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Hoffman’s 22 Kills Lead Big Road Win In Boulder

by gohuskies.com
Oct 16, 2022

BOULDER, Colo. – Washington responded to a setback on Friday exactly how Coach Cook hoped. In a second straight challenging road environment, the No. 15 Dawgs came out much sharper today, easily winning the first two sets before holding on to take a nailbiting finish over Colorado. Claire Hoffman's 22 kills helped the Huskies to the 25-19, 25-17, 22-25, 25-23 win at the CU Events Center in a battle between teams tied at 5-2 in the Pac-12 standings.
 
UW earned its fourth-straight road win in Boulder, always a challenging road destination, and the Huskies stay tied at least for third now with a 6-2 conference mark, getting to 14-4 overall. It was just Colorado's second loss at home, dropping to 13-5 and 5-3 in the Pac.
 
"A hard-earned win against a quality Pac-12 opponent on the road. High level volleyball on both sides for long stretches. It was a tough start to the road trip and a quick turnaround but we're always looking for the response, and today the team found it," said Cook.

 
Hoffman, the All-Pac-12 performer and All-American, had a rare off night in Utah, but she got right back to usual rock solid self today. She tied her season-high with 22 kills on 50 swings to hit .320 and add 10 digs, an ace, and two blocks.
 
"Claire's been doing this for a long time, and is a really resilient, durable athlete," Cook said of the Pleasant Hill, Ore. senior. "She should be confident in all things she does and so I'm pleased to see her show off the best of what she can do and showing some growth in spaces like her blocking today.
 
Senior Ella May Powell tied her season-highs in both assists and digs, getting 54 assists and 17 digs plus an ace and a block. Emoni Bush put away 15 kills with three blocks, and Marin Grote had 10 on a .421 percentage with three blocks.
 
Sophie Summers had seven kills on a .417 mark with four blocks. Audra Wilmes had nine kills and a tough serve on match point that forced CU into a match-ending error. Lauren Bays had 11 digs while Shannon Crenshaw and Kate Morin had eight apiece.

 
As a team the Huskies hit .263 and Colorado finished at a .213 mark. Colorado had one more ace (4-3) and two more blocks (9.0 to 7.0) but the Dawgs had a 60-51 edge in digs over the conference's leading team in digs per set.
 
UP NEXT: The Huskies start a four match homestand to carry them into the second half of conference play. Up first is Arizona State next Friday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m. Then Sunday, Arizona visits for a 12 noon match.

SET ONE: After a Buffs error, Hoffman had a back row kill followed by an ace for a quick 3-0 lead. Bush's first kill off the block made it 5-1. Summers tipped one down for a 7-3 lead. Colorado made a push with four in a row to get back even at 8-8. Hoffman connected for a kill to retake the lead at 10-9. The Dawgs pushed back ahead with a 6-1 run to take a 15-11 lead at the media timeout. Out of the break, Powell dropped in an ace for 16-11. Summers put one down and Wilmes got her first kill on the right for 18-13. Hoffman and Grote then got up together for UW's first stuff and a 19-13 lead, forcing a Buffs timeout. Colorado got a sideout, but UW responded with another 3-0 run highlighted by two Hoffman kills hard off the block for 22-14. Hoffman finished again for set point at 24-17. Colorado saved two, but on the third, Powell got eyes on a Husky overpass and blocked the Colorado attack attempt for the 25-19 win.
 
The Huskies got off to a .294 start in the set while Colorado made eight errors to hit .171. Hoffman came out swinging with five kills on nine attacks.
 
SET TWO: The teams were even through the first six points of the second set, with Hoffman, Grote, and Bush all getting early kills. A couple Buff blocks made it 5-7, but UW got rolling again with a 5-0 run to take a 10-7 lead and force a Colorado timeout. Bush served tough on the run, as Hoffman had three kills and Wilmes had two. A couple errors by Colorado extended the cushion to 14-8. Wilmes aced the Buffs for 16-9, and then Grote tooled the block on a slide for 17-9 and Colorado used its last timeout. A high hands kill for Hoffman made it 19-10 Dawgs. A pair of kills from Summers and one from Grote helped the Dawgs reach set point at 24-16. Powell went to Wilmes on the right for the last kill of the set, 25-17.
 
Again the Huskies outhit the Buffaloes, .300 to .192. Hoffman had seven more kills, while the four other Husky attackers had three kills each and Powell racked up 17 assists in the frame.
 
SET THREE: Hoffman put down her 13th kill on the second point, but CU had two kills and an ace for an early 1-4 lead. Powell dumped for a kill to make it 4-6. Bush had a kill then teamed with Summers for a huge block to help the Dawgs get back even, and then UW inched ahead at 8-7 on a transition Bush blast set by Powell. Good touches by the block helped the Huskies transition with kills from Summers and Wilmes for an 11-8 lead. Colorado evened it back up with a 3-0 run for 11-11, and then took the lead with a block. Wilmes snapped the run with a right side kill for 12-12. A couple Husky hitting errors cropped up to put UW back down, 14-16. Grote got a needed sideout on a slide for 15-16. A Bush kill and a CU error got the Dawgs in front again, 17-16. Colorado got a tape-ace to tie it at 18-all, but Grote answered for 19-18. Washington misfired twice to fall behind 20-22 and needed time. The Dawgs couldn't find a quick answer and fell down 20-24. Bush saved one set point with a right side kill and then Hoffman got another off the books from the left. They couldn't save a third, however, with Colorado terminating for the 25-22 win.
 
Colorado flipped the percentages in the third, hitting .303 while the Dawgs made nine errors to hit .195. Bush led the attack with six kills.
 
SET FOUR: The Huskies retook the momentum quickly with a block by Bush and Summers to start the fourth. A Bush serve was then overpassed and Wilmes put it down, followed by another Hoffman kill for 3-0. Powell connected with Hoffman again for 5-1. Grote nearly got a solo block but Colorado saved it, but its next swing was rejected by Hoffman and Grote for 8-3 and a Buffs timeout. Another block by Grote had the Dawgs up 10-5, but Colorado answered with a 3-0 run to trim it back down. A quick kill from Grote snapped that run for 11-8. Colorado pulled within a point again but Bush had a kill and then Summers and Wilmes assisted on a block for 13-10. The teams kept trading points, with kills from Summers, Wilmes, and Hoffman making it 16-13. Bush broke one through the block, and then on the next rally she went with a power tip for a big kill to make it 20-15, forcing the Buffs timeout. Bush and Summers ended a long rally with a block for 22-17, but then the Buffs made a final surge, scoring three straight ending with an ace for 22-20 and UW took time. Out of the break, Colorado got another with a transition kill to cut it to one. Hoffman got the hugely needed kill to break the run and make it 23-21. UW had a look at the next point, but a tight set forced Hoffman into an error for 23-22 and UW took timeout again. The next play ended with Grote trying to set but getting called for a double and it was tied at 23-all. But Colorado served one long to get UW to match point, and Wilmes went back and hit a tough serve that Colorado passed too tight to the net. Hoffman went up and made contact, as did the CU setter who was in the back row, and called for the back row attack violation as the Huskies escaped, 25-23.
 
Hoffman had seven more kills in the fourth set as the Huskies hit .270. Colorado hit .195 and missed four serves while UW missed none. The Huskies had five blocks in the fourth set as well.

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