Match Stats
- #7 Washington def. #25 Washington State 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-21)
- Washington moves to 26-4 (16-4 Pac-12); Washington State falls to 21-11 (11-9 Pac-12)
- Bohler Gym, Pullman, Washington
- Attendance: 1,908
The Washington Huskies secured a solo claim to the 2016 Pac-12 Championship on Saturday when they swept away their in-state rivals Washington State 3-0 on Saturday on the road. The title is the 5th in program history and 3rd in the last 4 years.
“It’s just such a long journey and takes so much work by so many people that it takes a little while to set in,” said Cook. “I don’t know that it’s really hit me yet, but I also know we have some more things to accomplish, so I’m already eager to see (Sunday’s) selection show.”
The show that will allot the 64 places in the 2016 NCAA Volleyball Championship Tournament bracket will be held on Sunday evening at 6PM Pacific Time on ESPNU. Washington, as Pac-12 Champions, will likely be named one of the 16 seeded teams that will host 1st and 2nd round games in the tournament. That could prove a big advantage for the Huskies, who this season led the Pac-12 in attendance for the 8th straight season (and for 12 of the last 13 seasons).
In Saturday’s game, Washington came away with a 3-0 sweep in spite of a statistically fairly-even game (the two teams were tied in both total kills and total digs with 41 each). A key for Washington offensively was an efficient 4 errorless kills, all in the 2nd set, by freshman middle blocker Avie Niece on just 7 attacks (.571%). Niece doesn’t attack often (just 2.5 attacks/set), but when she does she’s been very efficient all year long. Washington’s offense this season has been run mostly through its elite outside hitters (Tia Scambray had 14 kills on Saturday, though 3 errors held her percentage down), and their three top contributors there are all juniors. After the 2017 season, though, the Huskies may lean more heavily on their young middle blocking tandem of Niece and Kara Bajema, both freshmen, on the other side of the ball, as both have played well when called upon this year.
Washington State was hampered offensively by several errors, including 6 on serves and 10 offensively from Kyra Holt – who with 11 kills was the Cougars’ only player with double-digit kills.
“I thought at times we played really well, but when you’re going up against a team as good as Washington, you just can’t make that many unforced errors. And that’s where I think we didn’t play as well today is just hitting-wise. We had way too many unforced errors,” WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said.
Alexis Drige came up with 15 digs for WSU, and Claire Martin chipped in 4 blocks.
The game was Washington State’s senior day, where they recognized 4: Hailey Bethune, Holt, Haley MacDonald and Tani Stephens. When asked about her team’s chances at the NCAA Tournament, Greeney said “I definitely hope so.
“We feel like we’ve done a great job this season and our resume is good enough to get us in. But it always depends on what the committee thinks. I’m very proud of this team and what we’ve accomplished. We were picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12 and we ended up finishing fifth. And we have the most wins that we’ve had in a season since 2002. This group of seniors, especially, has done a fantastic job of getting Cougar volleyball back on the right track. I’m just overall really proud of this team and hopefully we can keep on playing.”
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Courtesy Washington Athletics:
PULLMAN, Wash. – The Husky volleyball team got a little selfish on Saturday, and clinched the Pac-12 Championship all for themselves, sweeping Washington State in the regular season finale 25-20, 25-23, 25-21 in front of 1,908 fans at Bohler Gym in Pullman. The Dawgs improved to 26-4 and 16-4 in the Pac-12 to lock up the fifth conference title in school history, and the third in the past four seasons.
The Huskies also got some payback against the Cougars (21-11, 11-9 Pac-12), who had given UW a loss in the Pac-12 opener back on Sept. 24. After going 1-2 in their first three Pac-12 matches, the Huskies went 15-2 the rest of the way. The Huskies had clinched at least a share of the Pac-12 on Wednesday by beating UCLA, but they knew they would have to win again today to take the title outright, as Stanford finished at 15-5 with a win on Friday. The Bruins can also reach 15-5 with a win this evening against USC.
The 2016 title joins outright conference titles for the Dawgs in 2004, 2005, and 2013, and UW was co-champions in 2015 with USC. Head Coach Keegan Cook has won Pac-12 titles in both of his first two seasons.
“It’s just such a long journey and takes so much work by so many people that it takes a little while to set in,” said Cook. “I don’t know that it’s really hit me yet, but I also know we have some more things to accomplish, so I’m already eager to see tomorrow’s selection show.”
