No. 8 Washington Takes Down No. 16 Utah In Four

Match Stats

• No. 8 Washington def. No. 16 Utah 3-1, (25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18)
• Washington improves to 24-4, 14-4 Pac-12, Utah falls to 20-9, 11-7 Pac-12
• Hosted by Utah

Press Release

Courtesy of Washington Athletics

SALT LAKE CITY – No. 8 Washington earned one of its biggest wins of the season with a four set victory at No. 16 Utah today, led by Tia Scambray and Courtney Schwan who both put away 19 kills. The Huskies improved to 24-4 and 14-4 in Pac-12 play with the 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18 win at the Huntsman Center, setting up a showdown with No. 9 UCLA at home this Wednesday where the winner will clinch a share of the Pac-12 title.

Thanks to Washington’s fifth straight win today, UW and UCLA head into the final week of conference play with matching 14-4 records. The teams will face each other for the first time all year on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m., then the Huskies will end the regular season at Washington State and UCLA will end at home against USC. Stanford remains one game behind the Huskies and Bruins.

Washington eliminated Utah (20-9, 11-7 Pac-12) as well as Oregon (12-6 Pac-12) from the conference race with the victory, as either a UW or UCLA win on Wednesday will prevent the Ducks from gaining two games next week.

The Dawgs assumed control of the match with a 5-1 run to close out the third set, and then increased serving and defensive pressure in the fourth set to pull away for good. For the match, the Huskies hit .287 with Utah hitting .255, but the Utes hit just .189 in the third set and .147 in the fourth. Washington had an edge in aces, 3-1, and blocks, 9.0-6.5, while the Utes had more kills, 62-56, and led in digs, 52-46.

“That’s a really impressive Utah team with some great attackers, so to get two road wins this week at two quality Colorado and Utah teams late in the season sure means a heck of a lot,” said Head Coach Keegan Cook. “I think there was a pretty heavy serve and pass battle going on between two teams that are quite good at that. There were swings between who was serving and passing the ball at a high level, but we were able to swing that in our favor late in the match.”

Schwan amassed 19 kills on 37 swings with just two errors for a .459 attack percentage, and Scambray had her 19 kills on 48 swings, hitting .250. Bailey Tanner had 44 assists and six block assists, while freshman Kara Bajema had seven kills and led the team with nine block assists. Crissy Jones had seven kills, all over the final two sets, and 10 digs, and freshman Shayne McPherson‘s 12 digs led the Dawgs.

“Tia and Courtney had to do a lot, they had a lot of responsibility in serve receive and attacked the ball well and that was a difference maker,” Cook said.

“It’s an interesting situation now to play UCLA this late having not played them. They’re an outstanding team. The matches before this have prepared us to play well. But we just want to be as close to our best brand of volleyball we can be. It’s going to be an amazing battle on Wednesday.”

Schwan had UW’s first kill on the second point of the match, and Bajema had a kill assisted by Destiny Julye for a 3-2 lead. UW had a 3-0 run, as Scambray had a kill on a touch call, then Bajema got the most of a stuff block and then Tanner won a joust at the net to give the Huskies a 7-5 lead. A McPherson serve resulted in a Utah free ball, and Niece killed it in transition for a 10-6 lead and Utah called time. The Utes got two points out of the break, but Schwan stopped that run with a left pin smash. Scambray had a pair of kills on the left as the teams traded sideouts with UW leading 14-11. A Utah error was followed by a big rejection from Tanner on the right pin for a 16-11 lead, and then a Jones serve was overpassed, and Bajema leapt up to smash it down for 17-11 and Utah took its final timeout. The Dawgs had a miscue, missing an overpass, out of the break, and then Utah had a quick kill in transition, but then Scambray answered back with a kill on the next point, and the Dawgs got a slide kill in transition from Bajema on the point after that for 19-13. A third-straight point came from Schwan off the block for 20-13. Another Utah overpass was hammered down by Schwan for 22-14. Utah won four of the next five points to close to 23-18, and the Huskies called their first timeout. Out of the break, after a diving dig from Tanner, Scambray set Schwan for a kill to get to set point at 24-18. Utah saved two chances, but Scambray put down the Tanner set to end it in UW’s favor, 25-20. The Huskies hit .293 in the set compared to .235 for Utah, with Schwan putting away six on a .417 clip.

