Thursday, August 29, 2013

Pac-12 | Volleyball before football: Washington vs Boise State

First Huskies/Broncos matchup is in Portland, not Montlake
  • #5 Washington vs. Boise State | @ Portland St Univ | August 30 | 6PM
  • #5 Washington @ Portland St | August 31 | 12noon
  • #5 Washington vs. Gonzaga | @ Portland St Univ | August 31 | 5PM

With the University of Washington set to unveil its refurbished football stadium Saturday against Boise State, let's not overlook that the first UW/BSU this season is actually Friday.

The 2013 NCAA D1 volleyball season—which ends in Seattle this December—kicks off Friday in preseason tournaments across the nation.

Washington, ranked #5 in the AVCA preseason poll, continues its annual nonconference volleyball competition with Northwest schools Boise State, Portland State and Gonzaga. This season, the tournament is hosted by Portland State.
 
Liann Sybeldon (10) and Kylin Muñoz (24) block against a Gonzaga attack during a 2012 preseason match
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann
The Huskies have won 40 consecutive nonconference matches in a row, dating back to a 2008 loss to Hawai’i in Honolulu. They’ve won 67 of their past 68 preseason contests. During the current streak, UW has dropped just one set, a 3-1 win at Long Beach State in 2011.

For Pac-12 schools, the nonconference season spans four weeks. Five teams are nationally-ranked: #3 Stanford, #4 USC, #5 Washington, #8 Oregon and #12 UCLA. USC has the toughest schedule this first week, facing #16 Purdue and #21 Western Kentucky. Unranked Arizona hosts #20 Kansas and unranked Central Arkansas, the team that faced Washington in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Unranked Arizona State plays #24 Wichita State while unranked Colorado plays twice against a strong St. Mary’s team.

#8 Oregon, last season’s national runners-up, and unranked Oregon State appear to have the weakest schedule this weekend. The Ducks, in particular, host two teams near the very bottom of last season’s RPI.

The Pac-12’s first week schedule, ranking the opponents from hottest to coldest:



2012 RPI
2012 W-L
ARIZ
Kansas (20)
9
26-7
USC (4)
Purdue (16)
22
23-11
USC (4)
W Kentucky (21)
30
33-4
COLO
St. Mary’s
31
18-11
COLO
St. Mary’s
31
18-11
ASU
Wichita St (24)
36
24-10
UTAH
Northern Iowa
41
25-10
UCLA (12)
Loyola
48
18-13
ARIZ
Central Arkansas
51
30-5
ORE (8)
Ohio
52
21-10
WASH (5)
Portland St
77
21-11
CAL
New Mexico St
85
22-11
UTAH
Utah St
99
21-9
WSU
Alabama
104
18-14
UCLA (12)
North Texas
105
26-12
STAN (3)
UCSB
109
16-17
WSU
Seton Hall
121
18-10
OSU
C Michigan
131
16-14
ASU
Utah Valley
133
18-9
UTAH
Fairfield
139
22-9
WASH (5)
Boise St
141
17-15
OSU
Oakland
145
16-13
UCLA (12)
Albany
154
14-15
WSU
Army
155
20-9
ASU
North Dakota St
165
13-18
WASH (5)
Gonzaga
182
9-20
OSU
Villanova
215
11-19
CAL
Nevada
240
4-25
USC (4)
Alabama A&M
278
12-20
ORE
E Washington
288
5-26
ARIZ
Morgan St
303
5-21
ORE (8)
Bryant
306
12-21


NOTES:
  • Seattle U travels to Ogden, Utah, for its first matches under new head coach James Finley. The Redhawks face Texas Tech Friday morning, Weber State Friday night, and UC Riverside Saturday afternoon. Riverside is coached by former UW setter Michelle Patton; her assistant coach is former Seattle U coach Teron Uy.



No comments:

Post a Comment

[It's okay to comment as "Anonymous," but please feel free to share your name and/or alias.]

Have your friends discovered Volleyblog Seattle? Number of unique visits: