MATCH STATS
- No. 15 Washington def. No. 13 USC 3-2 (25-19, 16-25, 22-25, 32-30, 15-12)
- Washington moves to 17-5, 7-4 Pac-12; USC falls to 15-7, 7-4 Pac-12
- Seattle, Washington
- Attendance: 2,611
- Box Score
SEATTLE – Fourteen blocks and eight aces helped No. 15 Washington rally from down 2-1 in the match to hold home court against No. 13 USC on Friday.
After failing to cash in on five match-point tries in a 32-30 Set 4 loss, USC grabbed a 6-3 lead in the decisive fifth set. Three Washington errors and a pair of freshman opposite Brooke Botkin kills helped the Trojans to the early edge. Washington called timeout and scored seven straight out of the break to go up 10-6. Senior outside hitter Courtney Schwan turned in four kills and senior outside Carly DeHoog added two in the rally. USC chipped away as senior opposite Brittany Abercombie downed two kills and an ace by sophomore defensive specialist Jenna Adams pulled the Trojans within one at 13-12. A kill by senior Tia Scambray and a USC miscue clinched the comeback for the Huskies at 15-12.
Scambray and Schwan both notched their 1,000th career kills in the match, while DeHoog led a group of five UW players with double-digit kill tallies, notching 19 putaways on a match-high .514 hitting effort. Schwan (14), senior outside Crissy Jones (13), Scambray (11) and senior middle Marion Hazelwood (10) rounded out the group. Hazelwood put up a team-best seven blocks, while Jones added five. Scambray finished off a double-double with a team-best 22 digs, while sophomore libero Shayne McPherson (16), Schwan (12) and senior setter Bailey Tanner (12) also posted double-digit saves.
Botkin put down a match-high 20 kills for USC, while Abercrombie (19), senior opposite Niki Withers (16) and senior middle Jordan Dunn (10) were right behind. Dunn put up a team-best three blocks. Sophomore defensive specialist Jenna Adams paced the backcourt with 27 digs, while junior libero Victoria Garrick (20), senior setter Reni Meyer-Whalley (11) and Botkin (10) also added double-digit digs.
The Huskies edged the Trojans in every statistical category except digs: hitting percentage (.262 to .245), kills (75-74), aces (3-2), blocks (14-7). USC bested UW 88-84 in digs.
After playing to a 10-all tie in the opening set, Washington outscored USC 11-4. Hazelwood, Jones, DeHoog and Scambray notched two kills apeice as the Huskies went up 21-14. The Trojans managed five of the next seven to make it 23-19, but a block and kill by Schwan closed out the 25-19 UW win.
USC countered by taking a 9-5 lead in Set 2 with help from four Washington miscues. Kills by DeHoog and Lauren Sanders cut the margin to one at 10-9, but the Trojans kept the Huskies at bay, raising the margin to four at 17-13 after three more UW errors. Up just three at 18-15, USC scored seven of the final eight to grab the 25-16 win. Botkin downed four kills and a block in the final stretch.
USC used a 7-2 run to turn a two-point deficit into an 11-8 lead in Set 3. Two Withers kills and a pair of UW errors aided the run. Washington scored seven of the next 10 to grab a one-point lead at 15-14. Two Schwan kills and two blocks helped the Huskies gain the advantage. The Trojans answered with a 7-2 run of their own as Abercrombie heated up with four kills and Withers added two. UW was within one at 21-20, but USC capped the set at 25-22 with four kills.
