Huskies Rally Then Roll To Sweet 16

Saturday, December 7

Seattle, WA

7:00 PM

University of Washington

26-6, 15-5Pac-12

South Carolina

20-12, 11-7SEC

South Carolina

Washington

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

December 07, 2019 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – After a pair of resilient rallies in sets one and two, the Husky volleyball team slammed the door shut on a tough South Carolina squad and swept its way back to the NCAA Round of 16 tonight at Alaska Airlines Arena. Eighth-seeded Washington (26-6) won the first two sets after trailing by six points in both, then dominated the third for a 25-23, 26-24, 25-8 win in the second round of the NCAA Championships.

The Huskies are into the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in the past eight seasons, and the second year in a row. The Dawgs will now take on No. 9-seed Kentucky on a neutral court in Waco, Texas as No. 1-seed Baylor will play host to the regional rounds. The round of 16 match is set for Friday, Dec. 13, at a time to be determined.

Head Coach Keegan Cook gave a lot of credit to the Gamecocks (20-12). "Congratulations to South Carolina, it's been evident to everyone here these last two nights that they are a well-coached team that certainly had us on our heels in both those first two sets. It's difficult to play in this environment and they did it from the very beginning."

Washington sent seniors Kara Bajema, Shayne McPherson, Avie Niece, and Cailin Onosko off their home court for the final time with the 100th win of their careers.

The four lingered together after the final point before heading through the tunnel. In the post-match press conference, Bajema fought back tears when trying to sum it up. "It's tough knowing that's your last time playing in such a special, cool arena that you've had so many memories in," she said. "In warm-ups you think about those things; you think about the fans, you think about the people around you and we just wanted to take a second. I'm emotional, because it's been a good four years."

In the first set, the Huskies trailed 9-15 and 15-20 before mounting a rally, and in the second set the Dawgs were down 13-19 and also survived a South Carolina set point at 23-24 before turning the tide.

"I certainly liked our response at the end of sets," said Cook. "You're going to be playing two-point games in the tournament somewhere. I don't like how we got there, but I liked how we finished when we were there. Then in the last set, reminding us what we're capable of when we play clean and serve the way we know how to serve. Thrilled to be taking this team to the next round of the tournament. Certainly not satisfied until we're playing Final Four-caliber volleyball."

For the match, the Huskies hit .256 and held South Carolina to a .084 mark. The stats were very even through two sets but after the dominant third, the Huskies held the edge in total aces, 6-2, and blocks, 9.0 to 5.0.

Bajema had 18 kills for the second-straight match with a .429 hitting percentage. Junior Lauren Sanders was nearly perfect with six kills on eight swings to hit .750. Niece had six blocks and McPherson 12 digs to lead the defensive effort. Powell had 30 assists with four aces and eight digs.

UP NEXT: Washington will continue its tournament journey in Waco, Texas next week as Baylor hosts the round of 16 and quarterfinal rounds. The Huskies and Kentucky will meet on Friday, Dec. 13, with the winner then playing the winner of No. 1-seed Baylor and No. 16-seed Purdue for a spot in the Final Four.

SET 1: Bajema opened the scoring with a kill from the left and then backed it up with her second for 2-0. The Gamecocks got on the board thanks to some Husky errors, scoring four in a row before Bajema tipped one down for 3-4. A blast from Drechsel made it 5-6, but the Huskies then struggled to get a good pass and gave up four straight to South Carolina to go down 5-10 and take timeout. Claire Hoffman's first kill out of the break snapped the USC run. Sanders finished a slide and Powell dumped for a kill to make it 8-11. Drechsel sailed a long bump set crosscourt to Bajema for a big swing for 9-12. But two more Husky hitting errors stretched the gap to six at 9-15. South Carolina missed a couple to help UW right back on a 4-0 run for 13-15 and the Gamecocks took timeout. South Carolina responded with a block and then had a transition kill and an ace to go right back up by five at 13-18. Cailin Onosko somehow got a third contact over right under the net, and it resulted in a slide kill from Sanders for 17-20. Sanders hammered another slide for 19-21. A tough float serve from Powell led to a second-straight Bajema kill to pull the Huskies within one at 21-22, and then Bajema and Niece teamed for UW's first block for 22-all. McPherson had a dig out of the break and Powell went to Bajema who tagged a defender and out for 23-22 Huskies. South Carolina got a kill to snap the 4-0 Husky run and tie it. Drechsel had a perfect pass and Bajema went up the line from the right for set point, 24-23. A long rally ended in a USC error, but the Gamecocks challenged for a touch, but the review didn't find one, and the Huskies pulled it out, 25-23.

