National Team | Courtney Thompson adds another volleyball medal to her collection

Updates on former Washington stars Thompson, Miyashiro, Hagglund, Sanders, Barfield, Vansant, Nelson and Perry 

Professional | 11 Washington alums playing pro volleyball overseas

Post-college volleyball careers now part of elite players’ job options

College | Kaleigh Nelson on fire as volleyball’s first week is in the books

Washington faces a tough task this week in Provo; Eastern stages comeback for the ages.

Washington volleyball confirms final recruit for 2012

Palo Alto’s Melanie Wade, ranked among the nation’s top high school seniors, is officially the fourth and final member of the Washington Huskies’ 2012 freshman volleyball class.

Melanie Wade

Sources confirmed that the University of Washington received Wade’s acceptance letter this week. The university’s athletic website reports that she’ll join the team this fall.

Wade, listed at 6-feet, 5-inches, has played both middle and right side. There should be strong competition at both positions this fall, with the graduation of senior middle blockers Bianca Rowland and Lauren Barfield, and the departure (for the Pepperdine sand volleyball team) of freshman right side hitter Summer Ross.

Wade grew up in the shadow of Washington rival Stanford; her Palo Alto High School team won back-to-back California D-1 state championships the past two seasons.

Wade was included on several prep All-American lists, and has competed in the USA Volleyball junior system.

Washington’s strong 2012 freshman class also includes setter Katy Beals (Austin, TX), libero Cassie Strickland (Huntington Beach, CA) and hitter/middle Lianna Sybeldon (Folsom, CA).

Washington lets 2-0 lead slip, ends season with 2-3 loss to Minnesota

The Washington Huskies could not hold a 2-0 lead, and the Minnesota Golden Gophers came back to win 3-2 (25-18, 25-20, 17-25, 21-25, 11-15).

Minnesota moves on to the Sweet 16, where it will face Iowa State. Washington ends its season 24-8.

At the start of the third set, the Golden Gophers switched setters, replacing surprise starter freshman Kellie McNeil with veteran Mia Tabberson. It seemed to make all the difference, as Minnesota's previously one-dimensional offense opened up, and star hitter Ashley Wittman began connecting.

Both Krista Vansant and Bianca Rowland had stellar matches for the Huskies. Unofficially, Vansant had 22 kills on 55 swings (.327) and Rowland--in the final match of her career--had 13 kills (.323) and 8 blocks.

The real keys to the match, however were:

1. Minnesota's Katherine Harms had the match of her career, getting 29 kills (.356). The left hander did most of her damage from the right side, a vulnerable spot for Huskies' defenders all season. But she had several back row kills and a few from the left.
2. Washington's two-setter offense seemed lopsided. When Jenni Nogueras was setting (albeit with Rowland in the middle), the Huskies ran their offense well. Nogueras had an exceptional night serving and playing defense. But senior Evan Sanders had one of her worst nights of the season, often slow to get to the ball and making several poor setting decisions. We'll have to see the full stats, but it seemed the Huskies usually struggled most when Sanders was setting.
3. Washington's attack needed a third clutch hitter. At the end of both the fourth and fifth sets, when the Huskies were still close, Kylin Munoz (7 kills, 2 errors on 33 swings (.152) was unable to put the ball away. It often looked as if she had not retreated to her full approach position, and--as a result--she often failed to elevate and therefore hit easily diggable balls.
4. And speaking of digging, Minnesota's defenders came alive in the fourth and fifth sets. Even when Washington seemed to do everything right, the Golden Gophers kept Huskies' attacks from hitting the floor. Washington's Jenna Orlandini had 25 digs, but three Minnesota players had 21 or more digs.

Beside Rowland and Sanders, this was also the final career match for Lauren Barfield. The senior middle blocker had 5 kills and 6 blocks.

Local athletes in NCAA D1 Tournament

Hundreds of Washington state high school girls go on to play volleyball at the next level ... well over a thousand colleges and universities compete in various divisions.

321 schools are members of the NCAA Division 1, and 64 qualified  for this season's D1 Tournament.

Here are the thirteen athletes we've identified who attended high school in Washington and are now members of tournament teams:

NAME	SCHOOL	HIGH SCHOOL	POS.	CLASS
Lauren Barfield	Washington	Newport	MB	SR
Gabby Bird-Vogel	Yale	Seattle Prep	OH	FR
Ashley Broadwell	Pepperdine	Archbishop Murphy	OH	RS SO
Anna Cesari	Washington	King’s	S	RS FR
Kelcey Dunaway	Washington	Bainbridge Island	MB	JR
Deedra Foss	Colorado State	Lakes	S	RS FR
Jane Han	San Diego	Auburn Riverside	L	RS FR
Kylin Muñoz	Washington	Monroe	OH	JR
Alexis Olgard	USC	Mead	MB	SO
Bianca Rowland	Washington	King’s	MB	SR
Stephanie Stoll	Tennessee	Issaquah	MB	RS FR
Tangerine Wiggs	Florida	Holy Names	OH	JR
Alyssa Wistrick	Middle Tenn. St.	R.A. Long	OH	SR

Kylin Munoz, Monroe HS (second from right) and Bianca Rowland, King's HS (right)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

All Pac-12: Rowland, Vansant, Ross

Bianca Rowland & Krista Vansant
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Washington's Krista Vansant was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, and senior Bianca Rowland was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference first team today.

