SEATTLE – It was a battle of two streaks for two top-five teams Friday night in Alaska Airlines Arena, as No. 1-ranked USC had yet to lose in 22 matches this year, but the No. 5 Huskies had a 25-match Pac-12 home win streak to stack against the Trojans. After three raucous sets in front of 4,951 fans, the Huskies (19-2, 9-2 Pac-12) extended their streak, and toppled the nation's number one team in a sweep, 26-24, 25-21, 25-15.
The Huskies avenged an earlier four set loss to the Trojans in Los Angeles, and pulled back within a game of USC, which fell to 22-1 on the year and 10-1 in conference. It was the fourth straight home win for the Huskies over the Trojans, and the sixth win in the past seven meetings between the teams. This was also a familiar sight for Husky fans, who saw UW upset then-No. 1 Stanford last season when the Cardinal brought a 28-0 record to Seattle and left at 28-1.
“This program has won a lot of big matches, but I'd like to think that this will be … in that memorable category,” said Head Coach Keegan Cook. “I expected good volleyball, which it was for long stretches of time. For us to side out at 75-percent against a team like USC is huge."
Watch the best plays of the victory in 3 minutes
Washington was strong in all phases of the match, outhitting USC .218 to .147 in a match that pitted two of the most efficient offenses in the nation against each other, but which ended up showcasing diving digs and imposing blocks as much as booming kills. The .147 mark was USC's lowest of the year. Senior libero Cassie Strickland had a match-high 17 digs and she along with outside hitters Tia Scambray and Courtney Schwan passed consistently well all night long, surrendering no aces to the Trojans. USC's previous low in service aces on the year was two.
Once the Huskies got into their attack, Scambray and sophomore Bailey Tanner helped terminate. Scambray had a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs, and Tanner had a double-double of her own, blowing past her previous kills career-high with 13 and adding 16 assists and six digs. Tanner, who was especially effective hitting on the right on sets from Katy Beals (22 assists), came in with a previous career-high of eight kills.
Cook had a lot of praise for the two leading point producers tonight. “Bailey Tanner had a pretty complete match. We asked her to do a lot: set, hit, block against one of their best hitters, and I really thought that she came through tonight,” said Cook. “And Tia did all the things she does that make her great. Serve, pass, take big swings against girls bigger than her without fear, so it was a classic Tia performance.”
Sophomore Crissy Jones added seven kills, Schwan had five kills but 11 digs, and Lianna Sybeldon had five kills and five blocks. Washington led the Trojans in kills, 47-36, though USC had two more blocks (8.0-6.0) and finished with more digs (65-53) but it seemed that UW's digs quickly led to transition kills more often than not.
Tanner started the match on the left pin, and after missing her first swing, she connected on her second attempt for UW's first point and 1-1. The teams remained even through the first 10 points as USC missed a couple early serves, and Courtney Schwan had an offspeed kill. Scambray hammered one off the block on the left pin for an 8-7 Husky lead. Melanie Wade had two kills out of the middle to keep UW inching ahead, 10-9. USC went up one, but the Huskies rallied with a 4-0 run, Tanner hammering a kill up the line, and then Tanner's serve getting a free ball that Sybeldon killed. Scambray ignited the crowd with an amazing back row kill after a diving Tanner dig for 14-11, and UW got to the media timeout up 15-12. A three-point USC run got the set back even at 16-all. Tanner ran down a pass and bump set backwards across the court to Scambray who put one inside the block to regain the lead. Tanner put away two more kills, one in the right in transition and another in serve-receive on the left for a 19-17 edge. USC had a pair of kills to even it up at 19-19 and the Huskies took timeout. A huge stuff block from Wade and Tanner got UW the next rally and the lead. A Wade serve earned a UW free ball, and Tanner put it away for 21-19, and the Trojans took timeout. Kim Condie subbed in to serve and earned UW a free ball but the Huskies couldn't convert and USC got a big kill for 21-20, and tied it up with a transition kill on the next rally. The teams traded sideouts, with the Huskies getting to set point first at 24-23 with a huge rejection from Sybeldon and Scambray, forcing a USC timeout. Strickland banged a jump serve out of the break, but it found the net for 24-24, but Crissy Jones got the serve right back with a kill up the right sideline. On the next point, Schwan had a phenomenal dig of a big Bricio swing, and on USC's next swing, they sent one long to give the first set to the Dawgs, 26-24. Washington was outhit, .227 to .216, but had one more kill, 16 to 15. Tanner was the offensive star with six kills, hitting .455.
