Huskies Suffer First Loss At Hawaii

Sunday, September 1

Honolulu, HI

8:00 PM

University of Washington

10-2

Hawai'i

12-1

Washington

Hawaii

September 01, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: UW Athletic Communications

HONOLULU, Hawaii – The Husky women's volleyball team came up short for the first time this season, falling in four sets to the host Rainbow Wahine in the title match of the Rainbow Wahine Classic. Washington's hitters were stymied by the Hawaii block 18 times tonight, the deciding factor in the 25-20, 25-12, 20-25, 25-16 win for Hawaii in front of 6,673 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Junior Lauren Sanders and senior Kara Bajema were named to the Rainbow Wahine Classic All-Tournament Team as UW finished runner-up to Hawaii, which went 3-0 on its home court.

"Hawaii got themselves into some good match-ups, so credit to them, they were ready to defend us and I was impressed by that," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "I liked our response in the third set, after the second set it would have been easy to go away, but a nice job to regroup and start solving the problem. The part that was hard is we also hit balls out, and that's something we hadn't been doing in a number of weeks. We had stayed committed to playing clean and making teams beat us, so we got blocked but then compounded that by hitting out of bounds. Once you do that it's really difficult to compete at a high level.

After the first weekend of play, Cook said "I like where our serve-receive is at. Throughout the entire weekend it was notably better. But we have to get closer to our serving identity as well."

Sophomore Claire Hoffman was the bright spot today for the Huskies as she checked in at the start of the second set and finished with 11 kills on a .320 attack percentage plus eight digs. Junior Kara Bajema had 14 kills but 14 errors, while Avie Niece led the defense with eight blocks and senior Shayne McPherson played strong back row, collecting 16 digs.

"Claire was ready when her opportunity came," said Cook. "She's always been a really steady player and doesn't respond emotionally to difficult situations outside of her control. We didn't start her the first two matches but she had a sense about her that she would be ready when her time came, and she was."

Freshman Sianna Houghton got to make her collegiate debut tonight and played well in a serving role, putting pressure on Hawaii with all her serves.

UP NEXT: The Dawgs will get a chance to rebound in a big way as they head to the University of Iowa next week for the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge, which will start off with a match-up against No. 6 Illinois on Sept. 6 at 2 p.m.

SET 1: Hawaii scored the first two points of the match until Lauren Sanders tooled the block for UW's first kill. Bajema converted out of the back row for 2-4. The Huskies made a run to tie it at 5-5 on a Drechsel back row kill, a Hawaii error, and then a tremendous hustle play where McPherson ran to the back wall to keep it up and Crenshaw ran in to bump it back over, then McPherson recovered to get the next dig, and Niece tipped for the point. But Hawaii extended the lead back with a 3-0 run for 8-12 before Bajema got another swing down from the back. Hawaii took a five-point lead to the media timeout at 10-15. The teams traded points with Niece adding a kill on the quick and Powell dumping behind her for a kill to make it 15-19. Bajema finished in transition to cut the gap to three but Hawaii scored the next two and UW took its last timeout down 16-21. Down 17-23, the Huskies fought back with three in a row, Bajema starting it with a kill and then Niece getting two straight blocks for 20-23 and UH took time. Hawaii scored in serve-receive out of the break and then stuffed UW's next swing to end it, 20-25.

The Huskies hit .122 in the set with Hawaii hitting .242. The Rainbow Wahine won the net with five blocks compared to three for UW, and out-dug the Huskies, 17-12. Bajema led the offense with six kills.

SET 2: Sophomore Claire Hoffman got the start in the second set, her first action of the season, and she killed her first three attempts for UW's first three points. Hawaii took another early lead with a four point run to make it 4-8 Wahine. The Huskies came back with a couple blocks, one with Sanders at the middle and another with Niece and Powell teaming up. But a Hawaii kill, a Husky hitting error, and a Hawaii ace made it 6-11 and forced UW to take timeout. Things got no better after the timeout as UW only scored on a Hawaii service error, as Hawaii blew things wide open, going up 13 points. Maria Bogomolova subbed in and freshman Sianna Houghton came in to serve for her first career action. Bogomolova got a kill on the right side on her first attack. But the forgettable set soon ended in Hawaii's favor, 12-25.

SET 3: The Huskies started steadier in the third set, with a couple Bajema kills giving UW a 6-4 lead through the first ten points. Niece and Powell built a roof and two points later, Niece and Drechsel blocked another for a 9-6 lead. Drechsel served the first ace of the match for the Huskies for 12-9 and Hawaii took timeout. The Huskies went up five at 14-9 until Hawaii scored a couple to get back within three. Bajema connected out of the back row and on the next point she found an acute angle crosscourt for 16-11. Bajema boomed a third kill in a row off the Hawaii defender and into about the 15th row for 17-11. Powell dumped for a kill and two points later she floated a long bump set to Bajema who bounced it off the court for 19-12 Dawgs. Hawaii wouldn't quit, getting two straight stuffs to cut it to 19-15 and the Huskies called for timeout. Hawaii got within three but a Wahine error followed by a Bajema ace made it 22-17 and Hawaii used its final timeout. Bajema dropped in a second straight ace out of the timeout. Hoffman finished off the block for set point at 24-18. Hawaii saved two set points but on the third, a perfect pass from McPherson let Powell go quick to Sanders and she ripped it down for the 25-20 win.

SET 4: Hoffman had the first three kills of the fourth set as it was 3-3 out of the gate. Sanders put down a slide from Powell for 4-4. Bajema and Niece threw up a roof for a 6-5 Husky lead, but it went away on a 4-0 Hawaii run and UW needed timeout down 6-9. Bajema was rejected for a second straight point out of the break and then Niece hit a quick wide as the gap hit five. Sophomore Marin Grote, subbed in a point earlier, snapped the run with a huge solo block for 7-11. Drechsel and Niece then stuffed another Wahine swing, and Hoffman dropped a kill into the campfire to get it back to 9-11 and force a Hawaii timeout. Out of the break, Hawaii missed long, and then Niece put down a transition quick kill for a fifth-straight point and a tie at 11-11. Sanders crushed a quick from Powell for a 13-all tie. The Huskies let a big point get away from them after they had made a huge effort to keep two balls in play and dug several shots, a Hawaii dig was sent over the net but UW froze and it fell for a kill and the Huskies needed timeout down 13-16. That missed opportunity was essentially the match, as things went south in a hurry. The run hit eight-straight for Hawaii until Hoffman went off the block to end it. Hawaii got to match point at 24-15 and after a missed serve, they killed the next chance to win, 25-16.