Huskies out-scrap
Buffs to avenge only defeat in a 19-1 season
- #3 Washington def. Colorado 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-19)
- next: #3 Washington @ Arizona State | November 9 | 11AM (Pacific) | no TV
It was the third set; Washington
led Colorado 8-4. The Buffaloes’
star hitter, Taylor Simpson,
connected for a kill on a back row attack to pull her team within 3. A few
weeks ago in Boulder, Simpson’s offense had been key to Colorado’s upset of
Washington, handing the Huskies their only loss of the season.
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| Kylin Munoz, (24) Melanie Wade (5) and Krista Vansant (16) put up a triple block against Colorado Sunday afternoon -photo by Shutter Geeks Photography |
Colorado served, launching one of the longest rallies of
this or any other season in Alaska
Airlines Arena. Back-and-forth, the ball went across the net, as attack
after attack was dug by the Huskies, then the Buffs, then the Huskies. Blocks
were covered, jousts were saved, tips were pancaked as the rally stretched on.
Many in the crowd of 2,880 came to cheer big kills. But they
grew louder still as defense ruled the day. The applause grew to a roar.
“It’s about never giving up,” said senior Jenni Nogueras. “Our team is scrappy.”
So many balls came Krista
Vansant’s way during the epic rally that her legs looked like rubber. On
two occasions, she had neither the time nor the oxygen to jump. “I was
completely winded,” she later admitted.
Finally, a Colorado free ball gave Katy Beals a chance to set Melanie
Wade in the middle. Wade made a sweeping attack, just beyond the reach of
both the Buffs’ blockers and the defenders behind them. Point, Huskies.
Exhaustion, both teams.
“After that rally,” said Wade, “Krista and I just looked at each
other and took a huge, deep breath. It was the look of, thank goodness, we won
that rally. ‘Cause that was a really big point in the game; it really helped
shift the momentum.”
Among the many reasons Washington is now 19-1 this season
and in first place in the Pac-12, defense is often an overlooked key. Nogueras
says it is a point of emphasis, dating back to a lesson from Gold Medal Squared founder Carl McGown last year.
“Carl told us that a championship mentality means you have
to go for every ball,” said Nogueras. “And every ball is different. You go for
this one, maybe it’s a bit too far, and maybe you won’t get it. But then you go
for another one, and maybe you’ll get a paw on it. And then you go for another
one and you’ll get an up.”
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| Washington's Jenna Orlandini (purple jersey) and Jenni Nogueras (9) celebrate a point against Colorado -photo by Shutter Geeks Photography |
Some of the most spectacular digs came from Vansant, Jenna Orlandini and Cassie Strickland. But among the
Huskies 44 digs in the match, were 4 from an unlikely source: Wade. Middle
blockers don’t usually get to play back row defense, and opponents try to
punish them when they do.
“If teams are smart,” Nogueras says, “they know when the
middle is serving. They start tipping and hitting shots in her area of defense.”
But defense is a necessary skill when middles take their
turn at the service line. For the second weekend in a row, Wade prolonged her
service runs with great digging.
“I love playing defense, “said Wade. “It’s one of my
favorite things to do, when I can go back and hit a good serve and then get a
dig. ‘Cause I know a lot of teams are gonna try and hit the ball at me, ‘cause
I usually don’t play back row. So, when I can get a dig, I’m like, don’t hit it
at me. I’m gonna dig it.”
In both sets two (.080) and three (.079), Washington held
Colorado to under .100. For the match, the Buffs hit just .118. UW averaged
.299, committing just three hitting errors in the first two sets.
The Huskies completely shut down Simpson, their nemesis in
Boulder, as she managed just 10 kills to go with 10 errors on 33 swings.
Colorado was outblocked by
Washington 9 to 4, with Lianna Sybeldon
getting 7 block assists and Kylin Muñoz
adding 5 more.
The Pac-12 today selected USC’s Samantha Bricio as its Offensive Player of the Week. The honor was well-deserved, but a strong
argument could have been made for Washington opposite hitter Kaleigh Nelson, who led the Huskies with
13 kills against Colorado to go with 20 kills Friday night in the win over
Utah. Time and again, Nogueras went to Nelson when UW needed to end a Colorado
run.
“We have a lot of weapons,” said Nogueras, “and we need to
use them.”
NOTES
- With few upsets this weekend, the polls and rankings had little movement. Washington is once again ranked #3 in the AVCA Coaches’ poll, and retains the fourth spot in the RPI rankings.
- Washington All-American Courtney Thompson had her jersey retired between the second and third sets of the Colorado match. In an emotional ceremony, the crowd gave Thompson a prolonged standing ovation as she raced around the court, tossing headbands into the seats. Thompson—who wore a trademark white headband during her UW playing days (2003-06)—was the first female athlete in the history of Washington athletics to have her jersey retired and her number hanging from the Alaska Airlines Arena.
-photo by Shutter
Geeks Photography
Photos courtesy Shutter
Geeks Photography
Great dominating performance! I'm no expert but I don't understand why they have Wade serving rather than Munoz.. Kylin is a much better server, probably 2nd best on the team in terms of hard to handle jump serves. Wade had 3 service errors I think. We can't tolerate service errors on easy serves like she puts across.
ReplyDeleteKR is correct ... in Washington's 6-2 (two setter) offense, the coaches' serving choice in that rotation is between Munoz and setter Jenni Nogueras. Only in exceptional cases would a coach not want a setter on the court. And, from where we sit, Wade's serves can be deceptively difficult to pass. She has a great flat floater, good for 10 serves in a row at a crucial moment in the match at USC.
DeleteThanks for the clarification and learning experience, you all obviously understand the details of the game much better than I do!
DeleteIts not a choice between Munoz and Wade. With the 6-2, Munoz enters the match in the front row, opposite one of the setters. If she serves, then there is no setter on the court during that rotation or the setter plays front row for that rotation. I assume that they compared the serving stats between her and the setter and then looked at the trade off of having no setter or a front row setter and coach decided it was better to have the setter serve.
ReplyDeleteColorado was not leading the conference in blocks coming into the match. They are middle of the pack in blocking numbers. Utah was the much more dangerous block, numbers-wise.
ReplyDeleteThanks for catching this ... we mixed up Colorado and Utah. Correction now posted.
Delete