Huskies Hang On To Beat No. 21 San Diego

Saturday, August 31

Honolulu, HI

7:45 PM

University of Washington

10-2

San Diego

9-4

San Diego

Washington

August 31, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: UW Athletic Communications

HONOLULU, Hawaii – The 13th-ranked Huskies received their first real test of the 2019 season and rose to meet the challenge this evening, holding off a tough 21st-ranked San Diego squad in four sets, including a wild 29-27 final set that the Dawgs won on their fifth match point. Senior Kara Bajema racked up 23 kills to tie the second-most kills of her career, leading the Dawgs to the 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 29-27 win at Hawaii's Stan Sheriff Center.

Washington (2-0) won't have to wait long to get another big test when it faces Hawaii on Sunday for the Rainbow Wahine Classic title in front of an expected packed house.

Just when it looked as if the Huskies would finish off a hard-fought but routine victory in four sets, the Toreros scored four straight to tie the fourth set at 23-23. From there the teams traded points back and forth, UW going up by one to earn match point chances, but San Diego saving four of them. Washington refused to let USD pull in front, and finally closed it out on its fifth chance.

The Huskies hit .320 for the match compared to a .234 mark for the Toreros. Bajema rolled up 23 kills, matching her season-high from all of 2018 and trailing only the 26 kills she had as a sophomore against Illinois. She hit .362 and added seven digs. Junior Samantha Drechsel had 12 kills and hit .346. Junior Lauren Sanders had six kills and a team-high six blocks, while Avie Niece had seven kills, hitting .429, with three blocks. Sophomore Shannon Crenshaw put down eight kills on a .273 percentage with three block assists.

Sophomore Ella May Powell had 45 assists, nine digs, three blocks and an ace, and senior libero Shayne McPherson had 18 digs, which moved her past Sanja Tomasevic and into eighth-place on the Husky career digs list with 1,224.

Head Coach Keegan Cook talked about UW staying poised. "It got a little tight there at the end. San Diego made a couple plays which great teams do, and we had to go into extra points. I'm really happy with our poise to keep doing good things down the stretch. We showed a lot of maturity, especially some of our older players who might have taken risky swings or gotten impatient, they were great. Kara Bajema was especially good in those critical moments.

"We're still looking for our serving identity, which is a rare problem for us," said Cook. "Shayne McPherson hit some great serves for us and Emma Calle hit a couple great serves, but we're usually better serve after serve. I thought our block did a nice job of adjusting to San Diego's challenge of hitting off our hands, and they did a nice job in the third and the fourth sets."

UP NEXT: Washington will take on Hawaii in its final match in Honolulu. First serve is set for 5 p.m. Honolulu time / 8 p.m. Pacific, and the match will be streamed live on BigWest.tv

SET 1: Sanders and Powell had a big rejection on the third rally of the match for a 2-1 edge. Bajema put away a couple kills as the Dawgs went up 6-4. Niece crushed a quick from Powell for a 9-5 Husky lead. A double block thrown up by Sanders and Crenshaw made it 11-6 Dawgs. Crenshaw dropped an ace to the back line for 14-8. San Diego cut into the lead with a 3-0 run but Drechsel stopped it with a swing from the right side for 16-13. The Toreros got back even after a couple Husky hitting errors and UW took timeout at 17-17. Niece regained the lead with a kill out of the break. Drechsel tooled the block in serve-receive for 19-18 and then Sanders had a solo block on a USD quick for 20-18 and the Toreros took their first timeout. Sanders hammered a slide down after a Cailin Onosko pass for 23-20 and USD used its last timeout. Bajema got the next point with a kill from the left for 24-20 and set point. Niece and Powell then secured it with a stuff, as the Huskies won eight of the final 11 points to win 25-20.

Bajema led the attack with four kills and Drechsel added three. The Dawgs hit .194 and held San Diego to .059 with four blocks.

