Dawgs Fight Back Yet Again For 3-2 Win Over Bears

Wednesday, November 27

Seattle, WA

4:00 PM

University of Washington

24-5, 15-4Pac-12

California

20-9, 10-9Pac-12

California

Washington

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

November 27, 2019 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – The last time the ninth-ranked Huskies took the floor at Alaska Airlines Arena, they weathered seven Utah match points to win a 21-19 fifth set thriller. The five-set drama was back in a big way again this evening as Washington fought back from down two sets to none to overcome California behind another huge match from senior Kara Bajema.

Bajema was one off her career-high tonight with 25 kills to help the Huskies lock up a solo second-place finish in the Pac-12 with the 22-25, 20-25, 25-22, 26-24, 15-6 win in front of 2,303 fans. Washington (24-5, 15-4 Pac-12) will finish second to the Cardinal, making it 12 of the past 16 years that the Huskies have been first or second in the conference of champions.

This was the eighth-straight win for the Dawgs, and the fourth in a row where UW has trailed, as the Huskies were down 1-2 against Utah, and lost the first sets last week at Arizona and Arizona State, before going down 0-2 today, but bouncing back each time.

"You don't need to give a lot of motivation to this team," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "They want to win and they know what to do. I told them that we weren't going to go on a long run against a team like Cal, they just side out too well, we had to chase them down. Winning close sets is what late season volleyball is all about."

OMG SHAYNE ??????#NCAAVB | @UWVolleyball pic.twitter.com/6ThnmqgYUR
— NCAA Volleyball (@NCAAVolleyball) November 28, 2019

The major turning point was set four, as the Huskies were down and all but out as the Bears led 18-11 in the fourth, but the Huskies mounted a 10-3 run to get even at 21-21 following three consecutive Bajema kills. Washington would go on to get the 26-24 win to even the match up, and then the Dawgs carried that momentum out to a 4-0 fifth set lead, then a 7-1 lead, and were never threatened.

Washington wound up hitting .267 for the match, including a .476 percentage in the fifth and final set, while the Bears finished at .248. Junior Samantha Drechsel had 16 kills on a .243 percentage and Claire Hoffman added 10 kills and six digs.

Junior Lauren Sanders had eight blocks to go with seven kills as the Huskies outblocked the Bears, 13.0 to 7.0. Senior Avie Niece hit .333 with nine kills and three blocks, and senior libero Shayne McPherson led UW with 20 digs. Sophomore setter Ella May Powell tied her career-high with 54 assists today and had 11 digs for a double-double.

LET'S GO TO A FIFTH!!!!#PointHuskies x #SetHuskies pic.twitter.com/sxSSxNnFyG
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 28, 2019

The Bears (20-9, 10-9 Pac-12) were fighting hard for a win that could have clinched an NCAA bid and Cook was impressed. "It's a really good Cal team, especially now that they're back at full strength," he said. "Really impressed with their serve-receive, we were able to get them off the net there late, but for most of those first three sets I thought they weathered our serving storm better than anyone we've played in the Pac-12, and they ran a really good offense.

"I thought we did a lot of little things well in the last three sets that we weren't doing in the first sets: tip coverage, first contacts, overpasses, the margins are thin and little things are often the difference."

UP NEXT: Senior Night is next in Alaska Airlines Arena this Saturday, as Washington honors Kara Bajema, Avie Niece, Cailin Onosko, and Shayne McPherson before the Boeing Apple Cup Series match against 25th-ranked Washington State. First serve for the regular season finale is 5 p.m.

SET 1: The first two points went to Cal before Drechsel converted for UW's first point. Drechsel's serve was then overpassed and Sanders hit it down for 2-all. Hoffman had her first kill for a 4-3 lead. The Husky passing went off track and Cal ran off five-straight points to take a 4-8 lead. Niece had a kill and a tough Powell serve forced a Cal error for 7-9, and then Niece had a solo stuff to pull UW back within one. Another booming block, this one from Sanders and Drechsel, got the Dawgs back even at 12-all. Sanders rejected another to get the Huskies out in front, 15-13, at the media timeout. The Bears tied it at 15 but Bajema broke that with a kill on the pipe. The Bears retook a one-point lead with Bajema converting from the left again for 17-all. A service error and an attack error put the Huskies in a hole at 18-21 and they took their first timeout. Niece put one down in serve-receive out of the break but Cal answered. Drechsel finished up the right line for 21-23, but Cal converted in serve-receive for set point at 21-24. Cal finished it off on its second chance for the 25-22 win.

The Huskies outhit the Bears in the set, .281 to .270, but the Bears had a big edge in kills, 18 to 12. Drechsel had four kills on six attempts to lead the Huskies.

