Monday, June 17, 2013

Pac-12 | Washington’s 2013 conference volleyball season begins on the road

Pac-12 finally releases schedule

The first Pac-12 volleyball match of 2013 won’t arrive on the Washington campus until almost mid-October, barely ten weeks before Seattle’s Key Arena hosts the 2013 NCAA Final Four.

As we reported last week, Washington plays just 8 nonconference matches this season, only three at home. The home conference schedule doesn’t get underway until October 11.

The Huskies, 25-7 last season (with an RPI of 14 and a national ranking of 9), will start the 2013 Pac-12 season with trips to Pullman, Eugene, Boulder and Salt Lake City:

WASHINGTON VOLLEYBALL 2013



PACIFIC
TIME

2012
RPI
2012
W-L

NONCONFERENCE




Fri
Aug 30
TBA
Boise St
141
17-15
Portland
Sat
Aug 31
TBA
Gonzaga
182
9-20
Portland
Sat
Aug 31
TBA
Portland St
77
21-11
Portland
Tue
Sep 3
7PM
Seattle U
227
9-19
Seattle (UW)
Fri
Sep 13
7PM
Illinois
37
14-16
Champaign, IL
Sun
Sep 15
3PM
Loyola Chicago
174
17-12
Chicago, IL
Thu
Sep 19
7PM
Coppin St
285
11-14
Seattle
Fri
Sep 20
7PM
Cal St Northridge
76
21-10
Seattle
PAC-12 CONFERENCE




Wed
Sep 25
7:30PM
@ WSU
129
13-19
Pullman
Fri
Sep 27
8PM
@ Oregon
4
30-5
Eugene
Fri
Oct 4
6PM
@ Colorado
111
14-18
Boulder
Sat
Oct 5
TBA
@ Utah
82
14-19
Salt Lake City
Fri
Oct 11
8PM
Arizona
53
16-15
Seattle
Sun
Oct 13
3PM
ASU
42
20-14
Seattle
Wed
Oct 16
7:30PM
California
40
15-16
Seattle
Sun
Oct 20
4:30PM
Stanford
1
30-4
Seattle
Fri
Oct 25
8PM
@ UCLA
8
23-8
Los Angeles
Sun
Oct 27
5PM
@ USC
11
30-6
Los Angeles
Fri
Nov 1
7PM
Utah


Seattle
Sun
Nov 3
3PM
Colorado


Seattle
Fri
Nov 8
TBA
@ ASU


Tempe
Sun
Nov 10
11AM
@ Arizona


Tucson
Wed
Nov 13
TBA
UCLA


Seattle
Fri
Nov 15
TBA
USC


Seattle
Wed
Nov 20
TBA
@ Stanford


Palo Alto
Fri
Nov 22
TBA
@ California


Berkeley
Wed
Nov 27
TBA
OSU
63
14-18
Seattle
Fri
Nov 29
8PM
WSU


Seattle
NCAA TOURNAMENT




Thu-
Sat
Dec 5/7
TBA
NCAA
1st/2nd Round



Fri-
Sat
Dec 13/14
TBA
NCAA
Regionals


USC, Nebr.,
Kentucky, Ill.
Thu-
Sat
Dec 19/21
TBA
NCAA
Championships


Seattle
Key Arena

A few observations:
  • As we reported last week, Oregon will not play in Seattle for the first time in 37 seasons. The Pac-12’s unbalanced schedule means the Huskies will play their Northwest rival (and 2012 NCAA Finalist) just once—in Eugene. Washington also plays Oregon State just once—November 27 in Seattle.
  • 16 of Washington’s 20 conference matches will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
  • The four matches not on the Pac-12 Network schedule include both contests (home and away) against Utah, the home match against Oregon State and a road match at Arizona State. ASU beat Washington last season, and is our early pick to finish in the top half of the conference standings. The ASU blackout is due to the Pac-12 Network’s decision to broadcast men’s preseason basketball that week. Basketball also bumps Oregon @ USC off the tube this season.
  • To accommodate television, Washington will play five Wednesday matches this season. Last season, weekday match attendance was poor throughout the league, especially 8PM contests that were the second match of televised doubleheaders. Washington has five late matches on the schedule so far, with several more possible.
  • To avoid conflicts with football, Washington plays five Sunday matches. The first home weekend of the conference season corresponds with a huge Oregon @ Washington football game that Saturday, October 12, so the volleyball matches against the Arizona schools are Friday/Sunday.
  • Speaking of football and attendance, volleyball fans can look forward to a much easier commute this season, as Husky Stadium’s renovation will finally be complete, freeing parking spaces and allowing better traffic and pedestrian flow.
  • Last season, the Pac-12 was by far the strongest conference, with five teams among the top 14 in RPI (#1 Stanford, #4 Oregon, #8 UCLA, #11 USC & #14 Washington) and those same five teams among the top 13 in the final AVCA coaches’ poll (#2 Oregon, #4 Stanford, #6 USC, #9 Washington & #13 UCLA). In 2013, Washington will face the four California schools in succession—twice.


Washington coach Jim McLaughlin’s reaction to the schedule will have to wait. He and the Huskies are currently on a two-week tour of Slovenia and Italy. See Terry Wood's report in Sunday's Seattle Times.

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