Dawg Debuts, Serving Strength Highlight Sweep
BOBCAT INVITATIONAL
Bozeman, Mont. | Shroyer Gymnasium
FRIDAY, SEPT. 16
#18 Washington def. North Texas, 3-0
#18 Washington at Montana State • 6 pm PT | Live Stats | Live Stream
SATURDAY, SEPT. 17
#18 Washington vs. Boise State • 10 am PT | Live Stats
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Several Huskies stepped into new or expanded roles this morning to help Washington sweep North Texas in its first of two matches on Friday at Montana State's Shroyer Gymnasium. Utilizing several different looks, the Dawgs never let up from the service line, hitting 13 aces in a 25-15, 25-12, 25-14 win.
In the final weekend of nonconference play, the 18th-ranked Huskies (6-2) are looking to see improvement in specific areas while giving opportunities to some younger players. Today saw the collegiate debuts of freshman Kate Morin, who got the start at defensive specialist, and redshirt freshman Maeve Griffin, who came in as a serving sub.
Redshirt freshman Audra Wilmes also tallied four kills in one set, the first kills of her Husky career, and junior Sianna Houghton got the start at libero, finishing with four digs, three aces, three assists, and handling 12 serve-receptions.
Even with twelve different players getting into the match today, Head Coach Keegan Cook felt the team "got a pretty consistent performance across the board. I'm pleased with the experience that a lot of players gained, and how they performed. A strong start to the tournament. Serving hasn't been in place as much as we've had it in year's past, so it's been a point of emphasis this week in practice. We served to space a lot better, and I thought the block was seeing things well as well."
With all the young Dawgs taking part, senior Claire Hoffman was still a steady leader, posting 11 kills on a .421 percentage with a career-high five aces. Emoni Bush had nine kills in just two sets, hitting .583. Madi Endsley hit .500 with seven kills, and Marin Grote hit .455 with five kills. Ella May Powell set the Huskies to a .455 team attack percentage, the highest for the squad this season.
UP NEXT: The Huskies will be back in Shroyer Gym this evening to take on the host Montana State Bobcats in a 6 p.m. Pacific start. The match can be streamed on ESPN+ or through the link on GoHuskies.com
SET ONE: The Huskies had the first two kills on overpass put-aways, as Claire Hoffman hit one down and Madi Endsley hit another for 3-0. Marin Grote's slide kill made it 7-3 Dawgs. Redsshirt freshman Maeve Griffin made her collegiate indoor debut and her serve led to a stuff by Sophie Summers and Ella May Powell. Endsley finished for 10-4 to force a North Texas timeout. Out of the break, Powell fired an ace. Bush crushed crosscourt from the right pin for 13-5. Kate Morin, in her first career start, got her first career ace for 14-5. A booming kill from Endsley on the right made it a ten point lead at 16-6. Hoffman joined the ace column for 20-12, and then Bush took a tough out of system swing and found open floor for 22-15. A solo block from Summers was followed by Powell's second ace, and then UW ended it with another block from Summers and Bush for the 25-15 win.
The Huskies hit .429 in the set with four kills from Endsley and three on four swings by Bush, to go with four aces and four blocks, with Summers in on all four.
SET TWO: Endsley put down the first kill of the second and then Hoffman won a joust. Hoffman pulled the string on another serve for an ace for 5-2. Two-straight finishes from Bush on the left made it 9-4 Dawgs and forced a North Texas timeout. A Hoffman finish and an ace by Houghton made it 12-6. Hoffman and Grote teamed for a stuff for a 14-7 lead. North Texas made a 4-0 run to cut into the gap, but Grote finished to snap that run, and then she had another slide kill for 17-11 and the Mean Green took their last timeout. Out of the break, the Dawgs kept rolling on Hoffman's serve, extending it to a 9-0 run as Bush had three more kills, one on a nice back set by Olivia Mikkelsen, and Hoffman served two more aces. North Texas snapped the run but UW closed out the set with a Hoffman kill and an ace by redshirt freshman Molly Wilson for the 25-12 win.
Again UW was efficient, hitting .455, with Bush terminating six, and UW added five more aces, three by Hoffman.
SET THREE: Endsley had a kill and an ace to start the third up 3-1. A tape ace for Hoffman gave her a new career-high with five and Grote put one down for a 6-4 lead. The Huskies led bye one at 9-8 before making a 7-0 run to break it open on Houghton's serve. She had consecutive aces during the run and Hoffman hit down an overpass and followed with a kill that was bump set by Houghton for 16-8. Redshirt freshman Audra Wilmes then made her presence felt, with her first career kill at 19-10. The first one came via a North Texas blocking error, but Wilmes soon had a more satisfying swing straight to the floor and she added two more kills to come away with four in a span of nine points. She then served out the victory as the Dawgs finished the sweep, 25-14.
UW hit .478 in the final set and had four more aces. Wilmes and Hoffman were both 4-0-5 in the third and Powell had 10 assists.