Vansant was also named All-Conference Honorable Mention. Outside hitter Summer Ross was honorable mention for the Freshman team.

USC swept all the other major awards: Mick Haley, coach of the year, Alex Jupiter, player of the year, Kendall Bateman, setter of the year, and Natalie Hagglund, libero of the year.

From where we sit, two players on the All-Conference honorable mention team belonged instead on the First Team: Correy Johnson and Robin Rostratter, both of Cal.

Summer Ross should have been on the All-Freshman team. Hitters are too often evaluated only for their hitting, but Ross is an exceptional server, passer and blocker, and she played nearly every single second of the season.

Lauren Barfield--one of the nation's top blockers and a vastly improved hitter--deserved Honorable Mention consideration.

The Pac-12 press release and full list of honorees: Pac-12 Postseason Honors Announced

Selection Sunday: Washington players and coaches react

On selection Sunday exactly one year ago, the Washington Huskies learned they were not one of the NCAA’s 16 seeded teams in the 64-team tournament. But under rules no longer in effect this season, they played host to what was universally considered the toughest of the four brackets, forced to face formidable teams like Hawai’i, Nebraska and California, among others. The Huskies responded, upsetting both the Rainbow Warriors and the Cornhuskers, before losing to eventual national runner-up Cal one match short of the Final Four.

This afternoon, the Huskies learned once again they were not among the chosen 16 seeds. But they did not seem unhappy to be heading to Minneapolis, where they will face unranked Western Michigan of the Mid-American Conference. The Broncos finished second in the MAC West Conference (13-4) and were upset in the first round of the MAC tournament by Central Michigan. Western Michigan has a 26-8 overall record.

Washington players react to the announcement of their NCAA seeding
[Volleyblog Seattle video screen grab]

The winner of Friday’s Washington/Western Michigan match takes on the winner of Minnesota/North Dakota State on Minnesota’s home court. The winner of that second round match advances to the Sweet 16, also in Minnesota.

“I think we have a pretty good bracket,” said Washington’s Bianca Rowland. “It’s not an easy bracket, but it’s definitely a good route to go.”

“I went to Minnesota for the Sweet 16 my sophomore year,” said senior setter Evan Sanders, who played for Colorado State in 2009. “I liked the gym, I liked the atmosphere, it’s a good place to play.”

“It’s a good city,” agreed senior Lauren Barfield. “It’s not too far ahead in time zones. So I don’t think that’ll be a huge adjustment.”

Sanders pointed out that the winner of this weekend’s bracket will be able to stay in Minneapolis, and might therefore have a leg up against the other three teams travelling to Minnesota for the Sweet 16. “It could be an advantage,” she said.

The Huskies watched ESPNU’s Selection Sunday show in the bowels of Hec Ed Pavilion. Washington’s sub-bracket was the fourth of eight to be revealed. Several Huskies—Gabbi Parker, Kelly Holford and Krista Vansant—let out an excited WHOOP when they saw their assignment. Moments later, head coach Jim McLaughlin slipped out of the room.

“I left once I knew where we were gonna be,” said McLaughlin. “I got (Western Michigan’s) stats and schedule. We’ll start the plan, start gathering the information.”

McLaughlin was not watching ESPNU when USC coach Mick Haley made it clear that top coaches are generally unhappy with the NCAA Selection Committee’s recent seeding of Pac-12 schools. Haley’s comments could be interpreted as support for related statements McLaughlin made earlier this week.

“Mick’s been around a long time,” said McLaughlin after hearing a transcript of Haley’s ESPNU comments. “I’ve always respected his opinion.”

“I came into the Pac-10 conference to play all these great teams,” he continued. “I just want to know what we need to do objectively to get the best seed we can get. I want to know. I know the committee has a tough job, their job is not easy. I just want to know what the criteria are and then I’ll follow it, to a ‘T.’”

But McLaughlin made it clear he doesn’t want to talk about the selection process for at least the next three weeks. “Once you’re into the tournament,” he said, “your thoughts have to serve you well. I can turn it (seeding issues) off pretty quick when I have to start our preparation.”