Washington built a four-point advantage in Set 4, going up 18-14 on an Avie Niece kill. Trailing 20-16, USC battled back with seven of the next 10 points, leading to a tie at 23. Five players tallied kills as the Trojans knotted the score. A service error gave UW the first chance at the set at 24-23. Kills by Krage and Botkin gave USC a match-point try at 25-24. The Trojans had three more tries, last at 28-27, before kills by Hazelwood and Schwan gave UW another shot at 29-28. Down 30-29 and facing their fifth match-point, the Huskies turned to Schwan and Scambray who each delivered a kill to set up a final ace by Schwan.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: Washington Athletics
Tia Scambray and Courtney Schwan both reached the one-thousand career kills mark, Washington fought off five match points, and in their sixth five-set marathon in 11 Pac-12 matches, the Huskies turned back No. 19 USC, 25-19, 16-25, 22-25, 32-30, 15-12 before 2,611 fans at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Down two sets to one, Washington had to fight off a total of five match point chances for the Trojans in the fourth set, before ultimately pulling it out on their third set point try after running out of subs along the way. The Huskies improved to 17-5 and 7-4 in Pac-12 play, pulling even in the league standings with the Trojans (15-7, 7-4) and avenging an earlier loss in L.A. The Dawgs also moved to 3-3 in their five setters this year.
Scambray became the 17th Husky ever to post 1,000 career kills with her very first kill of the match. A couple hours later, Schwan became the 18th, as her 14th and final kill put her at the 1,000 kills plateau. Scambray also joined a select group of five Huskies with 1,000 career kills and digs plus 100 career aces. She joins Krista Vansant(2011-14), Christal Morrison (2004-07), Sanja Tomasevic (2002-05), and Lisa McCammond (1986-89).
Along with the intense match point drama and the milestone marks, senior Carly DeHoog had a career-night to lead the way as she had 19 kills and just one error on 35 swings for a .514 attack percentage. The 19 kills are the most by a Husky this season, and DeHoog had five of them to lead the way in set five.
Schwan finished with 14 kills and 12 digs plus a couple aces and blocks, and Scambray had 11 kills and a big 22 digs plus four blocks and an ace. Crissy Jones had 13 kills, seven digs, five blocks, and a crucial 7-0 serving run in the fifth set where the Dawgs went without a setter so Jones could use her strong serve. Marion Hazelwood also had 10 kills and seven blocks to make five Huskies with double-figure kills.
Washington wound up outhitting USC, .262 to .245, as Bailey Tanner had a double-double with 30 assists and 12 digs, and Jade Finau added 25 assists and seven digs. UW had a big edge in blocks, 14.0 to 7.0, kills were nearly equal with 75 for the Dawgs and 74 for the Trojans, and USC had 88 digs to 84 for the Huskies.
“Holy cow, we talk a lot about playing well enough to have a chance to make memories, and they’re going to remember that one for sure,” said Head Coach Keegan Cook. “I’m just stoked for them that they’ve got this one to hang onto, winning a five set match against a really good USC team.”
Cook said that having Jones out of the serving rotation has been the toughest part of running the 6-2 in recent matches. “We know Crissy has a great serve, so we thought that we could score some points out of system with her serving and Shayne setting, and what a run there in the fifth.”
On DeHoog’s big night, Cook said, “Carly is awesome, we’ve known that. She hasn’t been quite as efficient these last few matches so to see her get after it, I’m thrilled for her.”
Washington will have to recover from yet another long night, and come back with another top-25 challenge on Sunday at 11 a.m. when 13th-ranked UCLA comes in.
Courtesy: USC Athletics
The 19th-ranked USC women’s volleyball team (15-7, 7-4 Pac-12) had its chances, but was ultimately stopped in five sets (25-19, 16-25, 22-25, 32-30, 15-12) by No. 14 Washington (17-5, 7-4) at Alaska Airlines Arena on Friday, Oct. 27.
Despite the loss, several Women of Troy posted career performances including freshman outside hitter Brooke Botkin who started the match and finished with her first-career double-double on 20 kills (8e, 57att, .211) and 10 digs. Botkin also had a solo block and one of USC’s two service aces for a career-best 22.0 points.
Senior opposite hitter Brittany Abercrombie set a new career high with 19 kills (5e, 56att) and hit .250 with two blocks. Senior middle blocker Jordan Dunn also had a career best with 10 kills (2e, 17att) and hit .471 in the match with three blocks (one solo). Four Trojans reached double-digit kills. Senior opposite hitter Niki Withers added 16 kills (8e, 39att, .205) and had six digs with two blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Daley Krage had eight kills (1e, 22att, .318) with four digs.
