by UW Athletics
SEATTLE – A long day where nothing came easy for the Husky volleyball team ended in a celebratory pile-up at midcourt at Alaska Airlines Arena. Following a frustrating morning loss to Pepperdine, the Dawgs were down 2-1 in the second match of the day to Cal Poly, rallying to force a fifth set and then holding a slim 8-7 lead. That’s when the dam finally broke and Washington (5-2) ran off a 7-0 run to close out the victory, 25-21, 19-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-7.
Head Coach Keegan Cook hopes the challenging twenty-four hour stretch the Huskies just put in will help foster the mental toughness they’ll need moving forward this fall.
“We talked about what these three matches were going to look and feel like, and it became pretty apparent early on that every team here came to play and had talent, and I think you saw that in the results,” said Head Coahc Keegan Cook. “Nothing was easy in either match today, and we made lots of changes, and I think we had to tap into some grit, but I think we leave here a little tougher and with a little better understanding of what it’s going to take to compete at the highest level.”
Washington was outhit by the Mustangs, .257 to .182, but had an 11-3 edge in aces, and did finish with eight more kills (62-54). Sophomore Emoni Bush (Wei Wai Kum First Nation) put away a big career-high 17 kills on a .257 percentage while Claire Hoffman had 15 on a .250 mark. Bush’s previous career-best was 13 kills.
Powell scored a career-high 11 points with six kills, two aces, and six blocks, the kill and block numbers also tying career-highs. She had 42 assists and 13 digs as well. Marin Grote sent back eight blocks to go with 11 kills, and Sophie Summers had seven kills, hitting .312, with three blocks.
