No. 13 Huskies Rally From 0-2 Down To Win In Five

Sunday, September 23

Corvallis, OR

2:00 PM

University of Washington

Oregon State

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

September 23, 2018 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Two Pac-12 matches and ten sets later, the 13th-ranked Husky volleyball team finished the opening weekend of conference play with a pair of wins after battling back from two sets down to spoil Oregon State's upset bid at Gill Coliseum. The Huskies (10-2, 2-0 Pac-12) picked up the defense over the second half of the match to outlast the Beavers, 20-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-10 in front of 1,301 fans.

It was the second-straight five set win for UW after it opened with a win at home on Thursday over Washington State. The Huskies came back from 0-2 down for the first time in almost exactly a year, as they did it on Sept. 24 last year at Arizona State, also the second Pac-12 match of they ear.

"However long it takes is what we told them after those first two sets," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "We've got nothing ahead of us but a long bus ride so we took it one set at a time and fought our way back into it."

Washington had just one block and one ace over the first two sets, but the defense and serving picked up the rest of the way, as the Huskies had four blocks in the third set win, four aces in the fourth set, and then a big five blocks in the fifth set alone. All told the Huskies had 10 blocks and five aces over the final three sets.

"The athletes have been working really hard on their blocking and we have one of the best blocking coaches in the country in Leslie Gabriel and she's been working her butt off and all those women working hard got it in place. To start that fifth set off with four or five stuff blocks to really clinch the match. Our serving improved, certainly it was one of our worst serving performances of the year, but in the fourth and fifth sets, Kara and Samantha got going with their serves and that put us in a really good spot.

Washington ended hitting .238 for the match and held Oregon State to .167. Junior outside hitter Kara Bajema had a big day with 21 kills, hitting .308, and adding three aces and eight digs with a pair of block assists. Samantha Drechsel followed her big match against WSU with 18 more kills today, hitting .279, with eight digs. Destiny Julye had 11 kills, six digs, and six blocks, as she and Avie Niece made a great blocking combo late. Niece finished eight eight blocks.

"I love that match for Kara," said Cook. "To see her bounce back and hit over .300 against a really good block and defense team, again she put in good work this week and got a return on it. Really happy for her."

Junior Shayne McPherson popped up 21 digs with seven assists and an ace, and freshman Ella May Powell had 49 assists and 14 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.

UP NEXT: The Huskies return home to host the mountain schools next Friday and Sunday. Colorado comes in first on Friday, Sept. 28, then Utah visits on Sept. 30.

SET 1: Both teams came out hot to start, with the teams combining to kill seven of their first eight swings. Bajema had two early kills and Sanders, Niece, and Julye all finished as the teams were tied through 10 points. Drechsel crushed one to the floor from the right for a 7-6 lead. Sanders and Julye shut down the right side for UW's first block and 9-7. Powell flipped a tight pass behind her for a kill and a 11-10 lead. Sanders killed a slide and Powell put another tight set deep for her second kill and 13-13. A Drechsel serve was overpassed and Bajema hit it down for 15-14 Huskies at the media timeout. An injury to Sanders after landing on an OSU player on a block move made for a scary moment as she was helped off and Marin Grote subbed in. The Huskies called timeout down 17-19. The Huskies made two more errors out of the timeout and had to call a second one down 17-21. A Bajema kill and a Drechsel kill tapping down a tight set cut it to 19-22 and the Beavers called time. Out of the break, Grote had a block but caught the net and then Drechsel was blocked for set point at 19-24. Drechsel saved the first with a kill but UW missed its fifth serve of the set on the next point to fall, 20-25. Oregon State outhit the Huskies, .367 to .268, with seven kills from Maddie Goings. Bajema had six to lead UW.

