College | Washington volleyball will be on the road to start & end Pac-12 season

Many Sunday matches on UW home schedule

Washington hitter Tia Scambray (20) attacks against Stanford during the Huskies' 2014 home victory
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

The Washington Huskies will begin and end the 2015 Pac-12 volleyball season with 3 of 4 matches on the road. During the heart of conference season, the Huskies will host 8 of 12 matches in Alaska Airlines Arena.

As we previously reported, Washington will not host Utah this season, and the Huskies will not travel to Boulder, where UW has lost to Colorado the past two seasons in a row. The Buffaloes will, however, be the first Pac-12 team to visit Seattle this season.

In nonconference play, the Huskies will face nine different collegiate opponents, including Cal State Northridge twice on consecutive nights in Seattle. Washington will also host an exhibition against Bayi, a team from China. The only two nonconference teams with final 2014 RPIs under 100 are Oklahoma (26), Northridge (46) and Gonzaga (94).

On the Pac-12 schedule, UW’s home matches include one on a Thursday, one on a Friday, one on a Saturday, plus two on Wednesday and four on Sunday mornings or afternoons. Across the conference, attendance for Sunday matches has been generally very poor, especially because of conflicts with NFL games. Four home matches—Colorado, Arizona St, UCLA and California—are on the same day as Seattle Seahawks games.

The Huskies’ Pac-12 schedule also includes quick turnarounds: 3 matches in 6 days between October 2-7, and 3 in 7 days between November 12-18. Conversely, UW has a full week break between October 23-30.

2015 Washington volleyball schedule

NOTES:

• Washington alum Krista Vansant, playing in her first international tournament for the US National Team, was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2015 Pan Am Cup in Lima, Peru. Vansant hit 50.7% in the tournament, as USA went 7-0, dropping only one set along the way. UW alum Jenna Hagglund was also on the Pan Am Cup roster, seeing limited duty as the substitute setter throughout the weeklong tournament. 

• Stanford All-American middle blocker Inky Ajanaku, a senior this fall, was also on the Pan Am roster, but suffered an injury early in the tournament. We’ve made inquiries, but Stanford has not yet reported the extent of the injury, and whether it might affect her playing time this season.