Dawgs Rally Past Sun Devils For Seventh-Straight Win

Sunday, November 24

Tempe, AZ

11:00 AM

University of Washington

23-5,14-4Pac-12

Arizona State

16-13,8-10Pac-12

Washington

Arizona State

November 24, 2019 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

TEMPE, Ariz. – The 10th-ranked Huskies got one of their biggest road wins of the season today, coming back from a set down and beating a strong Arizona State team that was looking to get a statement win for the NCAA committee. Washington (23-5, 14-4 Pac-12) refused to let them have it, snapping ASU's three-match win streak with a 17-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-19 win at Desert Financial Arena.

It was the seventh straight win for the Huskies, who got another huge match from Kara Bajema as the senior put down 22 kills for the second time in three days, and hit .413 with 11 digs for a double-double. Sophomore Ella May Powell also tied her season-high with 52 assists as the Huskies hit .311, the fourth time in the past five matches that the Huskies have hit over .300.

The win over Arizona State (16-13, 8-10 Pac-12) kept UW two games back of Stanford, but the Cardinal clinched at least a share of the Pac-12 title with a win today at Colorado. The Huskies could still tie with two wins next week and two Stanford losses, but UW is also assured of no worse than a tie for second.

Head Coach Keegan Cook said the Huskies "Beat a really good team. They made us earn points and they played extremely clean. They showed a lot of composure and sure looked like a tournament team to me. We did enough in sets two through four to get back to our standard of play. Overall I think we have to be more disciplined to make that leap from good to great."

So Sweet...#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/m4ofvUwfXu
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 24, 2019

With just one week of regular season play left, Cook needs the Huskies to get off to better starts than they did this week, dropping first sets in Tucson and Tempe. "You're asking yourself the question would this performance win a tournament match? That's the only standard. I liked our response in sets two, three, and four but we need to do better at the outset."

The Huskies held a 62-51 edge in kills and a 9.0 to 6.0 edge in blocks. The teams were even in digs at 61 and Washington overcame a big serving match from the Sun Devils, as they had 9 aces compared to 3 for UW which also overcame 12 service errors.

Junior Samantha Drechsel was in double-figures in kills for the 16th straight match as she had 12 on 26 swings for a .269 percentage with five blocks. Claire Hoffman had nine kills and led the team with 12 digs, while Lauren Sanders also had nine kills to go with four blocks. Avie Niece added seven kills and five blocks.

Shayne McPherson had 11 digs, Shannon Crenshaw added eight, and Emma Calle had some key serves for the second-straight match, including an ace at 23-22 in the second set to help UW even the match.

UP NEXT: The Huskies finally see the California Golden Bears for the first time all season, coming up this Wednesday, Nov. 27, at 4 p.m. Then the Huskies will host Washington State for Senior Day on Saturday, Nov. 30.

Avie with the great save and Kara Krushes ??????#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/i5tx2ALVCX
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 24, 2019

SET 1: Hoffman dropped one over and down on the second rally for UW's first point. A couple ASU errors had the Huskies on top, 4-3. Niece found the far corner on a swing on the slide for 6-4. Bajema served up an ace for 8-6 but the Sun Devils responded with the next two and then served an ace for 8-9. Drechsel's first kill tied it up at 11. A couple Husky errors gave ASU a two-point lead. A Husky overpass and then a hitting error made it 12-16 and UW had to take timeout. UW gave up one more out of the break to go down five before Bajema found the sideline to snap the run. Niece got the first Husky block for 14-17. But consecutive ASU points pushed it back to five at 15-20 and the Huskies used their last timeout. Consecutive Drechsel kills pulled the Huskies within three at 17-20, but Arizona State then reeled off the final five points of the set to win, 25-17.

Washington was outhit, .314 to .108, in the set. Hoffman led UW with four kills.