The Huskies will now await their NCAA tournament draw, fully expecting to be among the top 16 seeds which brings with it the right to host first and second round matches at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Selection Show will air on ESPNU on Sunday at 6 p.m. Pacific time.
Washington outblocked the NCAA’s leading blocking team today, posting 10.5 blocks compared to 7.0 for the Cougars. Junior Tia Scambray had 14 kills to lead the way, followed by 10 kills and nine digs for Courtney Schwan. Junior Bailey Tanner dished 36 assists with nine digs. The Huskies finished with a .257 attack percentage compared to .174 for WSU.
Freshman Shayne McPherson had 11 digs and a big ace in the third set. Freshmen Kara Bajema and Avie Niece had five and four blocks, respectively, and Niece hit .571 with four kills. Junior Crissy Jones had eight kills, an ace, five digs, and four blocks.
“There were two big challenges today,” said Cook. “In the second set we were in a similar situation as UCLA the other night. Same rotation, up a couple points, out of timeouts, and sometimes the game gives you a second chance to get it right, so I was excited for the team to take that second set. Then third set, great volleyball by Washington State and good resolve by our group to hang in there all the way down the stretch.”
Schwan had the first pass on WSU’s opening serve and Tanner set her for the kill and the first point of the match. Scambray picked up an early rejection on the left pin for a 3-0 lead before WSU got on the board with a serve-receive kill. Washington’s hot start didn’t last long, as WSU won five straight points for a 3-5 lead before the Cougars had a double contact to end the run. A rocket from WSU’s Holt went off Tanner and Scambray redirected over the net and down for a kill for 5-5. A low liner from Jones dropped for an ace as the Huskies moved back on top with a 4-0 run to 9-6. Schwan tooled off the block in transition for 11-7, and then WSU hit one long for 12-7 and Washington State took the first timeout. The Cougars had a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 13-11 before Schwan put one away, and then Tanner’s next serve was overpassed and Schwan slammed it down for 15-11. On the next play, the exact same result took place with Schwan putting away another overpass. Scambray hung in the air to hit a wide set off the blockers’ hands and down for 18-12 and the Cougars used their final timeout with UW on a 5-1 run. The Cougars sided out after the break but Jones put down her first kill from the right to answer. After two points for WSU, the Huskies called their first timeout at 19-15. A huge block from Jones out of the break was followed by another WSU error to get the lead back to 21-15. Kara Bajema’s first kill came on a slide for 22-17. WSU hit a free ball attempt into the net to get the Huskies to set point at 24-18. The Cougars saved two but then served wide out of bounds to end the set, 25-20. The Huskies hit .250 in the frame while Washington State was at .156. Schwan and Scambray each put away six kills apiece with 12 assists from Tanner.
Scambray started off the second set with a stuff block on the left pin. Jones put two in a row off the block on the right side for a 3-2 Husky lead. Scambray crushed a Tanner set in serve-receive for 5-3. WSU had a 3-0 run to go up one, 6-7, but Bajema finished on a slide to tie it. Niece finished one in transition to make it 8-7 Dawgs. The teams traded sideouts back and forth, with Jones and Schwan teaming for a block but WSU blocking the Huskies on the next point for 10-10. Scambray waited on a long Jones bump set to hit high hands and out for 11-10, and on the next point, it was Schwan backsetting to Scambray for another kill off the block and 12-10. Scambray had a third straight, pushing one deep up the line to open space, and then Julye had a service ace to cap a four-point run to make it 14-10. Jones and Bajema then teamed for a block for 15-11 at the media timeout. The teams traded sideouts until a Tanner and Niece stuff block scored for a 18-13 advantage. Washington State jumped right back into things with a 3-0 run as the Huskies called for time at 18-16. A solid Scambray pass led Tanner to Niece in serve-receive for a clutch kill for 19-16, then Jones converted high off the block in transition for 20-16 and WSU quickly used its own timeout. The Cougars scored out of the break but Jones answered right back with a blast from the middle of the net. A WSU error got the Huskies a 22-17 lead, but again the Cougars fought back with three in a row for 22-20 and the Huskies used their last timeout. Again Tanner found Niece in serve-receive out of the break and she converted the quick set for 23-20. Bajema earned a kill on a WSU net error to get to set point at 24-21. The Cougars saved the first with a kill in serve-receive, and then served an ace for 24-23. On the next point, the Cougars had a dig off a Scambray swing but their attacker looked to stumble just a bit and swung into the net to end it, 25-23. The Dawgs hit .308 in the set while the Cougars finished at .233, with five kills from Scambray and a big four kills on five swings from Niece.
