No. 13 Huskies Pull Away From No. 23 Buffs

Friday, September 28

Seattle, WA

6:00 PM

University of Washington

11-2, 3-0Pac-12

Colorado

9-5, 1-2Pac-12

Colorado

Washington

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

September 28, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score PDF VIDEO: Top Husky Highlights VIDEO: Kara Bajema Postmatch Interview VIDEO: Pac-12 Network Recap

By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – It was a tale of two serving stats for the 13th-ranked Husky volleyball team tonight. The aggressive serving Dawgs missed a season-high 16 serves, but countered that with a season-high 12 aces and their offense got rolling in the third and fourth sets to put away 23rd-ranked Colorado in four sets at Alaska Airlines Arena. Freshman Marin Grote's big night in her first career start also provided a spark as the Dawgs won 25-23, 20-25, 25-20, 25-16.

Washington won its seventh-straight and improved to 11-2 and 3-0 in Pac-12 play while Colorado fell to 9-5 and 1-2. The Huskies hit .236 for the night compared to .212 for the Buffs, but UW hit .333 in the third set and .353 in the fourth, adjusting after Colorado's block was the big story in the first two sets. The Buffs had 12.5 blocks through two sets but just three blocks in the next two.

The Burbank, Calif. native Marin Grote, starting in the middle in place of an injured Lauren Sanders, came into the match with a match high of three kills. Tonight she put away 11 kills, hitting .381, and added two huge service aces at the end of the first set and led the team with five block assists.

Fellow freshman Ella May Powell also had a big match with 49 assists, two aces, six digs and four blocks plus a pair of kills. She regularly found Samantha Drechsel and Kara Bajema, as Drechsel led all players with 18 kills and Bajema added 16. Drechsel and Bajema also served up three aces apiece and Bajema had 11 digs for a double-double. Senior Destiny Julye added nine kills on a .292 attack percentage and junior Shayne McPherson had a big 18 digs and two aces.

"I thought Colorado had a bigger block than we'd seen in our first two Pac-12 matches," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "They're running 6-2, they've got a bunch of good athletes and some long middle blockers. I told our team that's what a high level Pac-12 block is going to look like for the rest of the year. Part of Sam and Kara's maturity is being able to hit high and hard, and you see it at times, but they still look to drive it to the floor at times where that's not an option. As they continue to improve at that we'll continue to become more consistent."

Grote has never been one to show a lot of nerves, according to her coach. "A pretty confident player not afraid to go for it, and that certainly can help you in that environment. Had a lot of confidence starting her and confidence having her run behind the setter and hit some slides. We had mixed her in some other matches to prepare for just in case, and just in case happened, so feeling pretty good about that."

UP NEXT: Washington faces yet another top-25 opponent in the 25th-ranked Utah Utes on Sunday at 12 noon at Alaska Airlines Arena.

SET 1: After a few early errors from both teams, the Huskies got a stuff from Niece and Powell for a 4-2 Husky lead. But Colorado then reeled off five straight points as the Huskies had trouble getting a good pass and took timeout trailing 4-7. Washington finally picked up its first kill on a Niece quick kill for 7-9 and Bajema got her first two points later. Bajema beat the early serving woes with two straight aces to get the Huskies back even at 11-11. Grote and Powell had a rejection for 12-all and the Huskies tied it again at 15-15 on a Drechsel right side finish followed by a Julye kill kept alive by a Powell pancake. Bajema finished a long rally with a big kill on the left and then Drechsel got an ace off the tape for a 17-15 lead and Colorado took its first timeout. Bajema put another transition kill down for 18-15, but UW then hit a skid, giving up four straight back to Colorado to go down 18-19 and need time. The Buffs scored once more before Julye tipped over for a kill to make it 19-20. Powell dumped one for the 21-22 point. Marin Grote hammered a slide for a kill at 22-23. Grote then went back to serve. Her only previous serve all year was an error, but Grote served into a seam and froze the Buffs for an ace to tie it. Colorado took timeout, but out of the break, another tough Grote serve was shanked for another ace and the Huskies suddenly had set point. On the first chance, Cailin Onosko laid out for a dig and Powell followed suit to bump up the set to Drechsel who stepped in and put it away to the sideline and the Huskies had snuck out the set, 25-23, despite six service errors and Colorado getting five blocks. The Dawgs had five aces to counter their errors and had 14 digs to nine for Colorado.

