Bajema The Constant As Huskies Top Mavericks

Saturday, September 14

Omaha, NE

8:00 AM

University of Washington

6-1

Nebraska Omaha

5-4

Nebraska-Omaha

Washington

September 14, 2019 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

OMAHA, Neb. – Senior Kara Bajema was the reliable source of points this morning for the Husky volleyball team, which otherwise mixed its lineup in a 25-15, 25-20, 19-25, 25-22 win over Nebraska-Omaha in the first of two matches for UW today at Creighton's D.J. Sokol Arena. The 12th-ranked Huskies (6-1) used all 14 players who have seen action so far this year, but Bajema led all players with 16 kills including seven in the final set.

The senior All-American from Lynden hit .308 with 16 kills on 39 attempts and four errors, and added 11 digs for a double-double. She also surpassed the 500 digs mark for her career, and she had a team-high four blocks as well.

Washington hit .252 as a team and had 53 kills compared to 41 for Omaha which hit just .101. The Huskies had 65 digs to Omaha's 47 with senior Shayne McPherson getting 19 digs. But the Huskies struggled with the serving of the Mavericks, who had nine aces for the match, seven coming in the third set which they won.

"Nice serving performance by Omaha," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "They were going for it and putting pressure on us. It's hard to get yourself into a rhythm when that's happening. We started off well offensively and didn't really sustain that. Kara was excellent the whole match. She hit for a high efficiency, took some tough swings, and managed things well."

Sophomore Ella May Powell had a career-high five kills on 10 attempts without an error to go with 41 assists and eight digs. Lauren Sanders added seven kills, Claire Hoffman had nine and seven digs, and Samantha Drechsel had six kills and a solo block.

UP NEXT: Washington will have a night cap tonight, facing the host and 17th-ranked Creighton Bluejays at 7:30 p.m. Central (5:30 p.m. Pacific). The match will be live streamed on Creighton's home page.

SET 1: Lauren Sanders opened the match with a kill on the slide from Powell. Hoffman followed with a back row kill for 2-0. Bajema tipped her first kill down from the left for 4-2. Niece bump set to Drechsel for her first kill and a 5-2 lead. Drechsel had a solo stuff at the left pin and then Bajema served up the first Husky ace for 8-3. McPherson laid out for a dig and Hoffman converted in transition to make it 11-5. Hoffman spun one off the defense and into the seats for 14-9, and then Bajema and Niece teamed up for a stuff to push it to a six-point lead and Omaha called time. Consecutive kills from Drechsel and Hoffman made it 18-11 and Omaha used its last timeout. Sanders finished a quick attack in serve-receive for 21-14. A couple Maverick errors brought UW to set point and Sanders ended the set the way it began with a kill on the slide, ending it, 25-15.

The Huskies hit .419 in the first set with Hoffman and Drechsel both hitting .571 with five kills apiece and Shayne McPherson collecting nine digs with 15 assists for Powell.

SET 2: Freshman Sianna Houghton notched the first service ace of her career early in the second set for a 3-1 lead. Maria Bogomolova ended a long rally with a kill from the left for 5-5. Her second kill gave the Dawgs a 9-7 lead. A 3-0 Husky run broke a tie from 10-all to 13-10 with Hoffman putting one away from the back row. The Huskies overpassed two and Omaha finished to get back even at 15-15, but Bajema responded with a hammer from the right to retake the lead. Bogomolova and Grote teamed for a stuff for 18-16. Another block by Powell and Sanders made it 20-17 and forced an Omaha timeout. Omaha pulled within a point but Bajema followed a dig by Cailin Onosko with a change-up kill for 22-19 and the Mavericks used their last timeout. UW reached set point on an Omaha error and then Grote and Bajema stuffed down the next Omaha swing to end the set, 25-20.

The second set was a defensive struggle with UW hitting .125 to .000 for Omaha. Bajema had six digs in the set and Onosko had four, with Bajema adding four kills.

SET 3: Omaha made an error on the first point of the first set but then rolled off five points in a row to put the Huskies in an early hole. Shannon Crenshaw's first kill was followed by an ace for Bogomolova for 7-11 Mavericks. Crenshaw had another kill, and then a Bogomolova serve was overpassed and Sanders tapped it down for a fifth-straight point. An Omaha error made it 11-all to finish off the 6-0 Husky run on Bomolova's serve. Bajema got on the Maverick swing on the left pin for a rejection to put the Huskies up a point. Grote finished a long rally to make it 17-16 Dawgs. Washington led 19-18 but then hit a wall, as Omaha served three straight aces and shocked the Huskies with a 7-0 run to win the set, 25-19.

Washington and Omaha both hit .231 in the set but the Huskies were aced seven times in the third set alone.

SET 4: The Huskies got off to a 4-1 start in the fourth set on a block by Niece and Bajema and two Bajema kills, but followed that with a pair of hitting errors to let Omaha back to 4-4. Powell served up an ace as part of a 3-0 run to 7-4. Drechsel, back in the match for the first time since the first set, hammered one from the left for 8-5. Kills from Hoffman and Sanders made it 12-8 and forced an Omaha timeout. Omaha made another run and tied it up at 13-13, but Bajema came up big with two kills in a row and then a Mavericks error made it 16-13 again and Omaha took its last timeout. Niece hammered one down from Powell for 19-15. Powell saved a tight pass by tipping back behind her for a kill and 22-18. Bajema crushed one from the left and Niece got one inside the block to reach match point at 24-21. On the second chance, Niece tipped and the Omaha middle couldn't control it as the Huskies finished off the win, 25-22.

Bajema rolled in the fourth set with seven kills on 14 swings to hit .429 and Niece had three kills on four attempts.