Bajema hammered eight kills in the frame on 14 swings to hit .500 as the Huskies hit .333 as a team compared to .214 for South Carolina. Sanders also killed all three of her swings and Powell had 15 assists.

SET 2: The teams traded the first four points of the set, with Bajema finishing a Powell set and then firing an ace for a 4-2 lead. But Washington then made three-straight errors as part of a 4-0 Carolina run for 4-6. Drechsel finished one from the right to tie it at 6-6 and a USC error put the Huskies up, 8-7. A three-point Gamecocks run with consecutive blocks put them up, 10-13, with Bajema tooling the block to snap that run. Another Husky hitting error put them down five, 12-17, and forced a timeout. South Carolina missed serve, but then came back with two straight kills to make it 13-19. Bajema finished from the back row and then Powell and Sanders teamed for the second Husky block of the match. Hoffman had a transition kill for 16-19 and South Carolina took timeout with the Huskies on a 3-0 run. Out of the break, Drechsel kept things going with an ace for a two-point set. The Dawgs missed a swing to snap the run, but Sanders got it right back with her first kill of the set. Bajema then lasered a sharp angle from outside the pin for 19-20. South Carolina missed a connection on its side for 21-all, but UW missed serve. Bajema broke through the block to tie it again at 22. The Gamecocks killed in serve-receive for 22-23 and the Huskies took their final timeout. South Carolina missed serve, but scored on its next swing for set point, 23-24. USC missed serve again for 24-all. South Carolina ran a slide but Sanders and Drechsel tracked it and stuffed it to put the Huskies up, 25-24, and USC took its second timeout. After the break, South Carolina looked to run a quick, but it caught the net for an error and the Huskies had completed another dramatic comeback, 26-24.

The Huskies won despite being outhit in the set, .176 to .152. Bajema had seven more kills and hit .545 and Sanders killed both her swings as well.

SET 3: Niece and Bajema built a wall on the first point of the third set, and Niece had a solo block for 2-0. Powell then aced the Gamecocks for 3-0. Bajema tooled the block in transition and then South Carolina caught the net and it was 5-0 Dawgs and USC needed timeout. A wild rally that Shannon Crenshaw kept alive with a pancake and Powell got over with an elastic fling over her head produced a Gamecocks error for 7-0. South Carolina broke Powell's run, but Niece got the sideout back with a quick kill. Niece and Drechsel teamed for a block and then South Carolina missed to push it to 10-2 and the Gamecocks needed their second timeout. A couple more Gamecock miscues made it 12-2 Dawgs. Drechsel pounded one from the right and Hoffman dropped in a tip for 14-5. Sanders put one away and a tough Maria Bogomolova serve led to a USC error for 18-7. Bajema and Niece roofed one and then Powell fired an ace for 20-8. Niece got another block and then was subbed out for sophomore Marin Grote to a big ovation. The Huskies rode Powell's serving to the finish line, as she hit two more aces, and a block from Grote and Drechsel ended it, 25-8.

The Huskies hit .286 in the final set but held South Carolina to -.194 with 12 errors, six on Husky blocks. Niece had five blocks in the final set alone and Powell notched four aces.