The Utes scored the first two kills of the second set but Niece put one away on the third point. Utah served into the net then hit a slide attempt into the net, and an overpass of a Jones serve was put away by Bajema as UW went up 4-3. Tanner and Bajema then teamed for a block and Utah made a back row error for a fifth-straight point for 6-3 Dawgs, before Utah snapped the run with a kill in serve-receive. Utah then scored three more points to go back on top, 6-7, and Washington called the first timeout. Utah scored once more before Scambray found the sideline with a kill to break the string and make it 7-8. Washington gave up another 3-0 run to the Utes to fall behind, 7-11, before Schwan struck from the left to get UW back on track. Schwan hit down an overdig to get the Dawgs within two at 10-12. Niece smartly hit the ball down for a kill after a Utah block attempt bounced up above the net, making it 12-14. Utah aced the Huskies to push the lead back to four at 12-16. Scambray put one off the defense and out long, and then she got a roof on a Utah slide attempt for 14-16, but Utah’s setter dumped for a kill and Bajema hit into the antenna to give the two points right back. A UW error made it 14-19 and the Huskies needed their final timeout. Utah served into the net out of the break, but Utah killed in serve-receive on the next point. McPherson got one back with an ace for 17-21, but the Utes pulled away to set point at 18-24. Washington saved a couple, getting to 20-24 after the longest rally of the match ended on a Utah net violation. After Utah took a timeout, Schwan came out and dropped a short serve for an ace for 21-24, but Utah got a good pass and put it away on the next point, ending it 21-25. The Utes were on fire at a .444 mark in the set and had 17 digs to eight for UW.

Schwan rolled one over the block and down to start set three with a Husky point. Jones got untracked with a kill on the right for 2-2. Scambray had a kill after a Schwan dig for 4-3 Huskies lead, and then Bajema and Tanner teamed up for a stuff for 5-3. A Scambray kill off the block capped a 4-0 run for 6-3. Schwan had a kill and a Utah error made it 10-7 Dawgs. Utah pulled within one but Scambray got a kill off a touch to keep the lead at 12-10. A big kill from Schwan from the back row on a broken play was followed by a stuff block from Bajema and Tanner for 14-11. But that momentum disappeared quickly as Utah reeled off four points in a row to take the lead, 14-15, and the Huskies had to take timeout. Schwan had another back row kill out of the timeout to snap that Utah run and then UW went back up, 16-15, on another block by Tanner. But Utah came right back with another 3-0 run to move ahead, 16-18, and UW used its last timeout. A Utah double contact got the Huskies within one at 17-18 and then Utah hit one wide to tie it at 18-all. Utah got a kill in serve-receive but then served into the net for 19-up. The teams went back and forth, with Scambray terminating for 21-21. A big block from Bajema and Scambray swung UW into the lead, 22-21, and Utah took time. Utah’s swing out of the break went just wide for another big Husky point, but the Utes got the next one to go for 23-22 Huskies. Jones brought the Dawgs to set point with a right side blast in serve-receive for 24-22 and Utah used its last timeout. On the play out of the break, Utah hit wide again and the Dawgs won it, 25-22, with five of the final six points. The Huskies finished the set hitting .270 while Utah was at .189, with Bajema getting four block assists in the set, and Schwan and Scambray killing five apiece.

