by LONG BEACH, Calif. – Washington Volleyball will head into the Big Ten at 10-0, as the Huskies completed their first perfect non-conference run since 2016 with an impressive win over Pepperdine. Playing at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, the Huskies had another balanced attack paired with strong serving and defense to beat the Waves in four, 23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-17.
It was Washington’s fifth win in the past eight days, with those five wins coming in three different states, starting at home in Seattle last weekend, followed by a Tuesday night stop in Oregon against the Beavers, then Thursday and Friday in SoCal. Now UW will get to rest up over the weekend before turning its attention to its Big Ten opener, back in Seattle next Friday, Sept. 27, against Indiana.
Today was the fifth consecutive four-set win for the Dawgs. Washington also avenged a straight-set loss to the Waves from a year ago, getting their first win over Pepperdine since 2021.
“They played with so much heart and I’m proud of them,” said Head Coach Leslie Gabriel. “They were tired going into this match and they really had to gut it out. They pulled together. We started set one with a lot of errors, hitting and serving out. I felt like each set we started hitting our shots better.
“We ended up with 12 aces, so it was nice to see that. Pepperdine is good, they make you play and it takes a couple trips across the net to finish rallies but I like how we’re competing heading into Big Ten play. We’ve got to fine tune some of our passing and serving and attacking mechanics. But they know how to come together.”
UW had to make some lineup adjustments, as Kierstyn Barton and Kiune Fletcher were both unavailable, so UW ran with a 5-1 for much of the match, and Molly Wilson responded with a season-high 37 assists plus 10 digs, four aces, three blocks and a couple kills.
Washington’s offense got progressively better each set, from .114 in the opener, to .150 in the second, then .263 in set three, and .412 to close it out. Meanwhile the defense stayed steady, never allowing Pepperdine to hit above .200 in any set, and limiting the Waves to .105 overall.
The Huskies had a big edge in blocks, 13.0 to 6.0, and followed up yesterday’s then-season-high 10 aces, with a new season-high of 12. UW had a 54-42 edge in kills, and finished with just one fewer digs, 70 to 71.
Three Dawgs – Audra Wilmes, Julia Hunt, Emoni Bush – all finished with 12 kills each, while Madi Endsley finished with 11. Wilmes had 12 digs for a double-double. Bush had a double-double of her own with 10 digs, plus five blocks and three aces. And Hunt filled up the box score as she hit .455 with three aces (all in a row in set four), six blocks and six digs.
