by SEATTLE – A challenging season had a tough, sooner-than-hoped-for end today as the eighth-seeded Huskies were beaten in the first round of the NCAA Championships today by TCU in a match at Wisconsin’s UW Field House. Six seniors who have meant an immense amount to the program took the court together tonight for the final time, as UW finished its season with a 20-11 record.
The Huskies were making their 21st consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, and had reached at least the second round in all previous twenty, but tonight the Horned Frogs played cleaner and earned the 25-18, 24-26, 25-20, 25-21 victory.
“TCU was every bit what I thought they could be,” said Head Coach Keegan Cook. “Really aggressive and assertive, played an excellent serve and pass game, create some great plays defensively and took some big swings in trans. Really gave us all we could handle. Proud of our resilience and how we never stopped trying to push back and get in the match, but we ran out of chances. Good luck to the teams moving forward.”
Seniors Dani Cole, Shannon Crenshaw, Marin Grote, Claire Hoffman, Sianna Houghton, and Ella May Powell will move on from the program leaving a legacy of 112 wins, two Pac-12 titles, five NCAA tournament appearances, four Sweet Sixteens, two Elite Eights, and a Final Four.
“The most important thing is the totality of who they’ve become,” said Cook on his senior class. “They are our greatest success. They came on at a time of some uncertainty as a very large class, and accepted the responsibility of keeping this program at a high level and taking it to new heights. Just an incredible journey that they’ve been on.
“I tell people often that when you get to a certain level of commitment, words feel cheap. These players have reached that level of commitment. I’m excited to be their fans for life, it’s been the greatest honor to be their coach.”
Powell had 43 assists in her Husky finale, while Grote had 11 kills and hit .450 with four blocks. Hoffman added 12 kills and two aces. Crenshaw put away seven kills and had eight digs, while Houghton had six digs in her last match.
In a positive sign of things to come, Emoni Bush had 15 kills to lead the Dawgs, and had five blocks, teaming with sophomore Sophie Summers on many of those. Summers had six blocks and five kills. Lauren Bays had 16 digs
