No. 8 Huskies Move On With 3-0 Win Over Winthrop

Friday, December 6

Seattle, WA

7:30 PM

University of Washington

25-6, 15-5Pac-12

Winthrop

24-5, 14-0Big South

Winthrop

Washington

December 06, 2019 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – The eighth-seeded Huskies started their NCAA tournament run with a straight set win tonight over Winthrop in front of 2,052 fans at Alaska Airlines Arena. This is the 18th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance for the Dawgs, and all 18 times have started with first round victories. The Huskies (25-6) will now host South Carolina on Saturday night at 7 p.m. for a spot in the Round of 16.

The first set provided some drama but the Huskies pulled it out late, 25-23, and then rolled to a pair of 25-10 set scores in the second and third sets to take care of Winthrop, the champions out of the Big South Conference.

The Dawgs wound up hitting .358 for the match and held the Eagle offense to a .022 mark. Washington had a big edge in kills, 45-19, and in aces, 7-2.

"Congratulations to Winthrop on a great season. To be an undefeated conference champion says a lot," said Husky Head Coach Keegan Cook. "I thought they represented themselves really well, especially in that first set. Doing the things that they've done well all year, serving tough, playing clean. I liked our response in sets two and three. Played really clean, hit the ball in a bunch, sided out above 80-percent, so, excited to be playing South Carolina tomorrow."

Husky senior Kara Bajema posted a stellar line in only two sets, as she had 18 kills on 27 swings without an error to hit a season-high .667, before she spent the third set cheering on her teammates. Coach Cook was able to get in every available Husky, as Marin Grote, Sianna Houghton, Emma Calle and Maria Bogomolova all contributed to the third set win.

"I have a lot of confidence in all of our hitters," said Cook. "We got them in the game, and credit to Ella (Powell) to get organized and put them in good situations. We hit .400 in that last set with a bunch of new people around her. I really liked how she used Marin and used Maria and it was fun to see those kids do what we know they're capable of doing."

Powell had a double-double with 34 assists and 10 digs, and senior Avie Niece had a strong night with seven kills, hitting .500, with three blocks.

UP NEXT: Washington takes on South Carolina tomorrow night at 7 p.m. for a spot in the Round of 16. The Gamecocks pulled out a thrilling five-set win over Colorado State in a two-and-a-half hour marathon prior to the Husky match.

SET 1: Drechsel pounded down UW's first swing for a 2-0 lead to start the set. A handful of Husky miscues gave Winthrop a lead but Sanders tied it at 4-4 with a slide kill. Bajema had her first two kills to make it 6-6. Bajema kept swinging and connecting as the Huskies moved back in front, 10-9, on a Powell serving run. The Eagles came back with three straight to retake a 10-12 lead. Winthrop aced the Huskies to make it 11-14 and the Huskies called timeout. A couple errors by Winthrop was followed by a stuff from Sanders to tie it back up. Powell dumped for a kill to make it 17-all. Bajema killed a pair to keep it tied at 18 and 19. Bajema tooled the block on the right for 21-20 Dawgs. The Eagles got a block and then UW missed wide to go down 21-22. Bajema finished from the back row to tie it, and Drechsel tied it again at 23-23, then served an ace to give the Huskies set point, 24-23. On the next rally, the Dawgs got a look at it, and Powell found Sanders who crushed a slide for the winner, 25-23.

Bajema carried the Huskies with 10 kills in the set on 15 swings without an error to hit .667 as Washington overcame five service errors and held Winthrop to .152 on offense.

SET 2: Sanders and Bajema had a block and then Bajema found the floor for a quick 3-0 lead in the second set. Powell got the Dawgs on a run as she fed Niece for a quick kill and then floated an ace deep in the court for a 7-2 lead and a Winthrop timeout. A Winthrop error and another Niece quick strike was followed by a second ace by Powell to make it 10-2. Bajema ended another highlight rally with a blast for an 11-2 advantage before Winthrop broke the 7-0 Husky run. Drechsel went high off the block to push the lead to ten at 13-3. The Eagles got back within seven points at 15-8, but a couple Winthrop errors and another Bajema rocket in transition made three-straight for the Huskies to go back up 18-8 and force the second Eagles timeout. Cailin Onosko dug a Winthrop blast and Bajema terminated back the other way and then Maria Bogomolova dialed up an ace for 23-9. Two more kills from Bajema on the left closed it out, 25-10.

The Huskies cooked along much better in set two with a .556 attack percentage, with eight more kills from Bajema on 12 swings, and three from Drechsel. The Dawgs had four aces in set two and missed just one serve.

SET 3: Shannon Crenshaw teamed with Niece for a block early in the third set as the Huskies went up, 4-0. Three more Eagle errors made it 7-1 and Winthrop took timeout. Sophomore Marin Grote subbed in and finished a slide from Powell for 11-6. She added another two plays later for 13-7. Junior Emma Calle checked in to serve and Niece had a block on her first serve for 14-7 and a Winthrop timeout. Crenshaw broke one through the Winthrop block for 15-8. Crenshaw then aced the Eagles twice in a row for 20-9. Freshman Sianna Houghton subbed in and she immediately had an impressive dig that led to a Bogomolova kill for 22-9. Grote landed her third kill of the set to get the Huskies to match point at 24-10, and Claire Hoffman closed it out with a kill assisted by Houghton for the 25-10 final.

The Huskies hit .391 in the final set with Bajema resting on the bench. Niece killed all four of her swings in the set and the Husky defense forced 10 errors from the Eagles.