Emoni Bush (Wei Wai Kum First Nation) Led Washington with 19 Kills to Upset No. 14 Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS – This one just meant more. Facing former UW head coach Keegan Cook’s Gophers squad for the first time, Washington Volleyball pulled together one of its most impressive efforts of the year and upset 14^th-ranked Minnesota inside its home Maturi Pavilion in front of 4,811 fans. Junior Emoni Bush shifted to the left side for tonight’s match and delivered a career-high-tying 19 kills to lead UW to its second Top-20 upset in the past three matches.
 
The Huskies (18-5, 8-5 Big Ten) controlled the first set and then had a huge rally from seven points down to steal set two. After the Gophers (16-7, 9-4 Big Ten) responded with a third set win, the Huskies refocused and closed it out in the fourth; final scores were 25-21, 25-23, 14-25, 25-22.
 
Washington had its best serving night of the season with 13 aces and just two service errors. Freshman Julia Hunt was on fire and served UW back into the second set when it was down 11-18. Hunt doubled her previous career-high in aces as she had six tonight.
 
Head Coach Leslie Gabriel said “We knew Minnesota was a great team with great players and well-coached. We just wanted to strengthen who we are as a team competitively and as individuals. They’ve got a great home environment with a big crowd, so can we be the team we wanted in that environment and stay disciplined and within ourselves. Can we just stay focused on that, and I thought they did a really nice job. They did it together.”

Bush had 19 kills on 59 swings and added 12 digs. Madi Endsley fought her way to 10 kills including a huge seven of those coming in the deciding fourth set. Molly Wilson had a double-double with 37 assists and 15 digs plus four blocks as she played all the way around tonight. Katy Wessels made a big impact with five kills, hitting .571, with a team-high six blocks.
 
“One thing that’s great about these players is they’re very flexible and filling the roles we needed for the match,” said Gabriel. “They play multiple positions and do what we need. I’m proud of Emoni, she did a really nice job managing her swings tonight.”