SET 2: Powell and Sanders teamed for a block for UW's first point of set two. Washington overpassed twice in the first four points and then made an attack error to fall behind 1-4. Tough serving from Powell got UW right back into it with three straight to tie. Hoffman lined one up crosscourt for 6-6. A McPherson serve was overpassed and Sanders tapped it down for 8-6 Dawgs. The Sun Devils answered with a 3-0 run to retake the lead again at 8-9, before Sanders killed a quick to tie it. Bajema hammered out of the back row for a 10-9 lead, but ASU went back ahead by one before Bajema finished for 12-all. Niece and Hoffman had kills as UW trailed by one at 15-16. But ASU drilled a pair of kills past the Husky block for 15-18 and UW called timeout. Out of the break, Drehcsel finished off the block and then Sanders got a big stuff for 17-18 and ASU took time. Sanders tapped down an overpass from a Drechsel serve and then ASU got called out of rotation for 19-18. Hoffman then capped a rally with a kill for 20-18, and the Sun Devils called time again. Out of the break, Drechsel had another float serve overpassed that UW stuffed down for 21-18 before she finally missed serve to snap the 6-0 run. UW then made a hitting error and had a poor pass on the next point to hand a couple back to ASU for 21-21 and needed timeout. ASU served into the net out of the break to give the Huskies a one-point lead. ASU tied it but Bajema hammered for 23-22. Junior Emma Calle checked in and came up with a huge service ace to get set point at 24-22. On the next point, Calle bumped one behind her to Bajema who spiked it to the back line for the huge set win, 25-22.

Washington hit .295 in the second set, just better than ASU's .275 clip. Bajema had six kills on a .357 percentage while Hoffman and Drechsel both added four kills and Crenshaw had five digs.

SET 3: The teams traded points to start the third with a couple early Bajema kills for UW. A couple errors by ASU helped the Huskies establish a small 6-4 lead. Hoffman had a dig and Powell found Bajema from the left for 8-5. Sanders ripped a slide off the defense and out for 10-6. After a couple ASU points, Bajema unloaded crosscourt after Niece had laid out for a save, and then Drechsel and Niece teamed up for two-straight big blocks on the right for 13-8 Huskies and an ASU timeout. The Sun Devils got a couple back out of the break and then the teams combined to miss four consecutive serves. ASU missed one long as the Huskies held an 18-14 lead in a set without much rhythm during the stretch. Suddenly, after all the missed serves, ASU aced the Huskies straight to the floor twice in a row and UW needed timeout at 18-17. Washington got aced a third and fourth time in a row out of the break and then finally got a swing but it was dug and ASU converted for 18-20, forcing UW's last timeout as ASU was on a 6-0 run. Finally, Shannon Crenshaw had a perfect pass and Sanders killed a slide to snap the streak. Bajema then tipped over the block to tie it at 20. Cailin Onosko had a big dig and Powell launched a long bump set to Bajema who went off the block for 21-20 before ASU snapped UW's 3-0 run. Niece put down a quick set from Powell for 23-22 Dawgs. Niece and Drechsel then came up with a huge block for the key two-point lead and set point at 24-22. ASU saved the first with a block of its own, but on the second chance, McPherson had a perfect pass and Powell went back to Drechsel who delivered the final kill for the 25-23 win.

The Huskies hit .323 in the set compared to .212 for the Sun Devils, which helped UW survive the four aces ASU hit late. Bajema continued to roll with seven kills in the set, hitting .462. Niece and Drechsel teamed for three blocks as well.

SET 4: Bajema had the first three kills for UW in the third set as it was tied at 3-3. It was tied again at 6-all with Niece and Drechsel adding finishes. Powell dumped back over her head for a kill for 8-6 Dawgs. Against the server who had the third set ace run, the Dawgs got her off the line on one attempt as Crenshaw had the perfect pass and Sanders destroyed a slide kill for 11-8. Drechsel tooled the block from the left for 14-10. Sanders then came up with a huge solo block in the middle for 16-11 and ASU took timeout. Out of the break, Sanders and Drechsel teamed to earn another huge block for 17-11. A Husky double ended the run, but Hoffman got it right back by tooling the block. ASU then swung long for 19-12 and called its last timeout. The Huskies gave two right back on a service error and an ASU ace but Sanders stopped the bleeding with a slide kill for 20-14. Bajema tracked down a high inside set and pasted it to the back line for 21-15, then Powell took charge with a dump on two for 22-15. The Sun Devils got a couple back, but Bajema swung through the block for 23-17. A tip by Niece dropped in to get the Huskies to match point at 24-18. On the second chance, Drechsel finished it off by hammering off the defense and out for the 25-19 win.

Powell set 16 assists in the last frame as Washington closed out with a scorching .528 percentage. Drechsel killed five of her six swings to hit .833, Bajema had six kills without a miss on 11 swings, and Powell helped her cause with three kills on four attempts.