In Focus: Scambray ‘Put Everything Together’ At The Right Time
December 01, 2016 | General, Volleyball
By Mason Kelley
GoHuskies.com
For Tia Scambray, "Everything just kind of clicked."
Throughout much of the season, the junior has been focused on her footwork. Working in lockstep with coach Keegan Cook, she trained with a purpose. She wanted to continue to grow her game.
"I've been working with Keegan on it for a long time and sometimes you can't really pinpoint what it is that helps you get to that point and have a really good match," the outside hitter said.
Early in the season her effort wasn't producing the results she wanted. She fought off the frustration.
"Of course it's frustrating when you're not performing the way you have in the past or the way you expect yourself to, so that also makes it harder for you to move on and get out that frustration, but Keegan worked with me a lot on staying focused on what I needed to do," she said.
By staying focused and moving forward, Scambray was able to find her groove. And, for the Huskies, her timing was impeccable.
Looking back over No. 8 Washington's seven-match winning streak to claim the Pac-12 title and set up Friday's 7:30 p.m. first-round Texas A&M Corpus-Christi, the standout started playing her best volleyball of the season right when the program began to hit its stride as a team.
But for Scambray, one moment stands out. She said Washington's 3-0 win over Arizona State on Nov. 13 wasn't just her breakout game of the season, it was the best of her career.
"I just put everything together and, really, everything just kind of clicked and got a lot better," said Scambray, who finished with 20 kills. "The sets were amazing and the passing was great, so it helped me get into a rhythm."
While she was on the floor, she knew she was playing well, but when she looked at the box score in the locker room, her first response was – "Wow!"
"I didn't actually know how well I did until after the game when we were in the locker room," she said. "I looked at the stats and I was like, 'Wow, that was my best game ever.'"
In the moment, the game felt easy. She was comfortable and confident and the results were tangible.
"That's how it feels," Scambray thought at the time.
All of the work she had invested throughout the season was finally paying off.
Over the season's final six matches – the win against the Sun Devils was the second during that stretch – Scambray led the team with 92 kills, averaging 4.38 per set with a .282 hitting percentage.
Prior to that, she was averaging just 2.84 kills per set.
When asked about her turnaround late in the year, a wide smile spread across her face.
"It feels awesome," she said. "I'm just happy because it's helping our team. We have so many options now that I'm playing better."
With 895 career kills, 833 career digs and 94 aces so far during her college career, Scambray will easily clear 1,000 kills and digs in her career and will also hit more than 100 aces. Reaching all three milestones has only been accomplished four times at Washington – Christal Morrison (2004-07), Sanja Tomasevic (2002-05), Lisa McCammond (1986-89) and Krista Vansant (2011-14).
Three of those players – Morrison Tomasevic and Vansant – were Pac-12 Players of the Year.
Just look at the numbers and it is clear Scambray is a prolific talent. But, it is her work ethic that continues to push her forward. Despite all of the success throughout her first two seasons, she wanted to improve.
She took the time to refine her game, even if that meant a slower start to her junior season. The decision paid off, but the work continues.
"I'm feeling pretty confident, but I'm still working," she said. "The work is never done. We can still pick up small things here and there."
But, while the numbers are nice, Scambray is focused on helping the Huskies to another extended postseason run. That journey continues Friday at Alaska Airlines Arena.
"We love having our crowd here," she said. "It helps us a lot. We know our home court and feel confident on it."
Heading into her third trip to the NCAA tournament, Scambray is confident. She is playing at a level where she can react and make plays instead of worrying about fundamentals and, because of that, she can focus more energy on helping the team grow as a group.
"When everyone starts to do the little things for themselves, you start helping each other and, when you focus on your teammates and not so much on yourself, you start playing better," she said.
For Scambray, everything clicked against Arizona State. It clicked because she put in the work to spark her success. And now the Huskies are headed back to the postseason with the outside hitter playing her best volleyball of the season.
The work was worth it.