Jones and Niece threw up a roof together to make it 2-2 early in the third set. The Huskies struggled to get the ball down early in the frame, trailing 3-6. The Huskies made two more hitting errors out of bounds and had to take timeout down 4-8. Schwan got the Huskies untracked with a kill out of the timeout for 5-8. Tanner served an ace to cut the deficit to two at 7-9. But WSU got the benefit of a questionable line call, and a double on UW to push the lead back to 7-12. Scambray found the back corner for a point and then Bajema got a solo rejection in the middle for 11-13 to cap a 3-0 Husky run. Jones had a right side blast and Bajema got another stuff block to keep the Huskies within two at 13-15. McPherson then dropped an ace into the back corner to cut the gap to one at 15-16. The Dawgs finally got back level at 17-all on a Schwan slam straight to the floor to force a WSU timeout. The Cougars got the sideout out of the timeout, but Destiny Julye got the point right back with her first kill of the match off the block. The Huskies then took a 19-18 lead on a Cougar miscue, but WSU scored to tie it back up. Bajema and Scambray teamed up for an important block on the left to make it 21-19 and WSU used its last timeout. The Huskies got a free ball chance out of the break and Scambray put it away off the defense and into the seats for 22-19 before WSU killed its next chance in serve-receive to break the 3-0 run. Jones answered back with a kill from the right side off the block. Scambray delievered in serve-receive up the line to get UW to match point at 24-21. A final miss by the Cougars on the next point ended the sweep, as the Dawgs closed it out, 25-21. Schwan had four kills in the last set and Scambray and Jones had three each. The Huskies had made five errors before getting their first kill in the set, but did not make another one the rest of the way, pulling their attack percentage up to .200.
Courtesy Washington State Athletics:
25 Washington State volleyball team fell in three sets to No. 7 Washington Saturday afternoon before 1,908 fans in Bohler Gym. UW (26-4 overall, 16-4 Pac-12), the 2016 Pac-12 Champions, found revenge from the Cougars’ 3-1 win in September and defeated WSU (21-11, 11-9) with set scores of 25-20, 25-23, and 25-21.
For the Pac-12’s fifth-place WSU team, the 21 wins ties the 1993 team for sixth-most wins in a season and the 11 conference wins is the most for a Cougar team since 2002 when WSU ended the season at 11-7, tied for third in the Pac-10.
The Saturday match began with a celebration of the WSU seniors: Hailey Bethune, Kyra Holt, Haley MacDonald and Tani Stephens. Holt went on to lead the Cougars with 11 kills while Bethune added five kills and one block. MacDonald had 22 assists and Tani Stephens had seven digs. Junior Casey Schoenlein had nine kills and three blocks. Sophomores McKenna Woodford (seven kills, two blocks), Taylor Mims (five kills, three blocks) and Claire Martin (four kills, four blocks) made crucial contributions. Freshman Alexis Dirige led the match with 15 digs. Holt and Dirige served the two aces in the match for WSU.
Washington leaders were Tia Scambray with 14 kills and four blocks, Courtney Schwan with 10 kills and nine digs, Crissy Jones with eigtht kills and four blocks, Kara Bajema with five blocks and Avie Niece with four blocks. Bailey Tanner set up 36 assists and Shayne McPherson led the Huskies with 11 digs.
Both teams had 41 kills and 41 digs apiece. WSU hit .174 and UW hit .257 for the match. The Huskies had four aces to WSU’s two and out-blocked the Cougars 10.5 to seven.
“I thought at times we played really well, but when you’re going up against a team as good as Washington, you just can’t make that many unforced errors. And that’s where I think we didn’t play as well today is just hitting-wise. We had way too many unforced errors,” WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said.
When asked about the possibility of NCAA Championship tournament participation Greeny said, “I definitely hope so. We feel like we’ve done a great job this season and our resume is good enough to get us in. But it always depends on what the committee thinks. I’m very proud of this team and what we’ve accomplished. We were picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12 and we ended up finishing fifth. And we have the most wins that we’ve had in a season since 2002. This group of seniors, especially, has done a fantastic job of getting Cougar volleyball back on the right track. I’m just overall really proud of this team and hopefully we can keep on playing.”
The WSU volleyball team will have a private gathering to watch the NCAA Championship Tournament selection show Sunday, Nov. 27, at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.
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