No. 2 UW vs. No. 11 Oregon and Oregon State
see also: Top 5 reasons to see Oregon @ Washington volleyball in person this Friday
see also: Top 5 reasons to see Oregon @ Washington volleyball in person this Friday
When/where: 7:30 p.m. Friday vs. Oregon (ESPNU) and 5 p.m. Sunday
vs. OSU (Pac-12 Network), Alaska Airlines Arena.
 |
| Oregon Head Coach Jim Moore -Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann |
UW record: 23-0 (12-0 Pac-12), tied for the most consecutive
wins to start a season in 14-year UW career of coach Jim McLaughlin. UW was last 23-0 in 2005, the year it won a national
title. UW was 22-1 a year ago at this point en route to a Final Four appearance.
Oregon record: 17-5, third-best overall record among Pac-12 teams
(7-5 Pac-12). Ducks lost at home 3-0 last Sunday to No. 1 Stanford. UW defeated
Oregon 3-1 in Eugene Oct. 12.
Oregon State record: 15-8 (5-7 Pac-12, ninth place). Beavers are an improving
team, sweeping No. 20 Arizona State 3-0 two weeks ago. OSU won the second set vs.
Stanford last Friday and barely dropped the third (26-24) before falling 3-1. UW
needed four sets to top the Beavs 3-1 in Corvallis Oct. 10.
 |
| Washington libero Cassie Strickland (8) celebrates during Huskies' 3-1 October 10 win against Oregon State in Corvallis -photo courtesy Shutter Geeks |
Star players: 2013 national player of the year Krista Vansant
(15th nationally in kills per set; 10 matches with double-digit digs) is UW’s marquee
name, but junior middle blocker Lianna Sybeldon has also been a two-way force
on offense and defense, ranking third in blocks per set (1.6) and 17th in hitting
percentage (.410), an uncommon double-double. Sybeldon is the only player nationally
to be ranked in the top 20 of both categories….Junior libero Cassie Strickland
is the Pac-12 defensive player of the week; her 25 digs in last week’s 3-0 win at
USC were one shy of the school digs record for a three-set match.
By the numbers
.323
UW’s hitting percentage, third-best in the country. (Oregon is
14th, .274).
.165
Opponents’ hitting percentage against UW, tops in the Pac-12
(a stat not tracked by the NCAA)
3.1
UW’s team blocks per set, No. 6 nationally.
6
Matches remaining before a possible meeting of unbeatens (Stanford
at UW) on Nov. 26.
-Terry Wood
We'll be there!
ReplyDeleteOkay, swept the Ducks, who scored 20, 18, 20 points. Stanford also just swept the Ducks, who scored 23,21,21 points. Not a significant difference, right?
ReplyDeleteHow about this: Stanford at home gets stretched to five games in its matches with ASU and Arizona (televised tonight on PAC-12 network, same time that the Dawgs were on ESPNU). The same two teams that the Huskies beat on the road a month ago, 3-0 and 3-1. Does this build a case that U-W has the better team?
Actually the NCAA does track Team Opp. Hitting Percentage:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ncaa.com/stats/volleyball-women/d1/current/team/911
Watching some of the Stanford/ASU match, I thought we handled ASU much better, but Stanford did make it happen and that's the mark of a good team. Especially with it at home, I think we will be undefeated and #1 ranked heading into the tournament, which I believe would give us home court advantage all the way to the finals (not sure there). I know we lose Vansant and Nelson this year, but I am very impressed with Jones and Scambray and think they'll fill in just fine going forwards. As long as McLaughlin is coaching here, this team will always be in the hunt...
ReplyDelete