No. 13 Huskies Sweep St. John’s In Opener

Friday, August 30

Honolulu, HI

7:45 PM

University of Washington

8-1

St. John's (New York)

7-4

Washington

St. John's (NY)

August 30, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score PDF

By: UW Athletic Communications

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Washington's 13th-ranked volleyball team chalked up its first W of the 2019 season today, sweeping St. John's at the Stan Sheriff Center to begin the Rainbow Wahine Classic. The Huskies won their season opener for the 17th straight year, taking care of the Red Storm 25-22, 25-14, 25-17.

Senior All-American Kara Bajema paced the Huskies with 11 kills while junior Lauren Sanders put away nine kills on 11 swings with just one error for a .727 attack percentage. Sophomore Shannon Crenshaw added eight kills and eight digs with UW's two service aces. Senior middle blocker Avie Niece dominated at the net with seven blocks. The Huskies held an 11-5 edge in blocks and hit .298 compared to .039 for the Red Storm.

Starters for the Dawgs to open the 2019 season were Bajema, Samantha Drechsel, and Crenshaw at the outside hitter spots, Sanders and Niece in the middle, Ella May Powell at setter and Shayne McPherson as the libero. Powell passed out 28 assists and had two kills, six digs and two blocks, while McPherson had eight digs.

"Always nice to get through your first match of the season with a win," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "It was a bit of a shaky start for us, but a nice job of staying poised and closing at the end of that set. I'm really pleased with the play of both of our middles. Lauren had a strong night offensively but both of them were strong along the net. It was a notable performance from Shannon Crenshaw passing, keeping us in rhythm. Kara Bajema did a good job from the service line to break things open in the second and third sets.

"Looking forward to see us get better throughout this tournament," said Cook. "San Diego and Hawaii look strong, and we're going to have to be better from the service line to leave here with three wins."

UP NEXT: Washington gets its first ranked opponent of the year tomorrow when it faces 21st-ranked San Diego at the Stan Sheriff Center at 7:45 p.m. Pacific time.

SET 1: Niece and Drechsel turned away a St. John's swing to make it 2-2 in the early going but the Red Storm had a 3-0 run to take an early lead. Bajema put down the first kill of the season for the Huskies, leaping out of the back row to blast the Powell set for 3-5. Sanders got her offense going with one kill on a quick and two slide kills as the Dawgs pulled back within a point at 7-8. Niece got her first kill on a quick to make it 11-13, but St. John's scored the next two to force a Husky timeout down four. Out of the break, Shannon Crenshaw put one down off the block for 12-15. Crenshaw added another kill and then an ace for 14-16. Bajema crushed a couple kills and then Crenshaw tooled the block as the Dawgs were within one again at 19-20. A St. John's hitting error had things tied up at 20-20 for the first time since 2-2. Drechsel then had a one-on-one stuff on the right side to give UW its first lead since 1-0 at 21-20, and St. John's took time. Crenshaw's fourth kill brought the Huskies to set point, and then Drechsel put away a Powell set from the right to finish it off, 25-22.

The Huskies hit .300 for the set after starting slow. Sanders and Crenshaw each had four kills, and Bajema had three on five swings to hit .600.

SET 2: Drechsel hammered a pair of kills down from each side of the net for an early 4-2 lead in the second set. Powell and Sanders teamed up for a huge stuff for a 6-3 edge. Bajema punctuated a great rally with a blast from a McPherson bump set, and then Drechsel connected on a back row swing to the far crosscourt and down for 9-4 and St. John's needed time. Thea teams traded points for a stretch, with UW keeping the lead between four and five points with kills from Bajema, Sanders, Niece and Crenshaw. Sanders picked up two more stuffs as the Huskies pushed out to an 18-11 lead, forcing the final St. John's timeout. Cailin Onosko had a perfect pass to Powell who set Sanders on a slide for her sixth kill, making it 21-12. Powell attacked on two for her first kill of the match and a 22-14 edge. A block from Niece got the Huskies to set point at 24-14. Another block from Niece on the next point ended it, 25-14.

Washington posted a .400 percentage in the second set and held St. John's in the negatives at -.118 thanks to five Husky blocks.

SET 3: St. John's came out sharp in the third set and took the first four points before the Huskies grabbed the next three including a solo stuff from Niece. The Red Storm came back with another 3-0 run to make it 3-7. Sanders had a quick strike from Powell and then on the next point, Drechsel's serve was overpassed and Sanders hit it down for another kill to cut it to 7-9 Red Storm. Bajema ended a marathon rally with a kill set by McPherson to tie it at 11, then Powell found an open spot in the corner and made it 12-11, forcing St. John's into a timeout. The run reached five points on a Bajema kill and a solo Niece block for 14-11. St. John's snapped the run but UW answered back with two more to force St. John's last timeout at 16-12. On the next play, Niece and Drechsel had one of the loudest stuffs of the night for a five-point lead. Niece blasted a quick from Powell for 20-15 Dawgs. Sophomore Marin Grote subbed in and she picked up her first kill for 23-16. On the first match point chance, Crenshaw dialed up an ace to clinch it, 25-17.

The Huskies hit .231 in the final set and held the Red Storm to .029. Niece had four blocks in the final set, while Bajema put away six kills and McPherson had five of her eight digs. Sanders killed all three of her swings in the set.