Dawgs Sweep ‘Cats In Home Opener

Friday, September 12

Seattle, Wash.

7:00 PM

University of Washington

4-3,0-0Big Ten

Arizona

6-1,0-0Big 12

Arizona

Washington

September 12, 2025 | Volleyball

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By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – Home was sweet and the win was a sweep as Washington Volleyball handled former conference rival Arizona in straight sets tonight in the first match of the season inside Alaska Airlines Arena. The Huskies (4-3) played their most complete match so far this season to earn the tight 25-23, 25-23, 25-22 victory over the Wildcats (6-1) in front of 2,928 fans.

UW also snapped the longest active win streak as Arizona ended its 2024 campaign with 11 consecutive victories, winning the NIVC tournament, then starting this season with six more wins.

"It felt good to be back home!" said third-year Head Coach Leslie Gabriel. "There's nothing like playing in our arena here with our fans and the music and the environment, it was a lot of fun. We were super excited to be back home and to have another one coming on Sunday."

Neither team could ever shake loose by more than a couple points for most of the match tonight. Washington cracked open the largest leads of four points late in set two, and five points late in set three, but Arizona fought back each time to bring them down to the wire. The Huskies were able to convert in the crucial moments in all three sets tonight.

What. A. Point.

Dawgs take the 2-0 lead into the break and the crowd is barking for MORE ????#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/B38upu9ePh
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 13, 2025

Gabriel said she was proud of how the Huskies competed from beginning to end. "There were some moments that weren't so perfect, but we're trying to not let teams go on (runs) of points. I think we still can be better on our assignments, but how we competed and how we went for it, playing to win, I liked what I saw from that standpoint."

Washington's offense got better and better as the match went, as the Huskies hit .195 in the defensively heavy first set, but then hit .394 in the second and .455 in the third to wind up at .336 for the match. Arizona hit .262. The Huskies had a 47-42 edge in kills and a 45-44 lead in digs, while Arizona had the advantage in aces (7-5) and blocks (9.0 to 6.0).

In her first match as a Husky in Hec Ed, senior transfer Alexa Markley was strong with a team-high 14 kills, hitting .323, and several of her kills were extremely high octane. Kierstyn Barton also got untracked offensively, hitting .333 with 13 kills.

Sophomore setter Alexis Haury had a double-double with 35 assists and 10 digs. She connected well with the middles, as Julia Hunt and Katy Wessels each had six kills, with just one error between them as they both hit over .500. Wessels had a team-high five blocks. Zoria Heard had 12 digs and a career-high eight assists. Simona Mateska also had eight kills and 10 digs to round out the stat sheet, as UW played the entire match with just its seven starters.

Tell us all about it, Alexa! ???#PointHuskies pic.twitter.com/7AboRYyod1
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) September 13, 2025

Up Next: The Huskies face another big challenge this Sunday as one of the strongest mid-major squads, San Diego, visits for a 2 p.m. showdown. That match will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.