Huskies Grind Out Four Set Victory At Iowa

Saturday, September 7

Iowa City, IA

5:00 PM

University of Washington

3-0

Iowa

3-0

Washington

Iowa

September 07, 2019 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: UW Athletic Communications

IOWA CITY, Iowa – There was never much breathing room, and the humid Carver-Hawkeye Center enhanced that feeling, but the Huskies finally exhaled after putting away Iowa, 33-31, 25-23, 20-25, 25-23 to finish 2-0 at the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge. The 16th-ranked Huskies improved to 4-1 with their first true road victory of the season in front of 1,788 opposing fans.

"A lot of credit to Iowa for the speed of their offense and the strength of their serve-receive, which held up for long periods of time, and Meghan Buzzerio was outstanding as an outside hitter and when a hitter is doing that they will keep you in the game," Head Coach Keegan Cook said postgame.

"I told our team there's two things you want after a match like that: One, that you were able to find a way to win, and two, that you're completely unsatisfied with it, and as I looked around the room that's what I could see. We get to go to work on Monday and address it, but for now you appreciate that you found a way to win. We played nine sets of Big Ten volleyball and found a way to win."

Junior Samantha Drechsel was firing away as the most consistent offensive weapon for the Dawgs tonight. She put down 16 kills and hit .406. Senior Kara Bajema was named tournament co-MVP following her big Friday night when UW came back to beat No. 5 Illinois in five sets. Bajema had 15 kills and 13 digs tonight and a clutch block to close out the win. Senior Avie Niece was also named to the All-Tournament Team as she had five kills, hitting .364, with four blocks tonight after she hit over .700 on Friday.

"Sam has been working hard. She hasn't had the same kind of offensive production that she's had in some past matches, but a lot of credit to her to keep working and keep getting coached, and credit to Ella May also to find her with some well-located sets that found her at a nice tempo. They had a nice connection that probably won us the match.

Senior Shayne McPherson was big tonight with 19 digs and a career-high 10 assists for the first double-double of her career. Sophomore Ella May Powell also had a double-double with 47 assists and 16 digs, adding a pair of aces and two kills. Junior Lauren Sanders hit .389 with nine kills and three blocks, and sophomore Claire Hoffman also pitched in with 10 kills.

UW went to its bench, bringing in redshirt freshman Dani Cole for her first career action tonight and used sophomore Marin Grote for an extended period, both adding some kills and blocks. Senior Cailin Onosko also had a season-high nine digs tonight.

"I like to see some our depth put to use. We want to see what we have. We know some matches we'll need something to happen, and Dani came up with a stuff block and Marin had some nice offensive plays for us, and that's important. You want to know as much as you can about your team at this point in the season."

The first set certainly set the tone as it was the longest set the Huskies have played since 2015. The Huskies won on their sixth set point, having saved 3 Iowa set point chances.

UP NEXT: The Huskies will be back in the Midwest next week, going to Omaha, Neb. to the Bluejay Invitational hosted by 23rd-ranked Creighton which had some big wins this week over No. 12 Kentucky and No. 15 USC. The Huskies first play Drake next Friday, Sept. 13, then has a double-header on Saturday against Nebraska-Omaha and then Creighton at 5:30 p.m. Pacific.

