Huskies Cooled Off By Trojans

Friday, October 4

Los Angeles, CA

8:00 PM

University of Washington

10-3, 1-2Pac-12

USC

8-5, 2-1Pac-12

Washington

Southern California

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

October 04, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: UW Athletic Communications

LOS ANGELES – Washington Volleyball is still searching for better offensive consistency after a tough defeat on the road at the hands of USC tonight at the Galen Center. While the offense was outstanding last Sunday in the upset win at Stanford, the eighth-ranked Huskies (10-3, 1-2 Pac-12) made thirty attacking errors tonight to drop a 25-21, 18-25, 25-19, 25-23 decision.

The Huskies are 10-0 this season when hitting above .200 but 0-3 when under that mark and tonight the Huskies hit just .100, while USC (8-5, 2-1 Pac-12) managed a .213 attack percentage. Washington served up eight aces compared to just two for USC and had 10 blocks to 11 for the Trojans, but Head Coach Keegan Cook felt that USC's block prompted some bad habits from the Dawgs.

"When you're learning and you're trying to become a better team you can fall back into old habits," said Cook. "We've seen this from our group a number of times when we face really elite blocking teams, which I thought USC was tonight, I thought they did a great job at the net, and then we start pressing. We've got to get mastery over all of our offensive game. We're going to learn a lot from this one."

Senior Kara Bajema had 14 kills to lead the attack with 11 digs and a couple solo blocks. Samantha Drechsel had 11 kills and a pair of aces with three blocks.

Senior Avie Niece had six kills and three blocks and that moved her into the career top-10 list in total blocks as she now has 380 for her career for 10th all time. Senior libero Shayne McPherson led all players with 19 digs.

UP NEXT: Washington will head across town to face UCLA which now leads the Pac-12 with a 3-0 start to conference play. That match will go on Sunday, Oct. 6, at 2 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks.

SET 1: Drechsel pounded down a Trojan overpass on the first point of the match. USC took an early lead, with McPherson launching a long bump set to Hoffman for a kill for 3-4 Trojans. Bajema rejected one on the left pin to put UW back up, 6-5. A 4-1 run for USC got them back on top by a pair. A Trojan kill and a block made it 8-12 USC and the Huskies called for time. USC scored twice more before missing serve to snap the 4-0 run. Niece put away her first kill for 11-16. The Dawgs crept back within three at 13-16 on a couple USC errors and the Trojans took timeout. USC answered with three straight points to get back to a six point lead at 13-19. Sanders and Powell had a block for 15-19 and then rejected a second-straight to get back within three. After the teams swapped points for several rallies, the Huskies got a transition kill from Drechsel for 20-22. But the Huskies could get no closer, and USC closed out the set with a block for the 25-21 win.

The Huskies hit just .067 in the first set with just eight kills while USC had 17 kills and hit .333.

SET 2: Hoffman picked up an ace to open set two with an assist from the net cord. Bajema had a pair of kills and Niece finished a slide as the teams were even at 5-5. Bajema fired an ace for a 6-5 edge. Drechsel and Sanders then both pounded down USC overdigs, and another heavy blast from Drechsel made it 10-7 Dawgs. Hoffman turned one up the line to make it 11-7 and force a Trojans timeout. Out of the break, McPherson bumped one to Hoffman who found another crack up the sideline for 12-7. An ace from Drechsel made it 14-7 and USC used its last timeout. A booming block from Sanders pushed it to 16-8. Bajema took a little off up the line from the left pin for a kill and then Drechsel roofed one for 19-11. Niece slammed down two quick sets from Powell to keep the Dawgs siding out. A stuff from Sanders got the Huskies to set point at 24-18 and then she went back to serve and fired an ace for the 25-18 win.

The Huskies hit .270 in the set with Claire Hoffman leading with four kills and the Dawgs tallying four aces in the frame.

SET 3: Hoffman dropped in a float serve ace for 2-1 in the third. The Huskies gave a couple away on hitting errors but Powell attacked on two for 3-4 and then Maria Bogomolova tied it with an ace. Bajema and Niece teamed up for a stuff of a USC slide for 6-5. Drechsel hammered down an overpass and then USC missed long for 8-5. A couple UW errors helped the Trojans get even again at 9-9. Consecutive kills from Bajema got the Huskies to the media timeout leading 15-14. USC scored three in a row out of the media timeout, with Bajema snapping that streak with a kill assisted by Powell for 16-17. Niece then hung in the air to stuff down a tip attempt to tie it. But the Huskies then missed serve and USC converted in transition for 17-19 and the Huskies took timeout. Drechsel put one through the block for a big point out of the break. Drechsel and Niece then tied it up again at 19 with a stuff. But the wheels then fell off completely as the Huskies would not get another point in the set, USC running off the final six with three kills, two blocks, and an ace to win it 25-19.

The Huskies finished with more errors than kills in the third, hitting -.059.

SET 4: A handful of errors from the Trojans helped the Huskies take a 4-1 lead to start the set. The first UW kill of the set came from Bajema and made it 6-2 with USC taking timeout. Powell got an ace off the tape and Bajema finished from the right for 8-3. Washington hit out of bounds on three straight points to let USC right back into things, with Drechsel stopping the skid with a kill to keep the lead, 9-7. USC caught up at 12-12 on a block and went ahead on a Husky net error. Kills from Niece and Drechsel tied it at 13 and 14, and Drechsel broke through the block for a 15-14 lead. Hoffman and Sanders went up for a big block to get the Huskies back to an 18-15 lead and USC took time. The Trojans scored twice out of the break, but Sanders dropped one in for 19-17. USC tied it again at 19 on a Husky hitting error, but Sanders finished a slide for 20-19. A Trojan kill tied it at 20-all and the Huskies took timeout. USC went on top with an ace out of the break, but Bajema answered with a rocket from the left pin for 21-all. But the Huskies hit into the net on the next rally and then got blocked for 21-23 and UW used its last timeout. USC missed a serve but scored on its next chance to get to match point at 22-24. Bajema saved the first with a kill, but on the next point the Trojans finished with a clean kill to the floor for the win, 23-25.

Bajema had six kills in the final set but the Dawgs made nine errors to hit .103 while USC made just four attacking errors to hit .195. Eight digs from McPherson in the final set wouldn't be enough.