The Utes scored the first two in the fourth before Jones landed one from the right for 1-2. Down 1-4, Bajema and Jones scored a key block to keep UW within two. A Scambray finish and a pair of Utah errors out of bounds got UW to level at 5-5, and the Huskies then took a lead on a Utah ball control error that forced a Utah timeout at 6-5. Scambray’s next serve found the net but another Utah double gave the sideout back. Schwan capped a long rally with an offspeed kill and then went with the fastball on the next point for 9-7. A Schwan short serve was overpassed and Jones got up to put it away for 11-8. The teams traded two point mini runs to 13-10 Dawgs. Scambray saved one with a punch to extend the rally, and then got a kill after Utah sent it back over. Julye then caught the tape with a serve that dropped for an ace and a 15-10 lead, forcing Utah’s final timeout. The Utes converted in serve-receive out of the break and then it was the Huskies overpassing and Utah killing it for 15-12, but Scambray hammered from the left in serve-receive to get the next point. Washington kept up the defensive pressure, forcing a couple errors and then Scambray ended a wild rally with a kill on the left for 19-12. Scambray added another big swing and Schwan had another roll shot fall for 21-14 as the Huskies kept pushing. Jones ran a rare slide but made it look easy for the 23-16 point. Scambray got the Dawgs to match point with a rip from the left for 24-17. Bajema finished it with a quick strike set from Tanner in serve-receive, as the Dawgs took it 25-18. Schwan and Jones each had four kills without an error in the set, Scambray had six kills, and UW hit .375 as a team and held Utah to just .147.

Press Release

Courtesy of Utah Athletics

SALT LAKE CITY – The No. 16-ranked Utah volleyball team (20-9, 11-7) dropped a Pac-12 Conference match to No. 8-ranked Washington (24-4, 14-4) Sunday afternoon at the Huntsman Center.

The Utes fell in four sets (20-25, 25-21, 22-25, 18-25) on Sunday, while moving to 0-2 against the Huskies on the season.

Junior Adora Anae led Utah with 20 kills and junior Carly Trueman added 16 kills on the day. Juniors Eliza Katoa and Tawnee Luafalemana both recorded eight kills apiece on Sunday. Katoa paced Utah’s .255 team hitting percentage as she hit at a clip of .467 in the match.

Freshman Bailey Choy led the way with 29 assists, Anae (17) and sophomore Megan Shughrou (13) led the team with a couple of double-digit dig efforts.

Anae registered all four of Utah’s kills and the Utes led early 5-4, but UW countered with a 6-1 run and later tallied a 9-3 run to go up 22-14. Utah would win six of the next eight points, but UW’s Tia Scrambray closed out the set, 25-20, with a kill to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

A 5-0 run would give UW an early 6-3 lead in the second set, but Anae opened a 5-0 run with a kill and a few points later, sophomore Bailey Oblad put down a kill to give the Utes an 8-6 lead. Three straight points from junior Carly Trueman (two kills, one block) would push Utah’s lead to 11-7 and a 3-0 run later in the set gave the home team a 19-14 lead forcing the Huskies to call timeout. Utah went up 22-15 with a kill from Anae, but UW came back winning six of the next nine points and the Utes called timeout to end the run. Out of the break, Anae registered her 12th kill of the match and Utah took the set 25-21 to tied the match at 1-1. Utah outhit the Huskies .444 to .212, while registering 21 kills to UW’s 10 kills in the second frame.

The Huskies opened the third set with another 6-3 lead, but Utah would chip its way back into the match and following a 4-0 run, the Utes took a 15-14 lead that forced UW to call timeout. A 3-0 run would push Utah’s lead to 18-16, but the Huskies followed with back-to-back points to notch things up at 18-all. Both teams would trade points late the frame before three straight points put UW up 23-21. Anae would get another kill to get Utah back within a point, but the visiting squad recorded the final two points on the way to a 25-22 third-set-win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

Both teams accounted for 10 ties and six different lead changes in the third set. Prior to the set, both teams accounted for just seven ties and five lead changes through both first and second sets.

Utah would take a 4-1 lead following a kill from junior Eliza Katoa, but UW countered with a 5-1 run to take a one-point lead, up 6-5. Midway through the set, UW used a 4-0 run to go up 15-10 and never looked back on the way to a 25-18 win.

Utah closes out the regular-season lather this week with a road match at Arizona on Wednesday, Nov. 23, before returning home to host Colorado on Friday, Nov. 25, in the season finale.