SET 1: The first point was delivered by Shannon Crenshaw with a shot from the back row. Niece and Bajema then roofed the first Iowa swing for 2-0. Drechsel and Niece got another rejection for a 4-1 lead. Iowa answered back with consecutive blocks before Drechsel finished off the block from the left for 5-3. Iowa evened it up and the teams traded points, with a second Drechsel kill making it 8-7 Huskies. Bajema rolled in a kill and then tapped down an overpass for 11-9. Lauren Sanders killed a slide from Powell in serve-receive for 12-10. Powell had a dig and McPherson bumped to Bajema for a kill and a 14-11 lead. The Huskies were up four but hit two straight out of bounds and took timeout leading 15-14. Drechsel ended the lapse with a kill in serve-receive out of the break. McPherson delivered a great out of system bump set to Claire Hoffman who hit high off the block for the 17-15 point. Hoffman rolled a third kill in a row over the block and down for 19-15 and Iowa took timeout. Out of the break, McPherson aced the Hawkeyes for a five-point lead. Sanders ended a long rally with a kill from a Powell backset for 22-17. Bajema hammered straight to the floor from the left for 23-18. But just when the Huskies appeared headed for the finish, Iowa rallied with four in a row and UW took timeout up just one at 23-22. Iowa scored again out of the break to tie it, but Niece finally put one away out of the middle to get to set point, 24-23. Iowa saved it with a kill, but Drechsel came through off a broken play to put UW back in front. Iowa got another kill to tie it again, and then got an ace when the serve caught the tape and fell over, giving Iowa its first set point try. The Hawkeyes served long, and Drechsel killed from the right in transition to put the Huskies up, 27-26. UW nearly had a block but it landed wide for another tie. Sanders blocked one in the middle for 28-27, and she then had a shot at an overpass to end it but it landed just long. UW then hit out again on the next rally to give Iowa a second shot, but Crenshaw saved it with a tip into the middle. Iowa came back with another kill in serve-receive for a third Iowa set point. This time Sanders finished a slide for 30-30. Iowa tipped wide for 31-30 Dawgs. The Huskies got nicked for a blocking error on the next point, but a long rally was finally finished by Bajema to earn yet another chance at 32-31. Powell stepped to the service line, and her float was shanked to the side and Iowa's hitter doubled it trying to set, and Washington had finally claimed the first set, 33-31, winning it on their sixth set point chance.

SET 2: Sophomore Marin Grote and redshirt freshman Dani Cole both came in to start off the second set, Cole getting the first playing time of her career. Powell got the Dawgs moving in the second set with back-to-back aces. Grote got an early kill down inside the block for a 5-3 lead. The Huskies had a quick 3-0 run capped by a Grote kill on a slide for 11-7 and Iowa called for time. Powell threw one down for 12-8 Dawgs. Cole scored her first career block at 13-9. Iowa fought right back with five of the next six points to tie it up at 14-all. Cole then got her first career kill to put UW back up, 15-14. Iowa grabbed a one-point lead, with Sanders tying it at 17 on a slide. The Huskies sailed two in a row out of bounds to trail, 17-19, with Grote getting a big sideout on the next point. Bajema leveled things again at 20-20 with a rocket from the right pin. Iowa scored the next two, however, to force a Husky timeout. Drechsel put one down from the right out of the break, and she delivered again in transition after a couple McPherson digs to tie it at 22-22 and Iowa took time. Out of the break, McPherson covered a tip and Drechsel put it away again for 23-22 Dawgs. Sanders stuffed a tip down to get UW to set point at 24-23. This time the Huskies didn't waste any more time, as Sanders went up again and roofed the Hawkeye swing straight down to clinch it, 25-23.

SET 3: A perfect pass from Crenshaw let Sanders finish a slide to open the third set. Powell served up an ace for 3-1, but Iowa then rolled off seven in a row before Bajema dropped in a tip to end it. Hoffman followed with two in a row in transition as UW got back into it down 6-8. But UW then made three errors in a row to fall back down five points, 6-11. Grote put one away and McPherson notched an ace for 8-11. Long rallies continued to be the norm but more went Iowa's way as the gap hit 10-16 and UW took timeout. Emma Calle chipped in an ace to cut the gap back to four. Drechsel drilled a rightside kill to get within two at 15-17. But the Huskies missed serve and then had two straight poor passes to fall back down five. Drechsel and Hoffman had kills to help the Huskies fight back once again, Drechsel adding another right-side finish for 19-21 and Iowa called time. UW gave up the run with a missed serve and then had to send over a free ball after a shanked pass and Iowa put it away for 19-23. The Huskies would get no closer as Iowa extended things with the 20-25 set win.

SET 4: The teams started even at 4-4 in the fourth set with two more kills for Drechsel. Bajema put one away on a pipe set for 7-6 Huskies. A quick kill from Niece kept UW out front, 10-8. Iowa surged back in front with five out of six, before another Drechsel swing made it 12-13 Hawkeyes. Sanders put a slide away to tie things at 15-15 and the Hawkeyes whistled for time. Sanders and Bajema each added kills to tie things again at 17 and 18. Drechsel and Niece came up with a clutch rejection to put UW back on top, 20-19, and Iowa used its last timeout. Another big point was put up by the block as Drechsel and Sanders teamed up for 22-21. Hoffman tooled the block for 23-22 but Iowa won a long rally on the next point to tie it up again. An Iowa service error gave the Huskies match point at 24-23. Just as in the second set, the Husky block came through when it mattered most, as Bajema tracked a back row set and rejected it down for the win, 25-23.