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Hoffman’s Offense, Bays’ Aces Sweep Bears

by gohuskies.com
Oct 28, 2022

SEATTLE – An All-American type performance from senior outside hitter Claire Hoffman and a huge career-high six aces from sophomore libero Lauren Bays helped the 19th-ranked Husky volleyball team to a close sweep of California, 27-25, 25-22, 25-19 at Alaska Airlines Arena tonight.
 
Washington (16-5, 8-3 Pac-12) had a dozen aces on the night, with Bays getting half of those, and Hoffman herself tallying three to go with her team-high 16 kills on a .361 attack percentage. Bays' previous career-high was four aces, set last year, and her most this season was two.
 
The Huskies had to adjust to yet another injury setback, as Emoni Bush missed the match tonight with an ankle issue. Shannon Crenshaw, who had her own troubles with a broken finger, was able to take Bush's place and play in the front row again tonight, for the first time since Sept. 9. Crenshaw's first kill in seven weeks came when the Huskies were down a set point in the first set, 23-24, and her second kill put the Huskies ahead on the next point in a crucial first set comeback.

 
"What I told them after the match is you have to continue to have courage to fight these little battles in our game," said Head Coach Keegan Cook. "I think we can serve more efficiently, we can hit more efficiently, we can dig a few more balls. But we've been working hard, and these injuries can be deflating. I thought we rallied in sets one and two and found ways to win, and nobody was hanging their heads, and that's all you can do in the circumstances."
 
The Dawgs hit .320 for the match while the Bears hit .233. The Huskies had a 7.0 to 2.0 edge in blocks and a big 12-3 lead in aces. One of the aces came from Ella May Powell as she tied Sanja Tomasevic for the school record with 156.

 
Marin Grote delivered eight kills on 11 swings to hit .727 as she went up against her younger sister, Lydia, for the final time in college. Lydia had eight kills on the Bears' side.
 
Crenshaw, the do-anything senior from Longwood, Fla., contributed six kills and six digs with three blocks while handling the most serves from the Bears with 28.
 
"Shannon did a nice job today. She had a lot of serves served her way, and she took more swings today than she has in the last few months. Her normal, reliable self. Really did a nice job for us. She stuffed a ball and looked good as a blocker. Glad she was available just in time."
 
UP NEXT: The Huskies will try to close the gap on Pac-12 leading Stanford this Sunday at 2 p.m. The Cardinal are 10-1 and two games up on the Huskies. The match will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks.
 
SET ONE: The Huskies traded points with Cal down to the wire in the first set before the Huskies secured the set 27-25. Washington led Cal in kills 19-15, led by Audra Wilmes with six and Claire Hoffman with five. Wilmes notched a kill early on to tie the set 4-4. Ella May Powell led an impressive defensive scramble on the next possession before UW lost the point. Hoffman notched a kill to put the Dawgs up 10-8. Powell notched an ace before another monster kill by Wilmes as the Huskies took a 14-10 lead. Cal tied things up at 17-17 and it was point by point for the rest of the set until Powell put the finishing touch on the ball to take a 27-25 victory.
 
Washington registered a match-high 19 kills and three aces in the first set which saw 12 ties and five lead changes.
 
SET TWO: Hoffman picked up right where she left off with two early kills in the second set as the Huskies took the set 25-22. UW took a quick 6-1 lead, forcing Cal to call a timeout. The Golden Bears attempted a comeback and narrowed the lead 7-5 but their momentum was quickly halted by a Wilmes kill and a Sianna Houghton ace as the Huskies went up 11-7. Marin Grote notched a kill to spread the UW lead to 12-9 but Cal answered with a dagger of their own. Similar to the first, neither team could get going offensively or take more than a four point lead. Cal took their first lead 15-14 but it was all back-and-forth scoring from there on out. Washington came out of a timeout and scored three straight to take the lead back, 18-17. The Huskies pulled away 24-20 thanks to a double block by Grote and Powell, and Grote sealed the deal with the dagger to help the Huskies to a 25-21 second set victory.
 
Washington had 13 kills and four aces in the second set.
 
SET THREE: Washington maintained the lead the entire stretch in the third set on their way to a 3-0 sweep of the Golden Bears. The Dawgs took the third set with more ease than the first two, outsourcing the Golden Bears 25-19. A kill by Sophie Summers with the Powell assist put Washington up 8-4. Lauren Bays notched one of UW's five aces of the set to give her team a 12-5 advantage. Shannon Crenshaw launched a rocket kill to give the Huskies a 22-16 advantage followed quickly by a Grote kill to sweep Cal.
 
The Dawgs notched 14 kills and five aces in the third set.

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