SET 2: Crenshaw teed off from the left pin for a kill and 2-3 early in the second set. USD scored three straight to push it to 3-7 before Niece put away a perfect slide set by Powell to stop the run. Drechsel hammered from the right and Crenshaw tipped for a kill but the Huskies trailed, 8-11. A ball-handling error dropped the Huskies down six at 11-17 and they took timeout, with San Diego hitting .882 at that point in the set with 15 kills on 17 swings and no errors. UW forced the first USD error of the set with a block by Crenshaw and Sanders for 13-17. The Huskies got to within three points on two occasions but USD moved back up five at 17-22. Crenshaw saved the first USD set point with a swing up the line, but the Toreros converted their next chance for the win, 20-25.

After the blazing start, San Diego wound up hitting .545 for the second set while the Huskies hit .379.

SET 3: Shayne McPherson opened the third set with an ace. Kills from Bajema and Drechsel had it even at 3-3. Emma Calle notched an ace for 6-5 Dawgs. USD moved up one but Sanders tied it with a big blast set by Powell. Bajema tapped down an overpass off a tough Crenshaw serve and a pair of USD errors made it 11-8 Huskies. Bajema rocketed one from the right side for a 15-13 lead. Drechsel ended a wild rally with a block touch that went above the net and she smacked it down for 16-14. USD missed a connection and took timeout with the Huskies up 18-15. San Diego scored twice out of the break but Bajema stopped it with a back row blast for 19-17. McPherson laid out to dig up a tip and Niece bump set it up to Bajema who snuck it past the block for 22-19 and a San Diego timeout. On the next point, the Huskies had pancakes on the first and second touches, with Niece laying out for the second, and Bajema bumped it over to keep the rally alive and then she finished it on UW's next chance for a huge momentum boost. Bajema pounded one down on the next point for 24-19, and then Niece hit down an overpass off the McPherson serve to end it 25-19, as the Dawgs finished on a 5-0 run.

The Dawgs were extremely strong offensively in the third set with a .467 attack percentage and Bajema went off for nine kills in the set, hitting .538, while Drechsel killed all four of her swings and Powell had 13 assists.

SET 4: UW gave up the first three points of the fourth set to dig an early hole. Bajema got an effort kill by tracking down a ball by the scorer's table and bumping it over and surprising the Toreros who let it fall for a kill. Niece got a kill out of the middle, and then Sanders and Drechsel earned a stuff for 6-8 San Diego. A pipe kill from Bajema cut the deficit to one. Bajema crushed another from the back row and then she and Sanders teamed for a rejection to give UW its first lead at 11-10. Bajema won a joust at the net to push the lead to three at 14-11, prompting a Toreros T.O. San Diego moved back within one, but Drechsel hit high off the block from the right for 17-15. Crenshaw hammered crosscourt from the left and USD missed one long, followed by a Bajema kill on the pipe for 20-16 to cap a 3-0 run. After a Sanders slide kill made it 21-17, San Diego took its last timeout. A big play was made by Onosko who bumped a long running set crosscourt to Bajema and she sent it to the floor for 22-18. USD trimmed it to two at 23-21 and Coach Cook asked for time. San Diego had another transition kill and then the Dawgs found the net off a broken play and it was suddenly tied at 23-all. Bajema finally ended the drought and got UW to match point with a kill for 24-23, but San Diego put it down in serve-receive. Crenshaw responded with a big blast from the left for 25-24, but UW missed serve. Drechsel came through on the next rally, passing and then killing the Powell set, but San Diego saved it again with a kill from the middle. A USD error gave UW a fourth chance, but the Huskies had a setting error for 27-27. Powell ran for a long bump set to Bajema who crushed it down for match point No. 5, and finally the Huskies would put it away, as Niece and Powell got on the swing of USD's Wilblin and sent it back and down for the dramatic win, 29-27.

UW hit .263 in the final set and held San Diego to .146. Bajema had eight more kills in set four, and McPherson stepped up with nine digs in the frame.