No. 1 Huskies sweep Stanford

By Ben Miller

Oct 25, 2004, 12:00 AM

Washington volleyball continues to maintain perfection this season, sweeping both No. 11 Stanford and No. 13 California at home last weekend. In front of a crowd of 5,712 -- setting a UW volleyball record -- the No. 1 Huskies (17-0 overall, 9-0 Pac-10) were able to shut down Stanford (15-5, 7-2), holding it to a hitting percentage of .172 for the three games on last Saturday night. Washington looked to dominate the match from the beginning, taking game one easily in a one-sided 30-16 victory. In game two, the Cardinal took a 23-19 lead and looked poised to take the game from the Huskies, but the UW fought back to win eight of the next 10 points including five straight to take a 27-26 lead. It was a dogfight from then on as Washington barely squeaked out the victory, winning after consecutive errors by Stanford 31-29. The Huskies jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the third game and never looked back, winning 30-22 for the sweep. "We were good when it counted," coach Jim McLaughlin said. "[Game 2] was below our standards in a number of areas -- we were just down offensively -- but we came back and made some big plays when we had to." Freshman Christal Morrison led the Husky attack, recording 17 kills on the night with a .293 hitting percentage. Junior Brie Hagerty added 14 kills, with sophomore Courtney Thompson collecting 52 assists. On the Stanford side of the net, Olympian Ogonna Nnamani paced the Cardinal with 14 kills, and Jennifer Hucke led her team with a .417 hitting percentage with 13 kills. The Huskies began the weekend by defeating California (11-6, 5-3) in three straight games last Friday. Washington traded points with the Golden Bears in game one, with eight UW service errors keeping Cal in the game. With the Huskies holding a small 21-20 lead, a diving dig by junior Candace Lee sparked a run of six straight points as Washington won 30-22. "I don't know how we won that game with eight service errors," McLaughlin said. "We were siding out at such a high clip that it was dangerous that we missed those serves, but we were able to hit some big time serves at the end of the game and got them in trouble a little bit." Game two went back and forth as junior Darla Myhre had a big one game with four block assists and 1 solo block. After a UW timeout with Cal holding game point at 29-27, Washington ran off four straight points to grab the come from behind victory 31-29. "We started off slow and they picked their game up and played well," Myhre said of game two. "We all knew what we had to do, and it was just a matter of us doing it." In game three, the Huskies shut down Cal as Hagerty recorded 11 kills to take the game 30-20 for the three-game win. "Once we got into our rhythm everything just started to flow," Hagerty said. "Everyone started to click, and Courtney [Thompson] was getting the ball to me where it needed to be, and I finished the play out." Hagerty totaled 18 kills in the match, hitting at a .533 clip. Morrison also added 14 kills and 10 digs on the night. "We passed the ball well," McLaughlin said. "It was a complete effort." Washington returns to road action this weekend as it faces Oregon State Thursday and Oregon Friday.

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