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Dawgs Stand Tall In Road Win At No. 20 Stanford

by gohuskies.com
Nov 11, 2021

STANFORD, Calif. – Washington earned itself a home-and-away season sweep over Stanford for the first time since 2005 tonight, as the 13th-ranked Huskies won a high-octane showdown in Maples Pavilion over the 20th-ranked Cardinal. Offensive stars shined on both sides of the net, but it was the Huskies (19-4, 12-3 Pac-12) who muscled their way to a 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19 victory.
 
The Huskies extended their program-best win streak against the perennial powerhouse Cardinal to five in a row, with their second-straight win in Maples Pavilion, the last one coming in 2019. Washington defeated Stanford twice in the 2021 spring season, but both of those matches were in Seattle.
 
All-American Ella May Powell had 55 assists in just four sets, tying for the second-most assists in a four-set match this year by a Pac-12 setter. Her favorite targets were Samantha Drechsel, who put down 20 kills, Claire Hoffman who finished with 17, and Marin Grote who had 15, just one off her career-high. Drechsel hit .333 and had a team-high 15 digs, Hoffman hit .382 and also had 11 digs, and Grote hit .444 and posted six blocks.
 
Before the match, Head Coach Keegan Cook said the message to the team was "How we expected this match to be one of the best of the season, and we missed our moment at UCLA and didn't want to miss it this time around. As expected Stanford played great offensively, and I was impressed by our group's ability to stay disciplined and keep moving ahead.
 

 
The Cardinal outhit the Huskies overall, .331 to .288, but the Huskies finished with more kills, 66-60. Washington had an edge in the serving stats, with four aces to just one for Stanford, while Stanford missed 10 serves and UW missed just three. Blocks were even at 11 apiece and digs were nearly, with a 54-53 edge for Stanford.
 
"Ella set a fantastic match and showed trust in her teammates from start to finish," said Cook. "Lauren Bays was fantastic in serve-receive. Madi Endsley came into some big moments and made some huge serves and defensive plays, so I loved their matches tonight. And credit to Claire who's not a hundred percent, showing her ability to find kills in creative ways. She showed impressive toughness."
 

 
Washington was able to surge late in the sets it won. Set one was 21-all before a 4-1 Husky finish. The second set was at 17-all before UW went on an 8-3 run. After Stanford pulled out the third, the Huskies earned a 12-6 lead in the fourth, but the Cardinal came back to tie it at 16-16. But Drechsel and Emoni Bush had back-to-back kills to spark the Huskies who would finish on a 9-3 run including the final four points in a row, with Endsley serving.
 
The win keeps the Huskies on the tail of UCLA, a half-game back, with UCLA starting its Oregon road trip tomorrow night. UW also stayed a game ahead of Washington State for second, as the Cougars won at Cal tonight.
 
UP NEXT: The Huskies will have two days off on the road before finishing the trip in Berkeley on Sunday at 12 noon against the Golden Bears. The match will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.

SET ONE: Emoni Bush had the first kill of the night after she missed last week's matches due to injury. Grote had two kills as the Huskies took a 6-4 lead. Drechsel smashed one from the right for 9-7, but the Cardinal scored three in a row to go up one, 9-10. Drechsel tied it twice with two more kills, then Grote had a solo block for 12-11. Grote had another kill and then Shannon Crenshaw put one away from the back row for 15-12 at the media timeout. Powell dunked one on second contact for 16-12 and then Grote and Hoffman roofed one for 17-12 to force the Cardinal timeout. It was 19-13 on a Sianna Houghton ace, but the Cardinal countered with a 5-0 run that was snapped by a Sanders-Powell block for 20-18. But Stanford scored twie more to tie it at 20. Hoffman sent one down to break the tie, but Stanford answered. Drechsel went off the block and out for 22-21, then the Cardinal missed a swing wide and took timeout again at 23-21. A tough Bays serve forced Stanford into a setting error for set point, and Drechsel put it away on the second chance for 25-22.

The Huskies only hit .175 in the set but had 15 kills to Stanford's 12. Drechsel had five kills and Grote had four, hitting .500.

SET TWO: Bush had two more kills to start the second set and make it 3-all. Powell found the floor again for 7-5, and she served an ace for a 9-6 lead. Stanford quickly caught up, but Drechsel finished a long rally for 11-9 Dawgs. Stanford went up one on an ace, but the Huskies continued to side out with kills from Drechsel and Grote, and a block by Grote and Powell. Hoffman tooled the block for 15-14 at the media timeout. Hoffman broke ties again at 16-all and 17-all, then Drechsel converted for 19-17 and Bush went high hands for a big point to make it 20-17, forcing a Stanford timeout. Drechsel powered through the block for 21-18 and then tomahawked an overpass for 22-18 and the last Stanford timeout. Bush finished out of the break for a five point lead and the Huskies finished, 25-20, on an explosive swing by Grote on the slide.

Washington's offense was stellar in the set, hitting .514 with 20 kills for the 25 points, and 18 assists from Powell. Drechsel, Grote, and Hoffman all had five kills each and none made an error, and Bush had a big four kills, hitting .333.

SET THREE: Stanford scored four of the first five points in the third set, and a Husky blocking error made it 4-9 for the home team. Hoffman and Drechsel had consecutive kills to pull the Huskies back within two at 8-10. Bush and Sanders assisted on a block for 10-12, and Grote put one down for 11-12. The teams traded sideouts back and forth with the Huskies getting within a point but Stanford answering. The Stanford lead got back to three and then four at 16-20, forcing a UW timeout. Out of the break, Drechsel scored and then Grote and Bush teamed for a block for 18-20, but the Huskies got caught in the net on the next rally. A Powell and Grote block had it at 20-22, but UW missed serve and then blocked the Huskies for set point at 20-24. Grote saved the first with a kill and then Hoffman converted in transition to force a Stanford timeout. Powell and Sanders erased a third chance with another block out of the break, but Stanford found a back row kill on the next rally for 23-25.

Stanford hit .394 while the Huskies hit just .222 despite the tight set. Drechsel and Hoffman were solid again with four kills apiece and no errors.

SET FOUR: Drechsel marched on with the first three kills of set four for the Dawgs. Grote had a finish for a 5-2 lead, and Crenshaw aced the Cardinal for 7-4. Endsley had two great digs during a long rally that ended in Powell beating the defense for 10-6, and then Sanders and Powell roofed the next point for 11-6. Sanders then finished a slide in transition for 12-6 and a Stanford timeout. The Huskies weren't able to run away with it, however, as Stanford fought back scoring two points to the Huskies' one. Grote hit down an overpass for 16-12, but Stanford scored the next three to get back within a point and force a Husky timeout. Out of the break, Drechsel missed one to tie it at 16-all, but Powell went back to her on the next chance and she finished for 17-16, which was followed by a Bays bump set to Bush for a kill, and a Hoffman swing to score for 19-16. Hoffman banged down two more Powell sets as the Huskies neared the finish at 23-19. A Cardinal error made it match point at 24-19, and then Sanders and Powell finished it off with a block on the right pin for 25-19, as the Huskies earned the final four points in a row.

Washington hit .267 compared to .243 for Stanford in the set, as Hoffman had five kills on nine swings without an error, and Drechsel put away six and Grote finished three.

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