SET 2: Niece put away the first point of the second set but Colorado won four of the next five points to take the slim two point lead. UW tied it at 4-4 on a Julye rightside sharp angle and a McPherson ace. Crenshaw stepped in to set Bajema for a transition kill as the Dawgs went up, 7-5. Colorado made a run scoring four straight to take the lead, 7-9, before missing serve. Two straight Colorado stuffs made it 9-13 before Drechsel put one off the defense and out. The Huskies trailed 12-15 at the media timeout. Bajema pounded straight to the floor out of the timeout to get within two and then she and Grote teamed up for a stuff for another point. Grote ended a long rally with a tip to get the Huskies even at 15-15. Colorado kept the lead and added one more before Bajema killed in serve-receive for 16-17 Buffs. Grote crushed a slide set from Powell to tie it up and then she and Powell teamed up for a stuff for a 19-18 lead and the Buffs called time. Out of the break, Colorado turned its block back up, stuffing three in a row as they retook the lead, 19-21, and forced UW back into a timeout. The Huskies couldn't make a late run like the previous set, as Colorado closed on a 7-1 run to take it, 25-20. Colorado posted 7.5 blocks in the second set alone and hit .290 while the Huskies hit .119.

SET 3: A pair of kills from Bajema and Drechsel on the left had it even at 3-3 in the third set. Powell fired her first ace to give the Dawgs the 7-5 edge. Drechsel finished two more in a row, one hard from the right and one soft from the back row for a 9-6 lead. Powell found her middles as Niece and Grote both had kills to keep the three-point lead at 12-9. Bajema then had a solo rejection for 13-9. The next point had the same result as Bajema stuffed another, Grote coming in for the assist. A Bajema kill had the Huskies up 15-10 at the media timeout, and Drechsel put one away off the block out of the break for a six-point lead. Colorado cut a couple off that lead but Grote buried a slide for 17-12. Drechsel fired an ace to stretch it to 20-14 Dawgs and then Julye hammered from the right side to make it 21-15. Two more kills from Bajema on the left got the Dawgs to set point at 24-18. Colorado saved a pair and UW took timeout, but out of the break Drechsel found the floor after a back and forth to end it, 25-20. The Huskies had their best hitting set yet, finishing at .333 in the frame while Colorado was held to .130. Drechsel put down eight kills in the third set alone.

SET 4: An early ace off the tape for Bajema and a beautiful dig from McPherson that Drechsel converted helped the Huskies out to an early 5-1 lead in the fourth set. McPherson had a pancake and then a perfect up off a big swing to lead to a Drechsel kill for 7-3. Powell then dropped in an ace for 8-3. Another ace served up by Drechsel and a Julye rightside finish from Powell made it 11-5 and forced a Colorado timeout. Grote rolled one over the block for her eighth kill and 14-7. Grote's third kill in a span of five points made it 16-9 and the Buffs took their final timeout. Julye added two to her total to keep the Huskies siding out up seven to eight points. Powell saved a tight pass and lured the block, leaving open net for Bajema and she crushed it for 20-12. McPherson then served up the 12th Husky ace to make it a nine-point lead. Bajema got one down inside the block to reach match point at 24-16. On the next point, Bajema's serve was overpassed and fittingly it was Grote who jumped up and finished her best match of her young career with her 11th kill to end it, 25-16. The Dawgs hit a strong .353 in the fourth set compared to .182 for Colorado. Grote had five kills and Bajema, Julye, and Drechsel all had four each as Powell had an outstanding 16 assists in the set.