Pertofsky’s Career-High Carries Dawgs Over Arizona

Wednesday, November 22

Seattle, WA

3:00 PM

University of Washington

16-14,7-12Pac-12

Arizona

8-22,3-16Pac-12

Arizona

Washington

November 22, 2023 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – Senior Night is still two nights away, but May Pertofsky couldn't wait to start putting on a show. The soaring senior hit for a career-high 22 kills as Washington defeated Arizona at Alaska Airlines Arena and assured itself a winning record. The Huskies (16-14, 7-12 Pac-12) dropped the opening set but then rallied for the 21-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-22 victory in front of 2,118 fans.

"It felt really good to be able to pull out that fourth set when we were down," said Head Coach Leslie Gabriel. Washington was trailed 14-19 in set four before closing on an 11-3 run to avoid a fifth set. "It's something we haven't been able to do lately. It was fun for us to see the girls start taking care of first contacts, and going for it and hitting some big shots at the end of the match."

Washington now has just one match remaining in the regular season, the Boeing Apple Cup Series rematch against 11th-ranked Washington State, which will take place in two days, on Friday at 7 p.m. It's a must-win for the Huskies to have any shot at raising their RPI into NCAA at-large consideration.

a-MAY-zing ??

May Pertofsky has done just about everything in her career but never had a 20-kills match … until tonight!

2??2?? kills to lead the Husky win. #PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/iQ4HtAhRFJ
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 23, 2023

The Huskies hit .276 for their best attack percentage since hitting .330 in a win over Colorado on Oct. 13. Pertofsky hit .462, getting her 22 kills on just 39 swings with only four errors. Twice this season Pertofsky had tied her old career-high with 18 kills, including just 10 days ago against UCLA. Eighteen was her career-high from four years at Michigan. She blew past that today.

"May is always up for the challenge, and she's always up to do whatever's needed for the team," said Gabriel. "Running a 5-1 gave us an opportunity to give her more balls and let her do her thing. I'm proud of her and Molly giving her the sets to do what she was doing."

It was the only meeting this year between the two squads, and the final one as conference rivals. Washington held home court for the 19th consecutive time against the Wildcats. Arizona has not won on UW's floor since 2002.

Washington held the edge in kills, 53-46, digs (60-45), and aces (8-5) while Arizona had a couple more blocks, 6.0 to 4.0.

Molly Wilson had a double-double with 43 assists, 12 digs, and she fired a trio of aces. Madi Endsley also had 13 kills on a .333 attack percentage, while Audra Wilmes had nine kills. Lauren Bays had 11 digs and two aces and Grace Zilbert had 12 digs and one ace.

Kierstyn CLINCHES!! The Arizona native puts away Arizona with this ??

Dawgs WIN!!#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/XRipkOrYva
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 23, 2023

UP NEXT: The Huskies and Cougars face off for the final time as conference rivals on Friday night at 7 p.m. live on the Pac-12 Networks. Pre-match, UW will honor four seniors: Pertofsky, Kayce Litzau, Zilbert and Maeve Griffin.

Set One: Pertofsky's first kill came at 3-2 in the opener, but Arizona scored six of the next seven to force a Husky timeout at 4-8. Two more from Pertofsky made it 10-13, but Arizona pushed back out to a six-point lead. Endsley had two in a row and Pertofsky killed a Wilson set to make it 18-21 and force a Wildcats timeout, but the Huskies couldn't claw back, falling 21-25, despite outhitting Arizona, .333 to .312 in the set. Pertofsky had seven kills in the opener.

Set Two: Washington scored four of the first five in the second, and an ace from Bays made it 7-3 and Arizona took the early timeout. An ace from Wilson made it 13-9, and back-to-back points from Pertofsky and Wilmes pushed it to 16-11. Again Pertofsky finished for 19-13 and UA used its last timeout. Wilson dumped for a kill and Bays had another ace as the Huskies ran away, 25-18, to tie up the match. UW hit an impressive .370 in the set with Pertofsky going 6-0-9.

Set Three: The third set was close in the early going, with no team leading by more than two. It was 10-10 and hten Wilmes capped a great rally with a kill for a 14-13 lead. Wilmes started to take over, adding two more kills in a row to help make it 17-14 and Arizona burned a timeout. But out of the break, Wilmes and Pertofsky added two more and then a Kayce Litzau ace made it 21-15 and the Huskies went on to set point at 24-17. Airzona saved four but after UW took time, Endsley finished the next Husky chance for 25-21. Wilmes had 7 kills on 10 swings to hit .600 in the set.

Set Four: An ace from Wilson got the Huskies a 10-8 lead in the fourth but Arizona would tie it up at 10. A block by Katy Wessels and Wilmes made it 12-10, but Arizona scored four of five to make it 13-15 and the Huskies took time. But Arizona kept pushing and the lead hit five at 14-19. Pertofsky snapped the rut with a kill and then Elise Hani terminated off a free ball chance for 16-19. Hani and Wilson then stuffed one to get back within two. Endsley lasered a momentum-building kill that tied it at 21-21 and forced the Arizona timeout. Pertofsky then stuffed the Wildcats out of the break for the lead. Two more Pertofsky kills got the Huskies to match point at 24-22, then Kierstyn Barton finished up the line in transition off a Wilson set to end it, 25-22. UW hit .250 and held Arizona to .135 in the last set as Pertofsky had six more kills and Wilson had 13 assists.