“Everybody in the tournament is good. I’m excited, because it’s the tournament and it’s the best part of the year. So we’ll prepare, and we’ll be ready to go.”

Selection Sunday: RPI (round one)

In December 2005, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's respected sports columnist Art Theil was asked on KPLU radio to name his biggest sports thrill of the year.

Do you think he chose Washington's national championship ... earned just days earlier by the Huskies' volleyball team against favored Nebraska?

Nope. Theil said his biggest thrill was sitting in Hec Ed Pavilion on Selection Sunday--for men's basketball--when Washington learned it was one of four #1 seeds in the upcoming tournament.

PS. The men's team did not win the national title. It did not even reach the Elite Eight.

Art still is a respected sports columnist. He lost a chunk of respect that day, however.

Washington's Lauren Barfield (9) blocks
Washington State's Meagan Ganzer (9)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Tomorrow is another Selection Sunday--for volleyball--and Washington won't be a number one seed. There is, however, a lot of drama about how and why teams are seeded and where they will be placed. We'll have a few things to say over the next 72 hours or so, but want to alert you to a couple of places you can get started:

• In tomorrow's Seattle Times (probably available on line this evening), reporter Terry Wood discusses the controversy over the role of the RPI in determining top seeds ... and gets some eye-opening quotes in the process.
• You can study the latest RPI by visiting the NCAA website. While you are there, ponder how Minnesota (currently 18-11) can be ranked twenty spots ahead of Washington (23-7). While you're there, consider these other teams ahead of the Huskies: Northern Iowa, Northern Illinois, Western Kentucky, Cincinnati, Texas A&M, Tulsa, Miami, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Michigan State, Oregon ... and on and on.

We'll have more to say in the hours ahead ...

Ask Washington: Never say die is more than a cliche

It was the third set in Pullman. Washington State—a huge underdog—won the first two sets, and had two match points.

• Trailing 22-24, with WSU’s Meagan Ganzer serving, Washington’s Bianca Rowland and Kylin Muñoz combined to block WSU’s Jaicee Harris
• Trailing 23-24, with Jenna Orlandini serving, Washington’s Krista Vansant got a kill, one of 25 on the night. WSU called a time out.
• Tied 24-24, Vansant got another kill, once again on a Jenni Nogueras set.
• Leading 25-24, Washington scored its fourth consecutive point—and won the set—on Ganzer’s hitting error.

Washington's Bianca Rowland
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Volleyball is one of the few sports where a team can come back literally from the brink to win. When a basketball team is down by 10 with one second remaining, it’s over. Ditto for football, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, etc.

But in volleyball—as in tennis (and, to a certain extent, baseball and softball)—it’s truly never over until it’s over.

Washington hung on to win set four, then utterly steamrolled the Cougars to win set five.

Over her past ten matches, Rowland a senior middle blocker, is hitting a torrid.457 (97 kills/13 errors/184 attempts). Her coach, Jim McLaughlin, says she ought to get plenty of votes as a first-team All-American. Considering she’s also one of the nation’s leading blockers, that’s not such an unreasonable observation.

Rowland’s teammates put up some pretty impressive offensive numbers in two matches this week against their rivals:

How did Washington beat WSU?

The match was a rout.

Washington State had a reasonable excuse, however, for its 0-3 (25-14, 25-21, 25-14) pasting at the hands of rival Washington. The Cougars were playing their third road match in five nights … a wintry slog through Denver, Salt Lake City and Seattle.

Washington's Bianca Rowland (15) and Kylin Munoz (24) block against WSU's Chelsey Bettinson (12)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

That kind of NBA-style roadtrip might not happen next season. More on that in a moment.

The first thing the Cougars had to notice on arrival was the large and loud crowd in Hec Edmundson Pavilion: an audience in excess of 3,000 on a cold, dark November Tuesday night. The turnout was unexpected, considering Seattleites were sloshing through a rain-soaked commute, trying to negotiate ever-distant parking lots as Husky Stadium renovation pushes arriving fans further and further from Alaska Airlines Arena. 

[note to Washington AD Scott Woodward: $7 is too steep a price to charge for volleyball parking on dark, stormy nights.]

[further note: The Thanksgiving week crowd was another reminder that volleyball continues a near-decade long pattern as the third-biggest UW sports attraction, behind only football and mens’ basketball. 3,000+ fans are way more than the women’s basketball team attracts, even in good weather.]

Washington's Kylin Munoz (24)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

With an energetic crowd offering support and the Cougars looking tired, Huskies hitters had a field day.

