How did California beat Washington?

“It might be the first time we lost a match when we won the serve/serve receive battle.” –Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin.

BERKELEY, CA— Haas Pavilion was sweltering. It was the second set, the score tied at 18, Cal leading one set to none. The ensuing rally seemed to last an eternity: sets were less than sharp, attacks were strong but digable. Time and again, someone made a near-impossible save and play continued. Tips fooled no one; roll shots didn’t drop; the ball seemed as if it would never hit the hardwood. Finally, after another how’d-she-do-that save, Summer Ross’ dig gave setter Jenni Nogueras enough options, and Krista Vansant finally found the floor.

Cal’s 3-1 victory over visiting Washington was not a thing of beauty. It was an odd, emotional and ultimately exhausting slugfest between two of the best teams in the nation. And it started with an unexpected twist that may someday be viewed as either brilliant or badly designed.

The twist had its roots five days earlier, when Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin studied stat sheets and film the Sunday after routine sweeps of Colorado and Utah. All season, his starting setter, Evan Sanders, had struggled to consistently connect with fellow senior All-American middle blocker Bianca Rowland. Redshirt sophomore setter Nogueras displayed better timing with Rowland, even if she was less in synch with some of her other teammates.

Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin sorting out
an out-of-rotation call
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

So McLaughlin had an idea: why not use both setters, with Nogueras paired primarily with Rowland, and Sanders with senior middle Lauren Barfield? The system has a name, a 6-2 (six hitters, two setters), and is in use in a significant minority of college and high school programs.

“I think it’s a good format for them (the Huskies),” McLaughlin said. “I thought of it Sunday, and we put it into effect, maybe Tuesday, Wednesday.”

In his eleventh season at Washington, it was the first time McLaughlin had ever used a two-setter system in a conference match. And his switcheroo surprised Cal coach Rich Feller.

“Yes, it did,” said Feller. “It was good. It was a great tactic by him.”

Time will tell. On three occasions, the Huskies were called for being out of rotation on serve receive, a common error when learning a new system. Kelcey Dunaway, one of Washington’ six hitters, got only three sets. And the Huskies’ two left-side hitters, junior Kylin Muñoz (.037) and freshman Krista Vansant (-.026) both had their worst matches of the season. Vansant struggled so mightily that she was pulled for the first time this year—at the end of the third set and most of the fourth set—for sophomore Gabbi Parker.

“Krista’s gotta learn,” said McLaughlin, “and sometimes you’ve gotta learn the hard way. Hitting down into the block just can’t happen. It can happen in high school, but it just can’t happen at a high level against a team that knows how to block.”

But the 6-2 offense also had a considerable upside. Bianca Rowland had 11 kills and just 1 error on 25 swings (.400). And freshman Summer Ross had her best match of the season: 14 kills, 1 error on 39 attempts, the most on the team.

“I told the team, I was proud of her (Summer), said McLaughlin. “She dug well and passed well, hit well, she did everything. I was really proud of her composure, her competitiveness. You know, they’ve written a lot of stuff about her, but she’s starting to earn it a little bit. It’s just different at this level, but she’s showing she can be a player at this level.”

But in the end, Cal earned its fourth straight victory over Washington, stretching back to last season. How did they do it?

THE BEARS DUG DEEP

Cal had 94 digs for the match; a big number. Some of that was due to poor hitting choices by the Huskies (see next section), but most was Cal’s never-say-die approach to defense. The Bears had good eyework, getting arms, hands and fists under the ball, then chasing several balls all the way to the stands to keep rallies alive. Libero Robin Rostratter had 26 digs; her UW counterpart, Jenna Orlandini, had another steady match with 20 digs.

The Huskies had 71 digs; they may have missed the presence of defensive specialist, who was the odd-player-out in the six-hitter system.

“Cal played awfully well,” said McLaughlin, “they played better than anything we’ve seen on film.”

THE HUSKIES DIDN’T MAKE CAL PAY

As they have all season, the Huskies served tough.

“That’s the best serving team we’ve seen,” said Feller.

Although Cal was forced out of system time and again (resulting in several sloppy-looking sets by Cal’s Elly Barrett), the Huskies all-too-frequently couldn’t convert the opportunity. In some cases, Sanders and Nogueras passed up opportunities for quick sets or back sets that might have gone for quick kills. In other cases, Vansant and Kylin Muñoz missed chances to tool the blockers or hit line, sending far too many attacks straight to Rostratter.

Cal’s serving, by contrast, was nothing spectacular, but once again, the Huskies had too few “first time” kills.

“It might be the first time we lost a match when we won the serve/serve receive battle,” said McLaughlin.

SLIP AND SLIDE

Washington has often struggled when the opposing middle blocker pulls behind the setter for a right-side slide. When Cal needed a run, they often ran their middles, to great effect.

“That’s their identity; they like to run the slide,” said McLaughlin. “And they had some success on us. But we’ll get better at that, it’s just exposure. You’re in a tight match against a good opponent, little things like that can make the difference.”

A BIG-TIME PLAYER STEPPED UP

All-American Tarah Murrey was all but invisible the first two sets. For the match, she hit just .132, taking 68 swings. But like all great athletes, she took over when the match was on the line. With the Huskies trailing 20-22 in the fourth set, a Cal For the match, she hit just .132, but Murrey took 68 swings. service error and three Summer Ross kills pulled UW even at 22, then 23, then 24, then 25. During most of Pac-12 play so far this season, the Huskies have come back time and again at the end of sets, and they seemed poised to do it again.

Cal's Tarah Murrey, off balance, attacks against Washington's Lauren Barfield (8) and Kelcey Dunaway (2)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

But Murrey was on the other side of the net, and two of her kills were big-time: an out-of-system bomb that most players would have sent across as a free ball, and a back row attack that ultimately made the difference in the set and the match. Murrey would not be denied.

Both Summer Ross and Krista Vansant have all the tools be similarly big time. And McLaughlin thinks matches like this one can play a part. “We’re still growing, and we’re learning that, if we don’t do things right, there’s consequences. And that’s a good lesson.”

And, in the moments after the match, before Washington fans had time to weigh in about the wisdom of a 15-1 team—ranked second in the nation—changing its offense as it faced a fellow national power on a hostile court, McLaughlin was not backing down from his previous Sunday’s inspiration.

“This team has a chance, if we can learn, learn from our mistakes. And just kind of get into that and grind and accept it and get fired up about making some changes to get better.”