Again the teams were even early in set two, tying at 5-5. A block from Sybeldon and Tanner gave the Huskies the 6-5 advantage. Sybeldon terminated with authority out of the middle after a USC free ball, and Scambray buried a Srickland bump set for 10-8. Wade had a kill on a USC net violation, and then the Trojans hit into the net twice in a row and needed timeout as the Huskies were up 14-10 on a 3-0 run. USC got a kill in serve-receive out of the break, but Schwan broke one through the block for 15-11. Wade bumped up a diving dig and Scambray zoomed in out of the back row for another screaming kill to make it a five point lead. Tanner and Jones added two more kills to keep UW pushing ahead, 18-13. The Trojans came back with a 3-0 run to force the Dawgs into a timeout, up 18-16. Jones crushed a Tanner set straight to the floor in serve-receive out of the break to snap that run. The Trojans scored two more to cut it to one, but Jones put one away on the right again for 20-18. A long back and forth was capped off by a Tanner left side swing for 22-19 and the Trojans took timeout. The Trojans put one away despite a great pancake dig from Scambray to get within two, then landed another in transition for 22-21 and the Huskies called time. A perfect pass from Strickland let Beals set Wade for a strike to the court for 23-21. The Huskies got an easy dig on the next rally, and Beals went back to Tanner on the right and she hammered off the block for set point, 24-21. Condie served it, and got a dig that led Beals to go right back to Tanner, and she crushed one straight to the floor for the win, 25-21. The Huskies hit .326 in the set and held USC to .216, with Scambray putting away five kills, and Tanner and Jones adding four apiece.
Jones started the third set off with a big rejection against Bricio. Scambray lasered one up the right sideline for 3-3. Tanner stuffed down a ball hanging above the net, and then she hammered another on the right to the floor for a 5-3 Husky lead. Schwan hit off the block and down for 7-4 Dawgs. Schwan then had some incredible digs and a big swing that was overdug, and Jones tapped it down for a 9-5 lead. A USC error made it 10-5, and the Trojans called timeout. USC broke the 3-0 run but the Dawgs got the sideout right back. Tanner dove to cover a USC tip attempt, and Scambray hammered a Strickland bump set to the corner for 12-6. A Sybeldon blast and a Trojan error made it 14-8 Dawgs. The Trojans won two straight long rallies with blocks to cut it to 14-10. Scambray got the sideout back with authority on the right, going to the floor for 15-10. Schwan rolled one over into space for a kill, and Sybeldon put away a USC free ball for a 19-12 lead, forcing USC's last timeout. The Dawgs came out of the break with a huge block by Sybeldon and Schwan, and then Sybeldon killed another as the Huskies kept rolling. Tanner dropped in an ace to cap off the big 5-0 run for the Dawgs that got the led to 22-12. Scambray blew up a Tanner set to get to match point at 24-15. Strickland's next serve was overpassed, and Scambray wasted no time hopping up and spanking it down for the final point, as the Dawgs closed out the sweep, 25-15. The hitting percentages dropped in the third as the defense stepped up, but UW still outhit USC, .125 to -.029. Strickland had eight digs in the final set, and Scambray added five more clutch kills.
The Huskies won't have much time to pat themselves on the back, however, as another top-10 team visits on Sunday at 11 a.m. UCLA comes to town on an eight-match win streak, and tied with the Huskies at 9-2 in league play.
