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Offensive Firepower Too Much For Wildcats

by gohuskies.com
Nov 7, 2021

SEATTLE – Washington's usual suspects were stellar as the 12th-ranked Huskies earned their 11th win in their past 12 matches, completing a season sweep of the Arizona Wildcats with a 25-20, 25-22, 25-12 win at Alaska Airlines Arena in front of 2,068 fans. All-Americans Samantha Drechsel and Claire Hoffman combined for 28 kills and both hit over .400, while Marin Grote had seven kills on a .636 attacking clip.
 
The Huskies (18-4, 11-3 Pac-12) hit .396 as a team as All-American Ella May Powell averaged 13 assists per set, getting 39 for the match. Washington took two well-played sets, doing just enough on offense to hold Arizona (14-11, 6-8 Pac-12) at arm's length, and then UW turned up the defense and dominated the final set.
 
"Improving over the course of a match is something we aspire to do," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "Arizona was executing well there and we were a little too happy trading sideouts offensively, so we were really hoping to see something defensively to break it open, and that's what came to be in the third set. But another good offensive performance from our group."
 
The Dawgs had a big edge in kills, 49-32, had four aces to two for the Wildcats, and led in digs, 33-30. Washington remained one game behind UCLA in the Pac-12 race, with six matches left in the regular season.

 
Hoffman had 15 kills for the second-straight match this week. She hit .464 today, and for the weekend, Hoffman averaged 5.00 kills per set on a .400 attack percentage. Drechsel put away 13 kills on 24 swings with just three errors for a .417 percentage. Madi Endsley added five kills on a .154 percentage and Shannon Crenshaw had two kills out of the back row and one kill playing up front for three kills on six swings.
 
"You'd be happy with any one of those performances (from Hoffman, Drechsel, and Grote) … so to get all three of your point scorers firing at one time, that's when we can do some special things. You take it for granted because we get scoring from those three pretty much every night."

 
UP NEXT: The Huskies return to the road next week and visit the Bay Area where they will pay a visit to Stanford on Thursday, Nov. 11 for a 7 p.m. match, and then have two days off before taking on California on Nov. 14 at 12 noon.
 
SET ONE: Marin Grote put down a kill on the slide on the first point of the match. Lauren Sanders and Powell had a rejection on the third rally. The teams were even through the first ten points, with Powell calling her own number on a backwards flip up at the net for a kill and 7-6. Sanders hammered one down for 9-8 and then she finished again for 12-10. That was followed with consecutive kills from Drechsel and Grote as the Huskies went up 14-10, forcing the Arizona timeout. The Wildcats got within two points on several occasions, but the Huskies always had a response. Grote had a solo rejection for 17-14, and Hoffman put away two kills for points 18 and 19. Another Hoffman kill got set point at 24-20, and then she hit down an overpass on the next point for the 25-20 win.
 
The Huskies hit .375 in the opening set while Arizona hit .250. Hoffman had six kills with Sanders and Grote combining for four kills from the middle.
 
SET TWO: Hoffman opened the second set with her seventh kill. Sianna Houghton aced Arizona for 3-1. Arizona went up by a couple at 5-7, but UW answered with a 4-0 run with Grote earning another solo block, warding off the setter dump attempt, and then Lauren Bays bump set Drechsel for a kill. Grote hammered down consecutive slide kills for 13-11 and UW led 15-13 at the media timeout. Drechsel destroyed an overpass for 17-15 and she then put away a Powell set for 19-17, then rotated back and served up an ace to force an Arizona timeout at 20-17. Out of the break, Grote finished another slide for a four-point lead. Arizona cut it to 21-19, but Grote converted again in crunch time, and Hoffman added another transition kill for 23-19 and Arizona's last timeout. Grote got UW to set point at 24-20, but Arizona saved a couple to prompt a Husky timeout. Out of the break, a scramble ensued as Drechsel found herself in the right place for a dig that eventually led to a Wildcat error for 25-22.
 
Grote had five kills on five swings in the set, with Hoffman adding five kills and Drechsel six as the Huskies hit .343 compared to .273 for Arizona.

 
SET THREE: Washington jumped out with the first three points of the third set, with kills from Drechsel and Hoffman. Endsley tooled the block twice to make it 7-4 Dawgs. Powell won a joust at the net for 9-5, and then Crenshaw out of the back row tipped to the floor for 10-6, and then Houghton served her second ace for 11-6 and an Arizona timeout. Out of the break, Crenshaw scored again on a swing on the pipe off the block to cap the 3-0 run. Crenshaw then teamed with Sanders for a stuff to make it 15-8 Dawgs. The Huskies fully broke it open with a 7-0 run on Lauren Bays' serve. Crenshaw had another block, with Grote, and Bays dropped a serve into the deep corner for an ace. Sophie Summers subbed in and had a kill to get to match point, and Olivia Mikkelsen also checked in and served it out, getting a dig on the rally that ended with a Hoffman finish for 25-12.
 
Washington rolled to a .483 attack percentage in the third set, holding Arizona to .115. Seven different Huskies had a kill in the set.
 

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