Dawgs Close The Beach Behind 18 Endsley Kills

Friday, September 1

Long Beach, CA

7:00 PM

University of Washington

3-1,0-0Pac-12

Long Beach State

2-2,0-0Big West

Washington

Long Beach St.

team block celebration 2023 katy wessels

September 01, 2023 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Scored PDF Photo Gallery

By: UW Athletic Communications

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Eighteen kills from Madi Endsley and a clutch block on match point led the Huskies to an impressive early season road win at Long Beach State tonight. Washington (3-1) beat a Beach squad that upset then-No. 1-ranked Texas last week in the same Walter Pyramid building where UW earned a 20-25, 25-19, 25-17, 27-25 win in front of 1,402 fans.

After a slow start in set one, the Huskies controlled the momentum through the second and third sets and pulled away to earn four match points in the fourth set at 24-20, only to have to answer when LBSU (2-2) made a last-ditch run to score five-straight and put the Huskies down a set point at 24-25. An ace from Audra Wilmes put the Huskies back in front, and then Endsley and Katy Wessels teamed for an emphatic block after a long rally to finish the victory.

"I am proud of the way our girls came out and competed tonight," said Head Coach Leslie Gabriel. "Before the match we told the team it was going to be a battle as Long Beach is a good team that has the ability to extend rallies, and they did that tonight. I believe they had 76 digs, but we couldn't get caught up in that, we just needed to stay focused on what we could control. It was a total team win as we had many players come in and contribute at various points in the match."

The Huskies outhit the Beach, .201 to .158 for the match and had an 11.0 to 5.5 advantage in blocks, while winning the aces battle for the fourth time in four matches this year, with 9 to LBSU's 6. The Beach led in digs, 76 to 63.

ROOOOOOOOOOOF FOR THE WIN ????#PointHuskies & #MatchHuskies pic.twitter.com/5pg8ZH86km
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 2, 2023

Endsley put down 18 kills on a .250 attack percentage with two aces and three blocks. May Pertofsky added a dozen kills with 10 digs for her first career double-double, and had two aces and two blocks. Molly Wilson had a double-double as well with a career-high 35 assists and 12 digs, plus three kills and three blocks.

Elise Hani had six blocks, including two solo, Wessels added three kills and three blocks, while Lauren Bays had 19 digs.

UP NEXT: Washington will look for a fourth-straight win tomorrow back in the Pyramid, taking on future Big Ten rival Indiana at 4 p.m. in another ESPN+ live stream.

Freshman just dropping ??????#PointHuskies // ??? ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/tRNXgVfX9S
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 2, 2023

SET ONE: Long Beach scored the first two points of the match but Pertofsky evened it with UW's first ace, then Endsley had another ace to put the Huskies up, 5-4, and Pertofsky followed with a backrow kill for 6-4 to cap a 4-0 run. Wilmes had a block for 7-6. Bays ran down a deep dig and that left to a Pertofsky right side kill for 10-9. LBSU took a one-point lead but Endsley tied it at 12 with a finish off the touch. She then used her left hand to push one through for 13-12. The teams traded points, with Wilson flipping one over to catch the Beach off guard for 15-14. Coach Gabriel won a key replay reversal to make it 17-all, but Long Beach took the next two points to force a Husky timeout at 17-19. After the timeout, Pertofsky connected on the right side for a kill, but UW followed with two attack errors until an Endsley kill made it 19-21. A Long Beach block and another Husky miscue put them down set points at 19-24. Endsley saved one but the next point went to LBSU for the 20-25 set.

The Huskies hit just .065 in the opening frame while Long Beach hit .205. Endsley had six kills in the opener.

SET TWO: A serving run from Pertofsky got the Huskies an early 6-2 lead in the second set and forced a Long Beach State timeout. Pertofsky opened with an ace, then Endsley and Hani had a block, Endsley had a kill, and LBSU misfired. Kills from Wilmes and Pertofsky set by Wilson kept the lead at 11-7. An Endsley kill and a couple Beach errors extended it to 16-10. Bays dug a hard shot and it bounced back over for a kill on LBSU's side, and then Endsley had a solo stuff for 19-13. Wilmes delivered the final two kills of the set as the Dawgs evened it up with a 25-19 win.

The Huskies hit .333 in the second compared to .158 for Long Beach, as Wilmes had five kills and Endsley had four more, with Bays digging seven.

SET THREE: Wilmes opened set three with an ace, and then a Pertofsky kill made it 3-0 early. Hani had a solo rejection and then Bays dropped in an ace for a quick 6-1 edge and a LBSU timeout. Wessels killed an overpass for 10-4 and soon after had a huge blast on a quick set by Wilson for 13-8. Long Beach made a run to get within two, but Endsley ended the run with an open net rip, then Hani and Pertofsky blocked one for 15-12 Dawgs. The lead shrunk to one at 15-14, but Endsley put one away and then stepped back to hit an ace, followed by another Hani solo block to push it right back to four at 18-14 and LBSU called time. The Dawgs added two more out of the break, with Wilmes terminating for 20-14. A block by Wessels and Wilson made it 22-15, and UW reached set point on a Pertofsky kill. She finished the next point as well to end it, 25-17.

Again the Huskies hit over .300, with a .312 mark, aided by three aces and four blocks. Pertofsky's four kills led.

SET FOUR: The Huskies took the first two points of the fourth set, but then gave up a five-point run to the Beach and needed a timeout down 4-8. Wilson dumped for a kill to snap that and UW got within two again at 7-9. Wessels killed a slide and Wilmes found a sharp crosscourt angle to quickly pull the Huskies back even at 10-10. Washington retook the lead for the first time on a Pertofsky missile for 14-13, and then a LBSU error forced them into a timeout at 15-13. Endsley made it 17-13 with another kill set by Bays. Hani and Wilson assisted on a roof for 19-14, forcing the last Beach timeout. Long Beach clawed back to 22-20 to force a Husky timeout, but the Beach made an attack error on the next rally and then Wilmes broke through the block to reach match point at 24-20. But all four chances quickly were spent, as Long Beach got a kill for the first sideout, then had a block and an ace, and another UW overpass was hit down for a kill to tie it at 24-all. A fifth-straight Beach point put the Huskies down set point, and UW needed some luck on the next rally, as an overpass fell on Beach's side with a little feint from Wilson possibly providing the distraction needed. Wilmes then answered back with an ace to put the Huskies back in front, 26-25, with a fifth match point. A long rally followed, with a diving dig from Bays and a couple swings from Endsley before Endsley rejected a Beach swing straight back and down for the final point, 27-25.