Huskies Drop Pac-12 Finale In Front Of Great Crowd

Friday, November 24

Seattle, WA

7:00 PM

University of Washington

16-15,7-13Pac-12

Washington State

24-7,14-6Pac-12

Washington St.

Washington

November 24, 2023 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – The seventh-largest crowd in Washington Volleyball history came out to the final match of the season in Alaska Airlines Arena, as 5,998 fans witnessed the final Husky-Cougar Pac-12 match-up ever. 11th-ranked Washington State pulled out a tight first set and then held off a last ditch Husky rally in set three to earn the 25-23, 25-14, 25-20 win over Washington in the Boeing Apple Cup Series.

The Huskies honored four seniors before the match: Maeve Griffin, who has spent four years on the squad, and fifth-year senior transfers May Pertofsky, Kayce Litzau, and Grace Zilbert. All had special moments tonight, with Pertofsky leading all players in her final college match with 14 kills. Litzau had an incredible kill out of the back row to highlight her final match, while Zilbert notched six digs and Griffin came in all three sets to serve.

"It was emotional tonight with Senior Night, and wanting to finish on a high note for them," said Head Coach Leslie Gabriel. "Maeve has been here four years and putting in a lot of time and energy into the program and has such a bright future. Then our three transfers, we love them so much because they totally bought in to who we are here at Washington. We're sad because this was their last go-round with us. Then the last Pac-12 match-up with the Cougars, the end of the Pac-12 is a sad thing."

One more time, Thank You Maeve, Kayce, May and Grace!! ??#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/xqbknkFDgy
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 25, 2023

Washington's season finishes at 16-15 overall and 7-13 in Pac-12 play. The Dawgs will miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001, but a young team in transition, having lost one of the winningest classes in UW history in 2022, saw a lot of growth this year.

"There were some players in our program who made some strides, but we still have a lot more to improve upon both individually and as a team," Gabriel said. "We're a program that's used to winning, and we're used to postseason play. So for sure this will be used as motivation for us to get back in the gym and keep playing better volleyball."

The crowd tonight was the largest since the 2014 season.

"The crowd was just awesome," said Gabriel. "The energy in the gym, it was a fun place to play in tonight and I loved that for our players. I'm so grateful that the community came out and supported and it made for a great environment."

The Cougars (24-7, 14-6 Pac-12) finished hitting .326 for the match while the Huskies hit .176. Pertofsky came out of the gate on fire with eight kills in the first set, and the Dawgs took a 23-22 lead to force a WSU timeout. But the Cougars came out and won the final three points of the first to steal the momentum. Washington hurt its cause with six service errors in the first.

Senior Night memz for Kayce! She's out here crushing back row kills, much to the delight of all Dawgs ??

Dawgs back from down six to 9-11#PointHuskies // #BoeingAppleCup // ?? Pac-12 WA pic.twitter.com/VgKHN9je1I
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 25, 2023

The Cougars then controlled set two and had a 20-12 lead in the third set before the Huskies made a final rally, cutting the eight-point lead down to three at 19-22, but the Cougars weathered the storm and closed it out, 25-20.

Junior libero Lauren Bays had seven digs and reached the 1,000 career digs mark tonight, becoming the 16th Husky ever to reach that plateau.

May making the most of her one and only home ????#PointHuskies // #BoeingAppleCup pic.twitter.com/maa5LYDCYz
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 25, 2023

Madi Endsley had seven kills and Audra Wilmes added four. Molly Wilson had 24 assists and seven digs, while Katy Wessels and Elise Hani had two blocks apiece, and Wessels added two kills.