Match Stats
- #7 Washington def. Colorado 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-21)
- Washington moves to 16-2 (6-2 Pac-12); Colorado falls to 11-7 (3-5 Pac-12)
- Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle, Washington (Washington hosted)
The 7th-ranked Washington Huskies hit hard and often in a 3-0 sweep of the formerly-ranked, but wavering, Colorado Buffs on Sunday in Seattle.
Washington had two players, juniors Courtney Schwan and Crissy Jones, hit over .500 with double-digit kills on the day, and the home-team out-blocked their opponents 14-3.
Colorado, meanwhile, hit at their lowest rate of the season – .096 – in defeat. That’s in spite of a big night from senior middle blocker Katelyn Cuff. She grabbed 11 kills on just 17 swings for a .647 hitting percentage. An early-season ankle sprain caused Cuff to miss over a month of action, but she has quickly returned to early-season form – she’s not hit lower than .500 this season in any of her four full matches played. Colorado will be boosted by the fact that she’s returned to form quickly and will hope that this turns things around and can lock up a spot in December’s NCAA Championship tournament.
Videos
Crissy Jones Postmatch interview:
Press Releases
Courtesy Washington Athletics:
SEATTLE – Juniors Courtney Schwan and Crissy Jones both hit over .500 with double figure kill totals today, and the Husky block rejected fourteen Colorado swings as seventh-ranked Washington got its second sweep of the weekend at Alaska Airlines Arena in front of 2,129 fans. The Huskies (16-2, 6-2 Pac-12) outblocked the Buffaloes 14 to 3, and hit .365 as a team, holding Colorado (11-7, 3-5 Pac-12) to just a .096 attack percentage.
The win was the fifth in a row for the Huskies and put them in first place in the Pac-12, one game ahead of a staggering seven other teams all tied for second at 5-3.
The 14 blocks for the Daws tied for their most in a three setter this season. Jones had nine, including two solo blocks, to go with her 11 kills without an error on 21 swings to hit .524. Jones played middle blocker this weekend with freshman Avie Niece currently out with an injury, and she looked like a natural today.
Schwan’s 15 kills led all players, and she made just one error on 28 swings to hit .500, adding 10 digs for a double-double. Junior Bailey Tanner also had a career-high six blocks, plus 11 digs and 37 assists for a double-double of her own. Tia Scambray had seven kills on a .238 attack percentage and had eight digs, three blocks and an ace.
“Really happy for the team to play with that level of discipline from start to finish,” said Head Coach Keegan Cook. “I thought we were on our defensive assignments and steady for really long periods of time. So it was a good result for us. It was a really impressive demonstration of leadership by Crissy doing what the team needs in order to get through this stretch while we’re a little banged up. I can’t say enough about her performance tonight both offensively and defensively.”
Carly DeHoog collected the first kill of the day for the Dawgs as the teams traded the first few points until back-to-back blocks from Jones and Schwan gave the Dawgs the early 4-2 edge. A pancake dig from Destiny Julye led to a transition kill for Schwan, and Jones finished one to make it 6-2, capping a 5-0 Husky run. Schwan hammered down an overdig to build the Husky lead to five at 8-3. Tanner backset to Schwan in serve-receive for a slam and 10-5. Jones hit a quick out of the middle for 12-8 Dawgs. Julye’s serve led to two straight free balls from Colorado and the Huskies won both points to extend the lead to 14-8, and Colorado took its first timeout. Jones and Tanner combined for a stuff and then Scambray had a kill on a CU net error for 16-9. A key rally saw a couple Husky blocks were picked up by Colorado, followed by Tanner digging a tip and Scambray then setting to Schwan, who blasted a sharp angle crosscourt for the 19-10 point. Tanner and Bajema blocked the Buffs on the first swing out of a timeout for 21-10. Schwan had two more kills to keep the Dawgs on track towards set point which came at 24-12. An error by the Buffs forced by a tough Schwan serve ended it, 25-12. The Huskies rolled to a .412 attack percentage and held Colorado to .000 with tough serving. Schwan had seven kills and Jones had five on seven swings to hit .714 with three blocks.
The first ace of the day for the Dawgs came from Julye for a 3-1 lead early in the second set. Jones and Tanner then had a stuff and Tanner ended a rally with a dump for her first kill for 5-1 before the Buffs snapped the 4-0 Husky run. Schwan adjusted to a tough set and rolled one into the campfire from the left for 7-3. The teams settled into a sideout battle, with Bajema slamming a quick set from Tanner for 9-5. Schwan found the far corner out of the back row to make it 11-7 Dawgs. Colorado closed within two, but a 3-0 Husky run got the lead back to 15-10 and forced the Buffs into a timeout. Colorado made two more errors for 17-10 before the Huskies served one long. Bajema put a slide kill down and DeHoog hit off the block and down at the left pin for 20-13. Scambray went up the left sideline for 21-14. Jones then put down back-to-back solo rejections right in the middle to bring the Huskies to set point, and a third block, this one from Tanner, closed out the set, 25-16. Washington’s five blocks in the set helped hold Colorado down to .032 in the frame while the Huskies again were on target at a .419 rate. Schwan killed five of six swings to hit .833 in the set.