SET 2: The Huskies got aced twice in the early going in set two and then consecutive attack errors made it 3-7 Bears. The Huskies won the longest rally of the match after a timeout as Drechsel finished for 4-7. Hoffman logged a couple kills to keep the Huskies siding out down 6-9. Down five, the Huskies made a push with a Bajema kill and a Bajema block then a Niece finish of a Cal overpass for 9-11. The teams continued to trade off, with a Bear block making it a four point lead at 12-16. McPherson dug a hard blast and Drechsel tooled the block for 14-17. Back to back kills from Hoffman and Bajema got the Huskies back within one, but Cal converted and then the Huskies sailed a swing out to fall back down three. Another block by Cal made it 19-23 and the Huskies used their last timeout. The Bears missed one serve but then had a kill and aced the Huskies on the first set point to end it, 20-25.

The Bears hit .393 in the second compared to .250 for the Huskies, getting the win despite seven kills from Bajema in the set.

SET 3: Kills from Niece and Drechsel made it 3-2 Huskies early in the third. Sanders and Drechsel met for two-straight blocks for 6-3 and Cal used an early timeout. Sanders hammered a slide kill for 8-5 Dawgs. Maria Bogomolova dug one that led to a Bajema transition kill for 10-7. The Bears tied it back up with a 3-0 run, but Bajema snapped that with a crosscourt swing from the left for 11-10. Leading 14-12, the Huskies made three straight errors to fall behind by one, but Hoffman retook the lead with a high-hands kill for 16-15. Hoffman then returned a Cal swing back to the floor on the Cal side for 17-15. The Huskies then won an overrule with a Drechsel swing ruled to be on the sideline for 18-15. Powell hit Sanders on a slide for 20-17. The teams traded sideouts again and again with a huge block from Niece and Drechsel ending a big point for 23-20 and forcing a Cal timeout. The Bears converted out of the break and UW immediately took its own timeout. The Huskies missed just long on the next point, but then a long rally was finished by Drechsel going off the block from the right for set point at 24-22. Cal missed its first swing to end it, 25-22.

Washington hit just .109 in the third but held Cal to .100 but had five blocks to two for the Bears and Bajema put away five kills hitting .308.

SET 4: Cal grabbed four of the first five points of the fourth set and took a 6-2 lead before Niece had a kill and a solo rejection to make it 6-4 Bears. But Cal pushed ahead again and doubled up the Huskies at 5-10. A tough Drechsel serve forced a Cal error and then Powell won a joust at the net to cut it to 8-10. Sanders had a couple kills for the Dawgs but a Cal kill followed by a Husky error had the gap back to five at 11-16 and the Huskies took timeout. The Huskies dropped two more points out of the break to fall behind by seven at 11-18 before Niece finished to snap the 4-0 run. Drechsel followed with a right side kill for 13-18. A Cal rotation error got UW one closer, and Hoffman found a kill off the block for 15-19. Sanders and Hoffman teamed for a big stuff to cut it to three at 17-20. Sanders and Powell then turned back the very next Cal attempt for a two-point set. Bajema fired out of the back row for 19-21. A soft block led to an easy dig and Bajema got a touch from the block for 20-21. On the next rally, McPherson dug a pair of hard Cal swings and Bajema finished on her second attempt to tie it up at 21-all and force a Cal timeout. The Huskies missed serve but Cal returned the favor for 22-all. Bogomolova served then laid out to dig a tip attempt, and Powell found Bajema for the finish for 23-22. The Bears then missed their next swing long for set point, 24-22. The Bears saved the first, and then aced the Dawgs to force extra points. Powell called her own number at the perfect time on the next point, dropping it into the middle of the defense for 25-24 Huskies and a third chance. Powell then served, and Cal overpassed it to the Huskies, with Powell running up to set to Bajema at the left pin and she hammered it to the floor for the 26-24.

The fourth set stats were as tight as the final score as UW hit .333 compared to .326 for the Bears with both teams finishing with 18 kills. Bajema had six, and Sanders had four on five swings without an error.

SET 5: Sanders opened the fifth set with a rejection, and then a Bogomolova serve was overpassed and Bajema killed it for 2-0. Powell then wiped off the block and it was knocked out of bounds for 3-0. Another Bogomolova serve was overpassed and this time Niece pounced for 4-0 and Cal took timeout. The Dawgs had a swing at another but Cal got a block to get on the board. A Cal attack error was followed by a blocking error by the Bears on a Bajema swing for 6-1. Then an incredible flying punch over the net by McPherson eventually led to a Bajema kill as the Huskies surged up 7-1. Niece crushed a quick set for 8-2 at the side change. Drechsel drove one down from the right for a 10-2 lead and Cal used its last timeout. Out of the break, Drechsel converted in transition again from the right for 11-2. The Bears snapped the 4-0 run but then served long for 12-3. Drechsel went off the block and it landed just out on UW's side for 13-4. Powell set a pipe to Bajema for another finish to get to match point at 14-6. On the next Bears swing, they missed just wide, and the Huskies finished off the reverse sweep with the 15-6 win.

The Dawgs rolled to a .476 percentage in the final frame and limited Cal to just .118. Niece killed all three of her attempts and Drechsel finished three of four with Bajema putting four kills down.