• Washington hit .506 (45 kills, 5 errors on 79 attempts) … its highest conference average since hitting .533 against Arizona State in 2005—the year Washington won the National Championship.
• Junior outside hitter Kylin Muñoz hit a decent .333 (6 kills, 1 error, 15 attempts). UW’s other five attackers all hit better than .400, led by freshman outside hitter Krista Vansant (14/1/19, .684), senior middle blocker Lauren Barfield (6/0/9, .667), and senior middle blocker Bianca Rowland (7/1/10, .600). Over the past nine matches, Rowland is hitting an incredible .458 (88/12/166).

This match was originally scheduled for the first week of the conference season, back in September. Both teams agreed to move it to this final week of the conference season, to avoid playing three matches that first week. [see: Pac-12’s wacky rivalry week is upon us)

Volleyblog Seattle has learned that the Pac-12 plans to eliminate two conference volleyball matches next season, in part to avoid weeks when three matches are scheduled in six or fewer nights. We’re awaiting an official response from Pac-12 officials to answer questions about how the league will determine which two matches will drop from each team’s schedule, and whether volleyball will adopt North/South divisions, a la football.

The lessons from this match are more urgent than for most … these two rivals will square off again on Friday in Pullman. So, as the Cougars return home and try to figure this one out, let’s also consider: How did Washington beat WSU?

THE HUSKIES DOMINATED SERVE/SERVE RECEIVE

Washington setter Jenni Nogueras (9)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

By now, all regular Volleyblog Seattle readers know Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin’s mantra: the team that wins the serve/serve receive battle almost always wins the match. Great serves force an opponent into either an error or a free ball; great serve receives allow a team to run all options in its offense.

Washington’s serve last night was consistently strong. Junior Jenna Orlandini had 4 of the Huskies’ 11 service aces. Junior setter Jenni Nogueras created a couple of serving runs with a beautiful float serve that drove Cougar passers all the way to the back line.

“She puts up a still ball that doesn’t rotate,” said Washington freshman Summer Ross about Nogueras, “and it just floats all over the place. It’s so hard to pass.”

When WSU served, it rarely rattled the Huskies, who guided most passes right to the setters.

“Krista and Jo (Orlandini) were passing really great,” said Ross. “Everyone’s really locking their elbows, like Jim taught us to. And getting our angle out. It’s pretty sweet.”

WSU's Meagan Ganzer
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Meagan Ganzer, the Cougars’ talented outside hitter, agreed.

“I think the passing and serving is the base of our problem sometimes,” Ganzer said. “I know we have a good offense, we’ve just got to be able to run it.”

This was Ganzer’s last collegiate appearance at Hec Ed. The senior from Tahoma High School is one of the nation’s premiere hitters, currently sixth in Division 1 in kills per set.

“I love playing in this area (Seattle), I do,” she said. “In club volleyball, I played in the Emerald City Classic every year with my club team—I played on this floor as a 16s, 17s and 18s player. WSU/UW is a big rivalry for any Coug. I’m really excited to play them again on Friday.”

THE HUSKIES’ ATTACK CAME FROM EVERYWHERE

In the first set, WSU served with UW leading 16-10. After a good pass, Rowland sped around behind Nogueras, looking for all the world like she was going to hit a slide. The Cougar blockers planted, Rowland cocked her arm … but never pulled the trigger. The set kept rising until Vansant soared—seemingly from nowhere—to clobber the ball down the line.

When passing is near-perfect, it’s up to setters to keep the defense off balance by disguising which hitter they will set. Teams practice combinations all the time, but only the most confident teams actually employ them in matches.

Too often this season, setters Nogueras and Evan Sanders have pushed the ball out to Vansant and Muñoz—or tried to connect with middles Barfield and Rowland—when hitters Ross or Gabbi Parker were available on the right side, or when Vansant or Ross might attack from the back row.

Against WSU, the distribution was far and wide.

“I like it when I don’t know where the setters are going to go,” said McLaughlin. “We’ve got a little more confidence where we can play a little faster. So we’re playing a little faster to the pins.”

Jenni Nogueras (9), Krista Vansant, Bianca Rowland and Gabbi Parker
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

“Our setters were amazing,” said Ross. “Both Jenni and Evan were delivering perfect.”

“Jim told me earlier today that I really needed to work to make myself available in the back row,” said Vansant. “I was telling the setters, I’m here if you need me, set me the pipe.”

“I really want to continue to work on it. It can be a good thing for our offense to spread the block out a little bit.”

“She’s learning how to fight,” said McLaughlin about Vansant. “She’s learning how to learn and to make changes. She’s gonna take off.”

NOTES:

• This was the first time former UW assistant coach Pat Stangle has coached against his friend and mentor Jim McLaughlin. Stangle was a McLaughlin assistant at UW from 2000-2003. He was later head coach at Wyoming.
• Ganzer had a nice contingent in the stands for her final Hec Ed appearance. It included cousin Mike Mills, the head coach of Woodinville High School’s volleyball program.
• Pac-12 volleyball matches have four officials: an up ref, a down ref and two linespersons. The up and down refs usually fly in from another state, but since last night featured two Washington teams, all four officials were local. The up ref was Ami Filimaua, the down ref was Allan Chinn. The line judges were  John Bryant and Robyn Filimaua. Robyn is Ami's wife and has been selected to be a line judge at several NCAA Final Fours.

