No. 13 Huskies Spread Offense In Sweep

Friday, November 15

Seattle, WA

8:00 PM

University of Washington

20-5, 11-4Pac-12

Colorado

11-14, 3-12Pac-12

Colorado

Washington

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

November 15, 2019 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – Five different Huskies had seven or more kills in just three sets tonight as 13th-ranked Washington swept Colorado, 25-22, 25-17, 25-19, in front of 1,838 fans at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Huskies (20-5, 11-4 Pac-12) hit .346 as a team with sophomore Ella May Powell dishing 33 assists and leading the team in both digs (12) and blocks (6).

UW hit above .300 in all three sets and held Colorado to a .163 mark for the match. Washington had a big edge in total kills, 49 to 31, and had a 6-3 edge in aces and a 10.0 to 6.0 advantage in blocks.

Junior Samantha Drechsel put away 12 kills on a .346 mark, matching the team's percentage. Kara Bajema and Claire Hoffman both had 10 kills apiece. Junior middle Lauren Sanders had eight kills and hit .429 with five blocks and senior Avie Niece had seven kills, hitting .400, with four blocks. Senior Shayne McPherson had 10 digs, five assists, and two aces plus several more tough serves that put the Buffs out of system.

In spite of the solid victory, Head Coach Keegan Cook is still asking for more from his squad.

"The standard to be really good in December is really high," said Cook, "and although I thought we did some things well today, particularly siding out on offense at seventy-percent, we didn't serve well enough and we didn't defend well enough. We're certainly going to see a team that I think is Final Four worthy in Utah on Sunday and I think we're going to have to play a lot better."

The Huskies completed a season sweep of the Buffaloes (11-14, 3-12 Pac-12) and remained in a tie for second in the conference with Utah, as the Utes are up next on Sunday.

UP NEXT: A showdown is set for Sunday when the Huskies host 15th-ranked Utah at 1 p.m. The winner of that match will take over sole possession of second in the conference.

SET 1: Bajema crushed one from Powell for UW's first point and two kills by Drechsel helped UW out to a 4-3 lead. A rejection from Niece and Powell was followed by an ace by Powell for a 10-8. Bajema rocketed another to the floor for 12-8 and the Buffs took timeout. Out of the break, Colorado raced back with four in a row to tie it back at 12 until Niece had a kill to snap that streak. Drechsel hammered one after a Hoffman dig extended things, and then Sanders put away a CU overpass for a 16-13 lead. Sanders killed a pair of slides to keep UW siding out up 19-16. Hoffman and Niece stuffed a Buff swing for 22-19 to prompt the second Colorado timeout. A Colorado ace pulled it within one again but Hoffman got a big kill up the left sideline for 23-21. Sanders finished out of the middle to reach set point and a Buffs error ended it, 25-22.

The Huskies hit .317 in the set led by five kills from Drechsel and four on five swings by Sanders. UW held Colorado to a .135 attacking percentage.

SET 2: Bajema fired for a 2-0 lead to start set two. A stuff from Powell and Sanders made it a 6-4 count. Colorado got even, but a Bajema kill and a Bogomolova ace off the tape made it 9-7. Bogomolova's next serve was overpassed and Bajema hammered it for a third point. Bogomolova missed serve, but the Huskies strung together another 3-0 run on a kill by Bajema, a ball-handling error after a tough Powell serve, and a Niece finish set by Powell, which prompted a Colorado timeout at 13-8. McPherson floated two-straight aces off the defense for 17-10 and Colorado used its last timeout. Another McPherson serve was overpassed and Hoffman put it away for 18-10 before Colorado got McPherson off the service line. Washington kept rolling to the finish as Bogomolova tallied another ace and Niece had a solo block for 23-15. A Niece and Bajema roof got to set point at 24-16. On the second chance, Bajema went offspeed from the right and it was deflected out for the point to end it, 25-17.

The Huskies hit .310 in the set while Colorado was at .278, but the Huskie had a 14-9 edge in kills and a 4-1 edge in aces.

SET 3: Kills from Bajema and Drechsel started the Huskies in the third. Drechsel swiped a tight set over and down for 4-4 and followed it soon with an ace for 6-5 Dawgs. Sanders and Powell roofed one straight down and then CU misfired wide. Powell went over on two for a kill for a fifth-straight point and Colorado took timeout at 9-5. Out of the break, Sanders and Hoffman had another stuff for 10-5 before Colorado broke Drechsel's run. Niece put two away to keep the Dawgs siding out and leading by five at 14-9. Hoffman tooled the block and then McPherson bump set one to Drechsel who pounded off the block for 16-10 Dawgs and the Buffs used their last timeout. Emma Calle subbed in to serve and helped save a rally that Hoffman finished for 19-11. Freshman Sianna Houghton also checked in and served a point that Sanders and Powell ended with a block for 21-12. Sophomore Marin Grote also subbed in and got a block for 22-13. Drechsel finished to get the Dawgs to match point, and despite three saved by the Buffs, Washington finished on its fourth chance with another Drechsel finish for 25-19.

The Huskies hit .405 in the final set and held Colorado to .135. Drechsel had five kills without an error on seven swings and Hoffman had five on 11 swings also without a miss.