Husky Win Streak Snapped At No. 16 UCLA
LOS ANGELES – Washington's nine-match win streak was snapped this evening at Pauley Pavilion, as 16th-ranked UCLA won the second meeting between the squads and for the moment takes over first in the Pac-12 at 10-2. The Huskies dropped to 9-3 in league, 16-4 overall, and into second-place with four weeks and eight matches still to come.
No. 8 Washington fell in straight sets today for the first time all season, 25-21, 25-17, 25-21. It's the first three-set loss since the 2021 spring season opener against Arizona State, a span of 42 matches. The Bruins hit .330, a season-high for a Husky opponent, and the Huskies hit a season-low of .118.
"Difficult match but an important moment for our group. A lot of high level volleyball. It was good serving and passing and good outside hitting. UCLA was about as good as you can get in those two areas of the game and put a lot of pressure on us. That was the story of the match. I liked what I saw in the third set in terms of some fight and some pushback, but not enough execution to turn it into a long night."
With this stuff, Lauren Sanders passes her coach, Leslie Gabriel, for #?2? in career blocks at Washington with 6?1?4???#PointHuskies | ?? ESPNU pic.twitter.com/oPug5YNzGo
— Washington Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) October 31, 2021
The Huskies won the first meeting with the Bruins on Oct. 1 in Seattle, which kicked off the nine-match win streak. In that match, the Huskies came back from 0-2 down to win, and were actually 2-0 this season when trailing 0-2. But the third time was not charmed today, as UCLA had advantages in key stats: 47-31 in kills, 31-22 in digs, and 9.0-6.0 in blocks. Washington had a 3-2 edge in aces.
Samantha Drechsel was strong on the right side with 10 kills, hitting .348, and Claire Hoffman had 10 kills on a .120 percentage. Marin Grote hit .308 with seven kills. Ella May Powell had 29 assists and four digs.
Senior Lauren Sanders made some more blocking history tonight, as she put down four blocks to get to 616 for her career, moving to No. 2 all-time in UW history and passing her own coach, Leslie Gabriel, who had ranked second since 1998. Makare Desilets holds the UW record with 677. Sanders is also now No. 8 in Pac-12 Conference history.
UP NEXT: Washington will look to start another win streak at home next week against Arizona State on Friday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. Pacific time.