Lauren Barfield: big hit, big block, late bloom

It was the second week of preseason practice. Lauren Barfield was rehearsing her footwork, variations on the same steps she’d been drilling for years. Left, right, jump, swing.

The volleyball was there, about two feet above the net. And she crushed it. Absolutely pounded the ball. Hit it so hard, it ricocheted high above the Hec Ed Pavilion court.

Lauren Barfield (8)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Her teammates cheered.

“It felt pretty good,” she remembered.

Barfield is a 6-5 University of Washington senior who is just coming into her own. She has always been a blocking threat—more on that in a moment—but now, in her final season, she has become a hitter.

”I’ve noticed that when I’m in games, I have a couple more blockers on me,” Barfield says. “So, yeah, I think people are paying attention a little more.”

Off the court, people have been paying attention to Barfield for several years now. That happens when you soar past six feet tall in 9^th grade, with arms long enough to change lightbulbs. A smart student at Bellevue’s Newport High School, she mostly stayed away from organized sports until the 10^th grade.

“People look at me and say, ‘Whoa! You’re an athlete.’ And I say, ‘Yeah, I’m a little bit late in the game.’”

Shorter girls reach their full height earlier. They get used to their center of gravity sooner. But Barfield says most of her taller teammates were late bloomers.

“In high school, they are still getting used to having these long arms and long legs,” she says. “I think (UW teammate) Kelcey (Dunaway), when she was in high school—we played against each other—she was so skinny, she was still so gangly. Some girls on this team have just now realized their full physical potential.”

“We’re just kind of a different breed, just being so tall.”

Lauren Barfield
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

As a UW sophomore, she broke her finger during a defensive drill, and missed several weeks of practice. Last season, pegged as a starter, she broke her hand—her metacarpal—in yet another drill.

“For sure, it slowed her down,” says UW Assistant Coach Keno Gandara. “And somebody whose kind of catching up in her development, all of a sudden she misses out on ten—eight preseason games, and she’s thrown in the middle of the Pac-10, where we’ve been in the heat of the battle for the conference championship, and she feels that pressure. Her confidence level wasn’t there to put that aside.”

But Gandara, who coaches Washington’s middle blockers, relentlessly drilled Barfield on the basics: eyework, footwork, arm technique. By the end of the season, Barfield was a real threat—as a blocker. But to Gandara, that was only half a loaf.

“We always wanted her to develop as a hitter,” Gandara says. “Our offense is more important than our block. I think you have way more control in your offense and attacking the ball than defending it. But with her size and her jumping ability, maybe it was easier for her to block than attack.”

In the offseason, Barfield hit the gym. And while her body grew ever stronger, she was learning to change a big part of her personality.

“Part of me getting a late start was, I overthought. I tend to do that. I have to be here at this time, perfectly doing this or that. Keno helped me; he was like, just do it, just run and make an error and try. It’s part of why I’ve gotten better now, is I’m just gonna … go. And if something goes wrong, so what, we’ll deal with it.”

“I just started playing, not thinking.”

“I think she’s finally pretty comfortable with her job, her position, her movement patterns, her eyework,” Gandara says. “She’s a smart kid. She works hard. She’s learning to work harder.”

Lauren Barfield
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

In Washington’s 2-setter offense, Barfield is paired with setter Evan Sanders. From the start of the season, the two seniors have been in sync.

“I feel it at the end of games when it’s really close,” Barfield says. “It’s like, I know I can kill this, I know I can kill this. It’s, okay, I know what shot to hit. If she sets me this ball, I know what I’m gonna do. It feels good to know I can kill a ball.”

For much of the season, Barfield’s hitting percentage has been among the top ten or fifteen in the conference. But her blocking has not exactly taken a back seat: she and fellow middle blocker Bianca Rowland are one of the 2 or 3 best blocking tandems in all of Division 1 (318 teams.) Barfield says UW’s coaches emphasize all skills equally; it was a decision by the Huskies’ players to try to become a feared team of blockers.

“We thought, we can be really good at blocking. I think that’s something good about our team: when we have something we want to get good at, we go out and talk to our coaches and we do it.”

Tonight is Senior Night, when Barfield, Rowland and Sanders will be honored before the match with California. Barfield—once a tall, skinny high school kid who took up volleyball on a whim—is now considering a professional volleyball career overseas. It’s fair to say she never really saw it coming.

