With outside hitter Kendra Carlson sidelined with a rib injury, the Huskies were shorthanded.

That didn’t matter much as the UW volleyball team beat No. 10 USC and No. 9 UCLA this weekend. The Dawgs came out swinging on Friday night, sweeping the Trojans for the first time since 2005 and for only the third time in franchise history.

“I like where we’re at ... I think we’re a stronger team, mentally,” coach Jim McLaughlin said.

The Dawgs were led by sophomore Becky Perry who struck 18 kills on .517 hitting. She, along with junior outside hitter Arial Salvo who contributed 12 kills, led the Husky offense. Senior middle blocker Jessica Swarbrick chimed in for nine kills of her own on .467 hitting, while sophomore setter Jenna Hagglund had another excellent game setting up her teammates for 47 assists.

The Huskies combined for 54 kills and 51 assists in the match while hitting .393 to USC’s .226.

The UW controlled the first set, winning by a large 25-16 margin, but USC fired back in the second set, coming out to an early 6-2 lead. The UW tied the set 13-13 on a Swarbrick kill until the Trojans came up with two quick kills to put USC up 15-13. USC kept their lead all the way to a 24-22 set point, but the Dawgs didn’t let them off easily on their home court and quickly rebounded with four unanswered points, capped off with a kill by Salvo to take the set 26-24. The UW completed the sweep with a 25-19 third set win.

The match against UCLA was not as easy, but Washington still managed to prevail (17-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-22). UCLA’s stingy defense lived up to its reputation, as the Bruins limited the Huskies to just .201 hitting and recorded 10 blocks. UCLA also managed to out-kill the huskies 55-52.

But the key to the UW’s victory was their excellent serving.

“Serving was big time,” Salvo said.

Four Huskies recorded aces on the afternoon, with the team combining for nine total aces.

“We just wanted to go in and serve aggressive,” Collymore said. “I think it helped us out today when other parts of our game weren’t as good as we would have liked it to be.”

Reach reporter Zach Ruby at sports@dailyuw.com.