SET 2: The Huskies struggled to find the court to start the second set, missing a couple more serves and a pair of attacks to find themselves in a 2-6 hole. Grote put away a quick in transition to 4-6 but OSU responded with three in a row for 4-9 and the Huskies took timeout. Shannon Crenshaw had a kill out of the back row for 6-10. Drechsel had two kills in a three-point Husky run for 9-12 but the Beavers erased that with a 3-0 run right back for 9-15. Bajema put one down crosscourt on a McPherson bump set to pull within three again at 13-16. Drechsel beat one off the block and down for 18-21, but two straight from the Beavers made it 18-23 and forced UW's final timeout. Oregon State scored first out of the break to get set point at 18-24, but UW made a late push with three straight, Powell serving up an ace for 21-24 and an OSU timeout. The Beavers put it away with a kill in serve-receive for 21-25. Washington hit .194 in the set while OSU finished with a .286 mark. Drechsel had five kills and Bajema had three on five swings without a miss.

SET 3: The teams were even through the first 10 points as Julye, Niece, and Bajema had early kills. Grote crushed a quick in serve-receive from Powell for 6-6. A kill from Julye and a block turned in from Bajema knotted it at 11-11. Bajema slammed one to the floor and then gave UW a lead at 14-13, ending a marathon rally to give UW a spark. Drechsel tipped for a kill and then Niece got a block to win a big point on a serve from Emma Calle for 17-15 Dawgs. Another wild rally with several saves by the Husky back row ended in an OSU error for 18-15 and a Beavers timeout. Powell hit Bajema for another kill in transition to make it 21-18. Bajema then killed an overpass and a Beavers error made it 23-18 and forced their final timeout. The run kept going out of the break as Niece and Julye put down consecutive stuff blocks to end the set, 25-18, as the Dawgs closed on a 6-0 run. Washington cooled OSU down to .045 in the set thanks to four blocks, three from Niece, with Bajema getting six kills on 13 swings without an error and McPherson digging nine.

SET 4: Julye had the first two kills of the fourth set for the Dawgs but UW was down three early with two more service errors. Despite just one kill from Oregon State, the Huskies were down 2-7 and called timeout. Bajema found the block for a kill out of the break to steady UW, and then her following serve was overpassed and Drechsel hit it down. More tough serving from Bajema resulted in a transition laser from Drechsel and then Powell and Grote teamed for a block for 6-7 and the Beavers used their first timeout. The run reached six points on a OSU double and a hitting error before Bajema missed serve to snap it but UW was back in it at 8-8. Calle served up an ace for 10-8 Dawgs. The teams went back and forth as the rallies got longer and more defensive with Drechsel ending some long rallies from the right. At 12-all, the Dawgs went on a 4-0 run to prompt a Beavers timeout as Bajema ended another marathon and Julye went high hands off the block. Oregon State was out of rotation for a Husky ace for 16-12. The Beavers got a quick kill out of the break but Bajema crushed one to the court to answer. Bajema then gave some more breathing room with two straight aces and Drechsel then hit in transition for 21-14. It was a 5-0 run before Bajema finally missed serve. McPherson popped up several impressive digs and Drechsel finished for 23-15. Oregon State wouldn't give in, as it won four straight to cut it to 23-19 and force UW's final timeout. Out of the break, Niece tipped over for a kill for set point and on the next point, Julye finished the Powell back set from the right for the 25-19 win. Drechsel finished with six kills in the set and the four Husky aces helped create space. Julye killed four of nine attempts as well as the Huskies hit .282.

SET 5: Bajema ended a long rally with a block on the left pin to start the set and then Julye and Niece sent one down even harder on the right pin for 2-0. OSU then tried to tip deep to avoid the block but it went out for 3-0 and the Beavers called time. Two more blocks with Niece and Julye on the right kept the Huskies running early as it was 5-0 with four blocks in the first five points. Julye killed one on the right in transition for 6-0 and the Beavers had to take time again. Bajema scored one more for the Dawgs out of the timeout for 7-0 before OSU got its first kill. The Beavers served an ace but Niece and Julye grabbed another block for 8-2 at the side change. OSU scored twice to pull within four but Crenshaw had a clutch dig and Julye finished for 9-4. The third ace of the match for Bajema pushed it to 12-5. Grote looked great finishing a quick from Powell for 13-6. Drechsel powered through the block to get to match point at 14-8. Oregon State saved two but on the third chance, Powell went to Julye and she finished off the block for the 15-10 win. Washington's five blocks were the story, with Oregon State finishing at -.043 for the set and UW hitting .200.