“Now that I’m at the end of it, I’m starting to realize, wow, this is the real deal. High school, I’m like, 15 years old, I thought, Oh, yeah, I’ll play volleyball. This is fun, I’m tall, I can do it. And now … there’s a lot more to volleyball than just being tall. It’s a big deal. It’s our life. It’s more than just a game for us.”

SEE ALSO:

HOW HIGH IS HIGH ENOUGH?

UWTV Quick Set | September 16, 2011

featuring Lauren Barfield, Bianca Rowland & Amanda Gil

produced and copyrighted by Jack & Leslie Hamann, no little things Productions, 2011

www.nolittlethings.com

How did USC beat Washington?

The Washington Huskies were clearly overmatched this weekend in Los Angeles. But let’s step back:

UW was playing the top two teams in the conference on their home courts. The two teams are a combined 16-0 at home (not counting UCLA’s win on USC’s court.)

UCLA is ranked #1 in the nation; USC is ranked fourth (though there are good arguments that the Trojans should be #2.) The two rivals have a combined record of 41-7.

For the second straight year, Washington lost on the road to all five of their main Pac-12 competitors: UCLA, USC, Stanford, Cal & Oregon. On the other hand, Washington has lost just once this season at home.

Last season, of course, the Huskies advanced to the Elite 8, before losing to eventual national runners-up Cal. That team—with a very different lineup—had the same record as this year’s team at the same point in the season.

And so, as we always do, let’s ask: How did USC beat Washington?

WASHINGTON’S SETTERS WERE TOO PREDICTABLE

When a setter receives a poor pass, the wise choice is to set the outside. Of course, the opponent knows that, too, and can adjust its defense accordingly.

When a setter gets a great pass, especially after an opponent is forced to send across a free ball, a confident offense keeps the defense guessing until the last possible second. The setter in a 6/2 offense has four potential targets when her team is in-system: three front-row players, and one in back.

All weekend, the Huskies’ passing was below its usual standards, both on serve receive and digs. But too often— even when a pass gave them two or three options—setters Evan Sanders and Jenni Nogueras chose the obvious set instead of mixing it up. In particular, the Huskies needed to get more sets to Summer Ross on the right, and to either Ross or Krista Vansant when they were in the back row.

Throughout the match, Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin had his team start in rotation 4. That gave Nogueras and Bianca Rowland more playing time, and put Vansant on the front row more often. Rowland had another good night and a huge weekend, with a combined 21 kills and just one error on 40 attacks (.500).

No matter who was setting, however, the Huskies rarely won the point when they served: just 13 times on the night, 8 of those in the third set.

WASHINGTON’S HITTERS NEED PATIENCE

Watch the best hitters in the conference take their approach: they stay behind the ball and jump very high. From that altitude and with the ball in front of them, they can and do hit down and hit hard.

The Huskies have hitters capable of doing the same, but against the Bruins and the Trojans, they rarely put it together. For much of the season, Kylin Muñoz has shown a tendency to run under the ball, reducing both the height on her jump and her options where she can launch the ball. From where we sit, it seems Muñoz needs to wait a split second more on many of her approaches instead of rushing toward the net.

Of late, freshman sensation Vansant has shown the same tendency to run under, though it comes in streaks, often toward the end of a match. Vansant gets too many sets; she has to transition so often that she displays periods of fatigue and loss of concentration. Now that Gabbi Parker has had three strong matches in a row, (12 kills for the weekend against 4 errors), the setters should look her way a little more often.

“Their outsides were good tonight and put some balls away,” McLaughlin told the Seattle Times’ Terry Wood after the match. “Ours didn't.”

The biggest surprise of the LA weekend was the sudden disconnect between Sanders and Lauren Barfield. Although Sanders’ lack of connection with Rowland is well-documented, she and Barfield have always seemed in sync. The past two matches were a glaring exception, likely because Sanders was trying too hard to set middle when the pass wasn’t there. Barfield, for her part, needed to do a better job of recognizing when passes were poor, and to expect the possibility of a set every time out. Too many attacks were easy-to-dig pushes instead of the strong kills now in her arsenal.

Kelly Holford
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

USC’S MIDDLES HAD IT TOO EASY

The Trojans’ three middle blockers—Lauren Williams, Alexis Olgard and Hannah Schraer—ate the Huskies’ alive. They combined for 18 kills and just 3 errors on 28 swings (.536)

Success like that, as they say, has many mothers. Washington sent over too many easy serves and free balls, allowing USC’s All-American setter Kendall Bateman to set quicks with ease. When Washington did serve tough or its hitters connected, the Trojans’ defenders had a lot of sweet digs, right to Bateman’s waiting hands.