A few early Colorado errors in set three and a Scambray ace helped UW out to a 5-2 advantage. Colorado pulled back within a point, but Schwan connected sharply crosscourt, and then Bajema and DeHoog teamed for a roof on the right pin to get back to an 8-5 lead. Tanner’s next serve caught the net and dropped down for an ace for 9-5. Schwan froze the defense again with a roll shot for 10-5, but the Buffs answered back with a 3-0 run to get to 10-8 and the Huskies took timeout. Out of the break, Julye got one down off the block after Bajema had saved the play by blocking a CU swing from a Husky overpass. Colorado got within a point again at 12-11 but Scambray found the floor with a rocket for 13-11 and then UW scored again on a block by Jones and Scambray. CU came back within a point again but Tanner set Jones in serve-receive for a kill to 15-13. She hit again from the right pin two points later for 16-14. Washington made a net error negating a McPherson dig, and then overpassed that was hit down by CU for 17-16, but Tanner kept the lead by dumping for the point. Scambray hit out of the back row to cap a long rally and she put it off the block and down out of the back row again two points later for 20-18. A Buffs miss just long made it 21-18, forcing the last Colorado timeout. Out of the break, Scambray turned in the Colorado swing on the right for a roof and a four point lead. Another long rally was ended as Schwan set Scambray who tooled the block from the 10-foot line for 23-18. Scambray got another clutch block to bring the Huskies to match point, 24-20. Colorado saved the first, but after a perfect Schwan pass, Tanner went to Jones in the middle and she put it off the defender’s arms and away for the point and the win, 25-21. Washington again outhit Colorado, .282 to .213, and had five more blocks in the set. Scambray had four kills, four digs, and three block assists in the third.
Washington now finishes the first half of conference play in the desert, visiting Arizona State next Friday, Oct. 21, before going to Tucson on Oct. 23. Both matches will be on Pac-12 Networks.
Courtesy Colorado Athletics:
SEATTLE — Colorado senior Katelyn Cuff hit a match-high .647, but it was not enough as the Buffaloes fell 3-0 (25-12, 25-16, 25-21) to the seventh-ranked Washington Huskies on Sunday afternoon at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Washington leads the Pac-12 Conference with a 6-2 record and is 16-2 overall, while the Buffs are now 11-7 overall, 3-5 in the league.
WHAT HAPPENED: Cuff, who had not seen a significant amount of playing time since suffering an injury after the first weekend of action, made a huge impact against the Huskies for the Buffs. She not only led the match with her hitting percentage, but she also led the Buffs with 11 kills. Cuff did not commit a single error on 17 attacks.
Junior Gabby Simpson also reached double-digits for the Buffs in kills with 10 and added 14 assists and seven digs. Junior Stephanie Shadley recorded a team-best 13 digs in the effort, while senior Cierra Simpson had 10 digs.
SET 1: The Huskies took a 6-2 lead to start the match and increased it to 14-8 before the Buffs took their first timeout of the match. The Buffs sided-out on the next point, but UW strung together a 6-1 run to increase its advantage to 20-10, at which point the Buffs called their second break of the set. CU was able to pick up two more points in the set on kills from Cuff and Shadley before UW took the game 25-12.
SET 2: The Buffs were sticking with the Huskies pretty well to start the second set and were only down by two at 12-10 before UW recorded three straight points (15-10). After a quick timeout by the Buffs, UW took two more points to go up 17-10. CU tried to chip away at UW’s lead and was able to bring the score back within five points (21-16), but the Huskies went on to close out the set 25-16 with four straight points.
SET 3: Washington started the third set off with a 10-5 lead, but the Buffs responded and got within one point at 12-11 with a 6-2 run. UW took the next two points, but the Buffs answered again with two of their own to stick with the Huskies (14-13). UW was able to put together a 3-1 run to go up 17-14, which forced CU to take a timeout. The Buffs answered with a kill from Alexa Smith and another from Cuff to once again bring the score within a point (17-16).
The two sides would continue to battle, but CU would need to take a timeout after UW went up 21-18. UW added another two points out of the break (23-19). The Buffs were not finished, responding with two points of their own (23-20), but they ran out of time as UW finished the set 25-21.
TEAM STATISTICS: The Buffs hit .213 with 36 kills and 25 errors on 115 attacks, while Washington hit .365 with 44 kills and six errors on 104 attacks. CU recorded 34 assists to UW’s 43. CU out-dug the Huskies 47-46, but the Huskies out-blocked the Buffs 14.0-3.0. UW also had more aces than CU at 3-2.
NOTEABLE: The Buffs are now 11-7, 3-5 in the Pac-12… UW owns a 10-3 overall record against the Buffs with all three CU wins coming in Boulder…This was the eighth AVCA ranked team the Buffs have faced this year; CU is 4-4 in those matches…
PAC-12 STANDINGS: The Buffs are currently ninth (3-5) in the Pac-12 standings, but they aren’t far from the top. Washington leads the league with a 6-2 mark, but there are seven teams tied for second at 5-3. CU is next (3-5), while Cal is 2-6. Oregon State and Arizona State both have a 1-7 mark in league play.
NEXT UP: Colorado will head back to Boulder for a pair of matches. The Buffs will host Oregon State on Friday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m. and on Saturday, Oct. 22, CU will take on Oregon. Both matches will be at the Coors Events Center.
QUOTABLE:
Jesse Mahoney, head coach
“Washington played extremely well and we did not find a way to respond. We struggled in all phases of the game – which is disappointing coming after one of our more complete performances of the season on Friday.”
“We’ve got work to do this week to prepare for two more tough opponents – but we will be energized to be playing at home.”
Leave a Reply