Ranked second nationally in blocks, Washington recorded 20 blocks vs. Oregon
EUGENE, Ore. -- Washington received yet another major test to its unblemished record at 11th-ranked Oregon Sunday, but time and again the Huskies were in the right spots at the right time to turn back the Oregon swings and produce a 21-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-16 victory at Matthew Knight Arena. The Huskies stonewalled the Ducks for 20 blocks, helped by stellar serving that produced nine aces and limited Oregon’s options.
The Ducks came into the match hitting .293 but the Husky wall at net helped hold Oregon to a season-low .150 today. Oregon’s previous low was .235 in its only other loss at No. 1 Stanford. Washington has now won three consecutive matches against the Ducks, and the past two in Eugene. This was UW’s fifth win against a top-25 opponent this year.
The Huskies hit .254 on the day, with Krista Vansant posting 16 kills after having just one in the first set. She also was one off her career-best with seven blocks. The 16 kills brought Vansant to 1,601 for her career, the fourth Husky ever to reach that mark, and she added 16 digs.
Check out a few highlights of Washington's blocking ferocity! http://t.co/LhEIWf1McG
— UW Volleyball (@UWVolleyball) October 12, 2014
Junior middle blocker Lianna Sybeldon matched her career-best with 11 blocks, and junior middle Melanie Wade also had eight to go with three aces. Freshman Tia Scambray had 10 kills and three aces while hitting .286, and Kaleigh Nelson contributed eight kills and five blocks. Katy Beals had her second double-double in a row with 22 assists and 10 digs, and junior libero Cassie Strickland had 12 digs and served a pair of aces.
“The girls are smart, they’re staying on their assignments and the plan,” Washington head coach Jim McLaughlin said. “Oregon is a good team and you have to make some choices, but you have to see the setter and really read the type of set. Game one, I don’t know how many errors we had but it seemed like everybody hit two out of bounds.
"But then we settled down, took care of the ball, hit the ball in, had better composure, and played the game a lot cleaner. We came in and did what we had to do against a good team.”