That kind of efficiency makes a team tough to block, and for the second night in a row, Washington failed to live up to its numbers as the best blocking team in the nation. UW had just four blocks on the night, and even had a tough time getting quality deflections for its back row to handle. For the first time this season, McLaughlin started Kelly Holford in place of co-captain Jenna Orlandini at libero, although he switched back for the third set. Neither player had a bad match, considering.

How did UCLA beat Washington?

If only Bianca Rowland could play the Bruins every week.

Washington’s senior middle blocker was once again unstoppable against top-ranked UCLA. Friday night, she had 14 kills on 21 attempts and no hitting errors (.667) When the Bruins were swept by the Huskies in September, Rowland put away 12 kills on 17 attacks with just one error. (.647) That’s a combined .658 … a number UCLA is unlikely to see from any other player they face this season.

It’s interesting to note that in Rowland’s Seattle match, her setter was Evan Sanders. Last night, it was Jenni Nogueras, as the Huskies continued their mid-season switch to a 6/2. In September, Kylin Muñoz and Lauren Barfield had a combined 19 kills, with 4 errors on 44 attempts. (.341) Last night, the collective line for those two was 6-5-27 (.037). That huge gap made all the difference in sets one and three, when the Huskies couldn’t convert a combined three set points, losing both sets 26-28.

It should be said that, when the Bruins went on a couple of long runs, it was outside hitter Gabbi Parker who was able to put kills to the floor to stop the streaks. She’s gaining confidence each week with her newly-earned role in the 6/2.

So how did UCLA beat Washington?

THE BRUINS WON THE SERVE/SERVE RECEIVE BATTLE

It’s a Jim McLaughlin mantra: the team with the better serve/serve receive numbers almost always wins the match.

Time and again—and particularly late in the first and third sets—UCLA’s back line sent passes within reasonable reach of their setter, Lauren Van Orden. The Huskies did not do the same, forcing Sanders and Nogueras to telegraph their sets to the outside, allowing UCLA’s defense to adjust.

The Huskies have the best serving stats in the Pac-12, and are among the best in the nation. They committed just 7 service errors Friday, but two of them came at the worst possible moment, late in sets 1 and 3.

THE BLOCKS WEREN’T THERE

Good blocking is usually a function of good serving. When the opposing setter can’t handle a pass, her options are limited, and blockers can key on just one or two hitters.

In large part, that explains why Washington—statistically the nation’s top-blocking team—had just four team blocks on the night, its worst performance of the season.

“Our serving wasn’t good, so our blocking is tougher, McLaughlin told the Seattle Times’ Terry Wood after the match. “Then when they were going outside we were hurrying and reaching and just opening up space instead of getting over the net. That was an issue that just put more pressure on us. In a tough match like this, those things are exposed. It was killing us.” [see more of McLaughlin’s post-match interview with Terry Wood here.]

The Huskies' blocks weren't there against the Bruins
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

UCLA didn’t get many termination blocks themselves, but Washington’s hitters—and especially Barfield—kept bouncing attacks off the blocker’s hands, sending ricochets high enough for the Bruins’ back line to pass. By contrast, UCLA’s middle hitters attacked at smarter angles, bouncing the ball to places where the Huskies’ defenders couldn’t reach them.

THE HUSKIES LOST FOCUS ON THE ROAD

Washington has lost just once at home this season (in its opening Pac-12 match, to USC.) Time and again at Hec Ed, they’ve allowed opponents to reach 20 points first, only to display enough cool and focus to come back for wins.

It’s a different story on the road. At Cal, Stanford, Oregon and UCLA, the Huskies either couldn’t close a late gap, or—repeatedly last night—couldn’t close the deal with set point in hand. While the final score read 0-3, the tiniest play or two could have made it 2-1 in the Huskies’ favor after three sets.

Most elite teams have a go-to outside hitter when the set or match is on the line—Rachel Kidder at UCLA, Alex Jupiter at USC and Tarah Murrey at Cal, to name just a few. In future seasons, the Huskies will have two such players: current freshmen Summer Ross and Krista Vansant. At the moment, Bianca Rowland is that player for the Huskies. But as a middle blocker, she’s on the sidelines for half the rotations, and can only get sets on good passes. Until Ross and Vansant have the confidence to simply take over a match, it’s up to Parker and Muñoz to step up.

Huskies, Bruins & Trojans atop conference & national stats

After last weekend’s scramble—in both the Pac-12 and nationally—the Washington Huskies have a chance to gain ground on the conference leaders.

UCLA and USC each have two losses; Washington, Cal and Stanford each have four. If the Huskies can manage a sweep, they’ll inch ever closer to the top of the nation’s toughest conference.

All five schools are nationally ranked in the top 10: #1 UCLA, #3 Stanford, #4 USC, #7 Cal & #10 Washington. Naturally, those schools also dominate the conference team and individual stats.

