by FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Washington’s outside hitters hit their stride today, and fittingly, hometown hero Ella May Powell found herself with an open net for a kill on match point, as the Husky volleyball team (1-1) earned its first win in a rematch with Arkansas after the Razorbacks had won the opener on Friday night. Today the Husky offense hit .351 with impressive outings from Claire Hoffman, Madi Endsley, and Emoni Bush, and 54 assists from Powell.
SET ONE: Emoni Bush had the first kill for the Dawgs on the first point. Claire Hoffman hammered two in a row for a 5-4 Husky lead. UW then had its first block from Endsley and Grote, and an Endsley kill made it 7-4. Another block and a Hoffman finish upped the lead to 10-5. Endsley then found the back line for an ace for 13-7. The Razorbacks responded with three to cut the lead in half, but Summers ended that with a kill in serve-receive. Washington’s lead vanished, however, as UW was aced three points in a row for 14-14. Bush had a kill to get the lead at the media timeout by one. Endsley hammered off the block for 17-16. Arkansas took its first lead since 3-4 at 18-19, but Endsley tied it with a blast up the line. The Razorbacks took control with a run to get set point at 20-24, but the Huskies fought back saving three to force a timeout at 23-24, with Hoffman crushing a kill to cap the run. On the next rally, a lengthy and impressive rally with big swings and saves from both teams was won by the Dawgs on a UA error for 24-all. Arkansas got the next sideout but UW saved that set point as well on a Grote kill. The Huskies missed serve though for a sixth Arkansas chance, and this time they couldn’t save it, with a Razorback block ending it, 25-27.
The Dawgs lost the set in spite of hitting .390 compared to .245 for Arkansas. Bush, Endsley, Hoffman and Summers all had four kills each, but UW was aced four times and also missed four serves while Arkansas missed just one serve and was aced once.
SET TWO: Endsley had a kill and an ace to get the Huskies going again in the second. Grote stuffed one down in the middle for 4-2. Bush had another ace for a 6-4 lead. Hoffman had two aces and the duo of Endsley and Grote had two rejections as the Huskies pushed ahead, 11-5, and forced an Arkansas timeout. Hoffman finished another Powell set for 14-7, then the Dawgs strung another 4-0 run together to push the lead to ten at 18-8. Hoffman had two more kills during the run and Bush had her sixth. Grote had a quick kill from Powell and then hammered down an overpass for 21-10, and Arkansas took its last timeout. An ace by Bush and a Hoffman kill made it 23-11. Powell threw down her first kill of the day on set point to end it, 25-13.
Washington hit a sizzling .579 in set two, with 5 kills on 7 swings from Hoffman. The Huskies turned the serving tables, notching five aces.
SET THREE: Arkansas came back out strong with a 5-1 run to start the third. A Grote kill and an ace for Bush made it 3-5. Another Husky ace from Hoffman got it to 5-7. Washington got even at 7-all and Endsley got their first lead, getting one through the block for 9-8. The teams went back and forth for a long stretch, with two more big kills from Endsley. Arkansas held the one-point lead at the media timeout, 14-15. A couple Husky errors forced them into a timeout at 15-18. Endsley got it back, tapping one down above the net. Endsley deposited another in the seats and then had a tough serve lead to a free ball and a Hoffman kill for 18-19. The Dawgs got back even at 20-20 on a huge Hoffman-Grote rejection, forcing an Arkansas timeout. Out of the break, UW got a kill from Bush after a tough rally, and then Hoffman finished the next point for 22-20 and a 4-0 run, the last three on Sianna Houghton’s serve. Hoffman killed two more as the Huskies reached set point at 24-21. Arkansas saved one, but Hoffman delivered again to end it, 25-22.
Strong hitting late pulled UW up to a .310 mark for the set, compared to .261 for the Razorbacks. Hoffman dominated with eight kills and Endsley had five more, hitting .556 in the set. Powell racked up 16 assists in the frame.
SET FOUR: A 3-0 Husky run gave them a 4-3 lead in the fourth, with two Hoffman kills. Shannon Crenshaw got her first kill out of the back row and then Powell found Hoffman for a transition kill for 7-5. Hoffman and Endsley tooled the block on consecutive rallies for 9-6. The Huskies had a 3-0 burst with kills from Endsley, Summers, and Bush, two of them assisted by Bays, to make it 12-7 and force an Arkansas timeout. Out of the break, Endsley hammered off the block for another big point for 13-7. An ace for Endsley made it 15-9 Dawgs. Arkansas scored a couple but Summers hit down a quick for 16-11. Bush banged off the block for 17-12. Arkansas made a 3-0 run to cut the UW lead to 18-15 and UW took timeout. A crucial point with some outstanding digs from Bush led to a block by Grote and Powell to snap the run. Arkansas kept the pressure on but UW responded with big swings for sideouts. Endsley added two more, and Bush hit down an overpass on the right pin for 23-19. Hoffman tooled the block to reach match point at 24-20. On the next rally, a Razorback dig went up over the and Powell saw the perfect opportunity to end it in her hometown. She jumped up and spiked it down with no block in front of her for the 25-20 end.
