Block Roars To Life As Huskies Stuff Bears

Friday, November 3

Berkeley, CA

7:00 PM

University of Washington

14-10,5-8Pac-12

California

15-9,4-9Pac-12

Washington

California

November 03, 2023 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

BERKELEY, Calif. – Senior May Pertofsky returned to action and came back in a new role, as she moved to middle blocker and helped spark a UW block that was the best its been in more than a month. Pertofsky and Katy Wessels were in on 12 of the team's 13 blocks tonight as the Huskies halted a four-match skid with a 27-25, 22-25, 25-16, 25-17 road win over the Cal Bears.

It was UW's final trip to Haas Pavilion as conference rivals, and the Huskies were able to extend their series mastery to 22 consecutive victories over the Bears, and 12 straight in Berkeley. Washington improved to 14-10 and 5-8 in Pac-12 play while Cal dropped to 15-9 and 4-9.

The Huskies had just six total blocks combined in two home losses last week, but more than doubled that in once match tonight. It tied for their second-most blocks of the season, and was the most since getting 14 at Oregon State on Oct. 1. Pertofsky, who had missed six matches in a row and seven of the past eight, came back from a foot injury and moved from her usual opposite hitter spot to middle tonight and helped set the tone.

NO ???? as Katy is a wall! The second time tonight her block gets us to set point. Dubs ??#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/EQ29IiYKTk
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 4, 2023

Washington improved to 9-0 this year when hitting above .250, as the Huskies finished at .257 and held California to a .130 mark. Molly Wilson had 42 assists, three kills, eight digs and three blocks. Madi Endsley and Kierstyn Barton finished with identical attacking lines, as both players had 17 kills on 44 swings with five errors, each hitting .273. They also each had two block assists.

Senior Grace Zilbert tied her career-high with five aces, her most since her time as a Pilot, as UW and Cal were even with 10 aces per side. Zilbert also had eight digs, and libero Lauren Bays led the Dawgs with 18 digs. Audra Wilmes had a career-high with 15 digs, and added seven kills and three aces with four block assists. Wessels had two solo blocks plus five block assists for a new career-high of seven total blocks, and she added four kills without an error.

G.Z. ties her career-high with her FIFTH ACE! ????#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/QrcPO22XM2
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) November 4, 2023

UP NEXT: The Huskies have a top-10 task at hand on Sunday as they head to No. 5 Stanford for a 2 p.m. battle at Maples Pavilion. The match will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.

Set One: Wilmes got UW's first kill on the second point but Cal had the first push to take a 10-6 lead and force a Husky timeout. Wilmes served up an ace for 9-11 but Cal went back up by four. Washington then scored four-straight on a Pertofsky kill, two Bear errors, and a block by Pertofsky and Endsley to make it 13-all. But Cal answered with its own 5-0 run to put the Dawgs down 14-19 and force their last timeout. Zilbert then served the Dawgs back into it with a 5-0 run that included two aces, the second one tying it at 20-all. Consecutive Barton kills put the Huskies in front, but they had to save two set points, one on a Barton kill and one forcing a Cal error after a long rally. Wessels got a solo block for 26-25, and Cal missed out on the next rally for the 27-25 win. UW hit .286 and held Cal to .156.

Set Two: Four early Endsley kills helped UW to an 8-8 tie in the second. Zilbert got another ace to put the Dawgs up, 11-9. The lead switched hands several times, but the Dawgs had a 3-0 run to make it 20-18 and force a Cal timeout, as Zilbert had her fourth ace and Barton put down a Wilson set. Cal scored a pair to get even, but Barton regained the lead at 21-20. The Bears, however, then got three in a row to force a UW timeout. Barton got one back but Cal reached set point with a sideout and finished on a Husky error for the 25-22 win. Cal had just one error, hitting .375 in the set, despite seven kills on 14 swings from Endsley.

Set Three: Back-to-back Husky blocks made it 3-1 Dawgs, with Pertofsky assisting on both. Wilson threw down second contact for 6-2. The Bears crept within one at 7-6, but another UW block, by Wessels and Endsley, sparked a 4-0 run for 11-6 and a Bears timeout. Zilbert's career-high-tying fifth ace doubled up the Bears at 14-7, and another Wessels block assisted by Wilmes made it 16-7. Kills from Pertofsky and Barton forced the last Cal timeout at 19-11. Barton added an ace for 21-13, and Maeve Griffin subbed in to score a couple points on her serve as UW closed it out, 25-16. UW had a huge seven blocks in the third set alone, holding Cal to -.172 while hitting .250.

Set Four: As in set three, UW opened with a 6-2 lead with early aces from Wilmes and Barton. Wilson turned around and rejected a Cal attempt off a Husky overpass for a key point at 7-4. The Bears rallied to tie it at 7-7, but UW made a move with two Endsley put-aways and a Wilmes-Wessels block for 11-7 and a Bears timeout. Wessels put down a quick in transition and the Huskies were doubling up Cal again at 16-8. UW put it away with a 4-0 run on Wilmes' serve with kills by Barton and Wilson and a Pertofsky-Barton stuff. Barton got UW to match point at 24-16 and on the second chance, a Wilmes tip dropped to end it, 25-17. Barton rolled in the final set with six kills on 13 swings and Bays had eight digs in the final frame.