Washington leads in three team categories: Opponent Hitting Percentage, Blocks and Service Aces. USC is tops in Hitting Percentage and Kills. Overall, the top four in every team category includes the Huskies, Bruins and/or Trojans:

Nationally (318 Division 1 teams), Washington is first in blocks/set and 17^th in aces/set. USC is 5^th and UCLA 13^th in assists/set. The Trojans are 4^th and the Bruins are 17^th in kills/set. USC is 7^th in hitting percentage. For some reason, the NCAA doesn’t report opponent hitting percentage, but Washington is undoubtedly in the top ten, if not the national leader. It certainly leads all other ranked teams:

How did Washington beat Arizona?

It was the second set. Arizona led 14-10.

Washington’s Evan Sanders set Lauren Barfield on a quick. With a blocker in her face, Barfield jumped high enough—and made a decision fast enough—to blast the ball in a seam to the left of the blocker and just out of a defender’s reach. Point, Huskies.

Jenni Nogueras then stepped to the service line. After a roller-coaster month, including the high of being included in Washington’s newly-installed 6-2 offense—and the unimaginable low of losing her father to cancer—Nogueras knew this weekend was an important test of her ability to go forward.

Washington's Jenni Nogueras (9) cheers a point against Arizona
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Her first serve was tough for the Wildcats to handle; the short rally ended with a Kylin Muñoz kill, off the block and down the line. Nogueras’ next serve led to a kill by Bianca Rowland, who is finding a rhythm with Nogueras that she hadn’t yet mastered with Sanders. The third serve ended with a fourth consecutive kill: a smart Muñoz tip. Time out Arizona, with the score tied at 14.

The Wildcats couldn’t handle Nogueras’ fourth serve; Rowland buried the overpass. Rowland and Summer Ross roofed the next Arizona attack, followed by another Muñoz dig to end a long rally. 17-14 Washington, and another UA time out.

During time outs, coaches order up a set play off the serve receive, and more times than not, the team calling the time out wins the next point. But that doesn’t work against a great serve, and Nogueras’ jump float was again too hot to handle: the point ended with another Ross/Rowland block. Seven straight points, and the set was effectively over.

The Huskies did a lot of things right on Sunday against a team that recently beat #1 UCLA and has given better teams fits.

So … How did Washington beat Arizona?

THE 6-2 STARTED TO CLICK

Krista Vansant (16) congratulates
Bianca Rowland (15)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Jim McLaughlin’s grand experiment to switch his offense in the middle of the season—with his team (at the time) ranked #2 with a 15-1 record—has raised more than a few eyebrows. But the insertion of Nogueras, and pairing her with Rowland, looked like it paid dividends against the Wildcats.

Rowland was unstoppable this weekend. In two matches against ASU and Arizona, she had a combined 15 kills and just one error on 37 attempts (.378). Rowland had a bounce in her step and exerted leadership not seen this season, especially in Friday’s fifth set.

“She was really good,” said Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin after the match.

“Confidence is an interesting thing,” he said, in reference to the team’s adjustment to the 6-2. “Winning helps, but it’s understanding what you need to do, and—through mindful repetition—believing we can do this.”

A FOURTH HITTER STEPPED UP

The most obvious advantage of the 6-2 is the ability to bring in a fourth hitter. Sophomore Gabbi Parker had an erratic night against ASU, but was the star of Sunday’s Arizona match. Parker had 11 kills and just one error on 21 attempts, and worked hard to vary her shots, both speed and location.

Gabbi Parker attacks
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

“If I see I have wide open line, I’m gonna take it,” Parker said. “If I have a tough shot, I’m just gonna hit high off the hands, and make it so they can’t dig it as easily. We talk about, it’s easy to dig a ball; it’s not easy to dig a ball off the block. So, we’re really trying to hit the ball hard off the hands.”

“Gabbi was big time,” McLaughlin said. “Best game so far as a Husky. I think that’s just the beginning; she can take off from here.”

Parker has been given opportunities before. What allowed her to click this time out?

“I have a big problem with being mentally focused,” Parker said. “And letting myself get down when I make mistakes. So I’ve been working really hard on not letting myself get down on mistakes. And on hitting my shots and hitting harder on the next ball and making ‘em pay for every ball.”

The Huskies are the nation’s best blocking team, averaging an astonishing 3.57 blocks per set. It bears mentioning that Parker stepped seamlessly into that role as well, helping the team to an eye-popping 14.5 team blocks in just three sets.

By contrast, Arizona employed a spread read, allowing the Huskies to run a combination at just one blocker. Both Parker and Krista Vansant (8 kills) were particularly effective when crossing in front or behind their middle blocker.

THE HUSKIES ARE HOT AT HOME

Washington has lost just once at home this season, its conference-opening match against USC. