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 14th-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…
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