Senior setter Reni Meyer-Whalley had her eighth double-double of the season (17th career) on 30 assists and 11 digs. Sophomore setter Cindy Marinahad 31 assists and six digs. On defense, sophomore Jenna Adams led all players and set a new career high with 27 digs. Junior libero Victoria Garrick had 20 digs and added six assists. The Women of Troy were without sophomore outside hitter Khalia Lanierfor the third consecutive match due to injury.
For the Huskies, five players had double-digit kills. Carly DeHoog had 19 to lead the way and was followed by Courtney Schwan (14), Crissy Jones (13), Tia Scambray (11), and Marion Hazelwood (10). Scambray (22) and Schwan (12) each scored double-doubles. Hazelwood led all players with seven blocks. Washington had 14 total blocks in the match.
UW grabbed the early upper hand in the opening frame, but the Trojans came back to knot the score at 10. The Huskies got five kills apiece from Jones and Scambray in the first set to come away with a 25-19 win. USC had other plans in the second set and rolled out to a four-point lead at 10-6 on a kill by Withers. It was all Botkin down the stretch as she came alive for four kills to grab set point at 24-16. Scambray misfired for the final error in USC’s 25-16 win to even the match.
The Trojans took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-22 win in the third. The lead changed hands five times and the score was tied six times but back-to-back kills by Abercrombie broke a 15-all deadlock and put USC ahead for good. The Huskies climbed within a point, but Krage and Withers scored kills to put a 23-20 lead in the Trojans’ hands. Withers’ next kill earned set point and then Abercrombie knocked down the final kill.
The Huskies controlled the fourth set and held a three-point lead at 21-18, but the Trojans were sparked by kills from Krage, Withers, and Dunn to knot the score at 23-all. Botkin had eight kills in the frame including three down the stretch to continually put match point on USC’s side of the board, but the Huskies had the answers and flipped the board to score the final three points: a kill by Scambray, a kill by Schwan and a service ace by Schwan for the 32-30 win.
USC ran ahead and took a 6-3 lead to open the fifth set, but the Huskies reeled off seven straight unanswered to take a 10-6 lead and never trailed again. The Trojans stayed the course and trimmed the lead to one point at 13-12 when Adams served an ace, but Scambray’s kill gave the Huskies match point before a final USC error ended the match in Washington’s favor.
Up next, USC heads to the Palouse to face off with Washington State (13-9, 2-8 Pac-12) on Sunday (Oct. 29). First serve is set for 1 p.m. PT at Bohler Gymnasium in Pullman, Wash. The match will be shown live on Pac-12 Washington and streamed at Pac-12.com/live with authentication.
MATCH NOTES
- USC fell to 40-27 in all-time meetings with Washington. The Trojans have lost the last five consecutive matches at Hec Ed and are 1-9 in their last 10 trips to Seattle.
- The Women of Troy fell to 3-1 in five-set matches this season (wins at No. 11 UCLA; vs. Arkansas; at No. 12 Utah).
- Four Trojans reached double digits in kills (Botkin 20, Abercrombie 19, Withers 16, Dunn 10).
- USC had four different players reach double digits in digs in the same match for the first time this season (Adams 27, Garrick 20, Meyer-Whalley 11, Botkin 10).
- Freshman OH Brooke Botkin registered new career highs with 20 kills and 57 attacks. Botkin also produced her first-career double-double with her 20 kills and 10 digs.
- Senior OPP Brittany Abercrombie reached a new career mark with 19 kills.
- Senior MB Jordan Dunn earned a new career high with 10 kills.
- Senior S Reni Meyer-Whalley notched her eighth double-double of the season with 30 assists and 11 digs. It is the 17th double-double of her career.
- Sophomore DS Jenna Adams had a career-high 27 digs and added her second-career kill to her final line.
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