Huskies Win Fifth-Straight, Stopping Wildcats

Sunday, October 20

Seattle, WA

12:00 PM

University of Washington

15-3, 6-2Pac-12

Arizona

11-9, 1-7Pac-12

Arizona

Washington

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

October 20, 2019 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – The 10th-ranked Husky volleyball team got locked in another defensive struggle today but was up to the challenge, and when the offense got rolling in the fourth set that spelled victory for the Huskies over Arizona in front of 2,444 fans at Alaska Airlines Arena. Washington (15-3, 6-2 Pac-12) set a season-high for digs for the second straight match, racking up 88 led by the 25 of Shayne McPherson, holding off the Wildcats by a count of 25-23, 25-14, 21-25, 25-18.

It's the fifth-straight win for the Huskies who went 4-0 on the just concluded homestand. Washington looked to be rolling to a sweep up two sets and 7-0 in the third set but Arizona made a big charge in the third to extend things and had the lead in the fourth set at 15-13 before the Huskies reeled off 12 of the final 15 points to end any more thoughts of an Arizona comeback.

The Huskies hit just .192 for the match but got going in the fourth with a .441 attack percentage in that last set. Arizona was held to just .080 on offense. Senior Kara Bajema had 19 kills and 17 digs while hitting .300 today. Samantha Drechsel had 17 kills and five blocks, and sophomore Shannon Crenshaw had 10 kills and 12 digs for a double-double. Senior Avie Niece helped the Huskies to a 13.5 to 8.0 block advantage as she had seven stuff blocks.

"I feel good about the solutions we had in the fourth set, breaking loose (offensively)," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "I thought Arizona first of all was a good defensive team, and they looked really well organized. Then serving they did something we don't see from many of our opponents and they did it repeatedly and kind of dragged us into a defensive game and so to see us break it open in the fourth was satisfying."

"Kara was quite good today at that volume to hit .300. Shannon was better today with some nice swings in that fourth set. Shayne deserves a lot of credit, 25 digs tonight, and that's back-to-back matches for her where she's made a big impact defensively."

Shayne lays out and Sam crushes it to get the crowd back roaring!#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/v9A0ErGfqz
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) October 20, 2019

UP NEXT: Washington is back on the road next week, wrapping up the first half of Pac-12 play against the mountain schools. The Huskies head to 18th-ranked Utah first next Friday and then travel to Colorado next Sunday, Oct. 27.

SET 1: Drechsel posted the first two kills for the Dawgs for a 2-1 lead. Arizona scored three straight but Bajema landed her first kill and then Drechsel had a solo rejection for 4-4. Bajema put away the Powell set for an 8-7 lead. A kill from Shannon Crenshaw pushed UW to an 11-8 lead and forced Arizona's first timeout. Out of the break, Crenshaw had another kill and then she hit down a Wildcat overpass off an Emma Calle serve for 13-8. Calle then served up an ace for a fifth-straight point. Drechsel and Bajema finished consecutive kills to push it to a 18-11 lead. Bajema lit up a Powell set straight to the court and then Sanders had a solo stuff for a 20-12 lead. Arizona made a big run to get back into the set, scoring six straight points to cut the Husky lead to 21-19 and force a Husky timeout. Arizona scored a seventh-straight point out of the break to cut it to one but Sanders finally ended it with a kill on a slide for 22-20. Arizona made a couple errors to get the Huskies to set point at 24-22. UW missed its serve but Arizona netted on the next point to end it, 25-23.

Bajema was on target with seven kills in the set, hitting .429, but the Huskies hit just .154 as a team. Arizona hit just .089.

SET 2: A couple Wildcat errors was followed by a Drechsel finish from the right pin and then Arizona hit another into the net for a quick 4-0 lead and UA took timeout. Crenshaw tipped one deep for a kill to keep Powell's serving run going out of the timeout. Arizona got on the board, but UW came back with two straight blocks for a 7-1 lead. The Wildcats closed the gap with three straight but UW came back with a 3-0 run of its own as Drechsel notched an ace and Bajema finished a Powell set for 11-5 and Arizona used its last timeout. Arizona scored out of the break but Powell answered with a kill on two for 12-6. Bajema lined an ace off the defense for a 14-6 edge. UW kept pushing on Bajema's serve with kills from Crenshaw and Sanders and then a UA ball-handling error made it 17-6 Dawgs. Redshirt freshman Dani Cole checked in for the first time at 17-7. Cole and Niece teamed up for a roof for 19-9. Niece got in on two more rejections to make it 23-12. Bajema ended it with a tip into the campfire for the 25-14 win.

Washington hit .162 in the second set and held Arizona in negative numbers at -.073. Crenshaw had three kills on 10 attempts without an error for a .300 percentage, and UW posted 5.5 blocks in the set, with Niece in on all of them.

SET 3: Bajema rolled one over the block and down for a quick 3-0 lead in the third. Niece flew to the left pin for another rejection and Arizona needed timeout down 5-0. A transition swing by Drechsel off a McPherson bump set made it 7-0 before the Wildcats got a couple on the board. Drechsel hammered from the right pin and then she dropped in an ace for 10-3 and Arizona burned its final timeout. The Huskies made a handful of errors to let Arizona creep back within three points before Sanders had a solo block to stop the run and make it 11-7. Leading 15-10, the Husky offense dried up and Arizona went on a huge seven point run and took the lead, with UW calling timeout trailing 15-17. Washington hit long and then was blocked out of the timeout to go down 15-19 before Drechsel finally put one away to end the 9-0 Arizona run. Bajema then scored two straight to get back within one at 18-19. The Huskies let a short serve fall in for an ace for 19-22. The Huskies couldn't make a run to save it, and lost the set, 21-25.

UW hit only .082 in the set with Arizona finishing at .085. Bajema and Drechsel had 10 of the 11 Husky kills in the set.

SET 4: A kill from Drechsel and a solo block for Powell had the Huskies up 4-2. A Crenshaw finish from the left and a Powell service ace made it 8-6. Arizona retook the lead with a 4-0 run to make it 10-12 and the Huskies needed timeout. Drechsel finished in serve-receive out of the break but Arizona did the same for 11-13. Bajema connected from the back row and then Crenshaw went off the block and down to tie it back up at 15-15. Drechsel got a kill on the block touch and then Arizona hit one long for 18-16 Dawgs and the Wildcats took timeout. Arizona got a sideout but Drechsel responded from the right pin, and then Arizona doubled a set, followed by a transition Drechsel kill for 21-17 and Arizona's final timeout came then. Drechsel and Sanders kept the Husky run going with a roof out of the break, and then McPherson dropped a short serve in for an ace for 23-17. A sixth-straight point came on a Wildcat error for match point at 24-17. Arizona saved one but Drechsel took another big rip off the block and it was dug but then fell to the floor to end it for the Huskies, 25-18.

Drechsel dominated the fourth set with seven kills on 12 swings and just one error to hit .500. The Huskies finally got the offense rolling in the set, hitting .441 with just one team error and 16 kills. Crenshaw also had four kills on seven swings without a miss.