May 12, 2012
SEATTLE - The Husky Volleyball team welcomed Portland State to Marv Harshman Court today for the final open scrimmage of the spring season. The format called for twelve mini-games, each lasting just twelve points. After the Huskies rolled through the fast-paced mini-games, winning all but the final one, they began part two of the scrimmage, three 25-point sets. Although they weren't quite as decisive as in the first part of the scrimmage, the Huskies managed to pull out victories in each of the three sets as well and, for the most part, head coach Jim McLaughlin liked what he saw. "We still have a ways to go, but I thought we were good when we had to be," said McLaughlin. "I thought we were good at the end of games but we weren't steady from start to finish. That's just something we have to work on." The Huskies got out to a hot start in the first of the three sets, and after back-to-back aces by Gabbi Parker, they found themselves up 15-4. Kylin Muñoz added to the early momentum with a pair of kills and a big block by Parker made it 22-9. But Portland State kept fighting and managed to get within ten points at 24-14. But a long serve out of bounds ended the Viking comeback attempt and the Huskies won the first set, 25-14. The second set was much more evenly matched throughout. After Portland State won the first two points, the Huskies responded with five straight points of their own. The Vikings managed to tie the score at 9-9 and the rest of the set was a back-and-forth struggle, with the two teams trading points until the score was tied at 19. But then, as Coach McLaughlin noted, the Huskies stepped up when they needed to: some hard hitting from Krista Vansant led the Huskies on a 6-2 run to close out the second set. The third set went a lot like the second one. The two teams started by exchanging short runs, taking the momentum away from the other team just to give it back a few points later. The Huskies and Vikings then traded points until the score was notched up at 10-10. But Vansant, the reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, was just getting started and after a few kills that excited the fans in attendance and an emphatic ace the Huskies were up 20-16. After Portland State clawed back again to make the score 21-20, the Huskies went on a 4-0 run that was capped off by a huge spike by Vansant to end the afternoon's scrimmage. Washington has one more week remaining in the spring season. |
