.

SET 1: A couple early aces for Arizona State helped them build a lead at 2-5 to start. Kara Bajema's first kill made it 4-6. An overpass for an ASU kill put the Huskies behind, 9-13, and Washington took timeout. Shannon Crenshaw moved into the front row and had her first kill for 13-17 Devils. Bajema pushed one through the block and followed that up by spiking one on the second contact for a big kill for 18-20 and ASU called its first timeout. Bajema brought UW within one at 20-21 as this time she hit a hanging ball on the first touch as it came off the Husky block. Powell won a joust at the net to get to 22-23, and then the Huskies finally tied it up at 23-all as Crenshaw won another joust after a nice serve by Marin Grote. After an ASU timeout, Grote's next serve went long for an ASU set point, and the Huskies were then aced on the next serve to fall, 23-25. The Huskies were aced four times in the set to lose despite outhitting ASU, .308 to .243.

SET 2: ASU carried the momentum into the first three points of the second set before the Dawgs won four of the next five to tie it at 4-4. Arizona State answered back with a 4-0 run to retake command. The Huskies got their first block and first ace on back-to-back points to pull back within one at 7-8. Another Sun Devil run pushed the lead back to five at 9-14 and the Huskies needed timeout. UW made two more errors out of the break to fall behind 9-16. Natalie Robinson subbed in and won a joust at the net to snap a 6-0 Sun Devil scoring run but the Dawgs were down big at 10-18. Washington never got closer than six points the rest of the way and dropped the set, 25-17, hitting just .067 while ASU hit .278.

SET 3: The Huskies trailed through the first ten points, 4-6. Washington had a 4-0 run to take an 8-7 lead, with Grote getting in on a couple blocks during the push. Bajema put one down off the block and then Niece hit down an overpass for another point. A long rally ended on Niece finishing a slide for 12-9 and ASU took timeout. Despite a couple more finishes from Bajema, the Sun Devils got back level at 15-all. Crenshaw converted in serve-receive for 16-15, but UW then missed serve. Powell roofed the Devils on the right side to cap a 3-0 run to get a 19-16 lead, but ASU won three right back to tie it up again and UW took timeout. The Huskies won a huge rally out of the break as Grote and Powell saved a near ace that caught the tape, and Bajema eventually hit through the block, but on the next point Niece hit long and then Crenshaw was aced to fall behind 20-21. Bajema tied it again at 22-22 with a rightside kill but ASU answered in serve-receive. A Sun Devil block of Crenshaw earned them match point at 22-24 and UW took timeout. On the first swing, Crenshaw hit long to end it, 22-25.