Huskies Bounce Cougars In Apple Cup Home Opener

Friday, September 13

Seattle, WA

7:00 PM

University of Washington

6-0,0-0Big Ten

Washington State

3-3,0-0WCC

Washington St.

Washington

September 13, 2024 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – On the night before the Apple Cup is settled on the gridiron, the Husky volleyball team did its best to get the vibes right for the weekend. The Dawgs dispatched the Cougars in Alaska Airlines Arena tonight in the home opener for UW in front of 3,054 purple faithful. Kierstyn Barton helped the Huskies improve to 6-0 with a lights out stat line of 22 kills on a .500 attack percentage.

Washington dominated three out of the four sets, taking the first, third, and fourth sets all by 9+ points. The Huskies hit .318 overall for the match and held Washington State (3-3) to just .111 for a 25-15, 21-25, 25-16, 25-13 final score. The Dawgs snapped a three-match losing skid in this non-conference, but fierce as ever, rivalry.

"I challenged the team to build our routines here at home, like we've been doing on the road," said Head Coach Leslie Gabriel. "We came out in game one ready to play. Game two, (WSU) played really well and was passing well. But I'm really proud of our response from our serve-receivers because they picked it up."

Barton was back in the starting lineup after missing the last two matches of the Colorado road trip. Her 22 kills tonight are the second-most of her career, and the second time she's gone for over 20. She needed just 38 swings to reach 22 kills, making only three errors, and she added 12 digs for a double-double. She really dominated after intermission, getting eight kills in set three and six more in set four to close it out.

We did our part now its up to @UW_Football!
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Apple Cup tomorrow at 12:30!!#pointhuskies #BeatWazzu pic.twitter.com/mxQTOoSUMB
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 14, 2024

"Kierstyn," said Gabriel, "she's a player that is continuing to grow in her game. We ask her to do a lot … she's playing all six rotations. I like what she's doing. Can she get better? Oh yeah, she hasn't reached her potential, but she's definitely growing her game."

Also in double figures tonight was freshman Julia Hunt, who reached 10 kills including five in the fourth set, and led the team with six blocks. Kiune Fletcher had eight kills, hitting .286, and Emoni Bush also had eight kills with four blocks. Madi Endsley had five kills without an error and served a major run to pull away in the third set.

Setters Molly Wilson and Alexis Haury continued their rotation, with Wilson leading tonight with 26 assists and Haury collecting 23, plus two aces. Wilson also had 13 digs for a double-double. Zoria Heard reached 10 digs for the first time this season and Lauren Bays added nine, plus a big nine assists.

Back in front as K.B. keeps cooking ?????#PointHuskies x ?? Big Ten Network pic.twitter.com/pSBmz1OXTB
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 14, 2024

Up Next: Washington is off on Saturday but back in action at Alaska Airlines Arena on Sunday against UC Davis in a 2 p.m. showdown. That will be live streaming on Big Ten Plus.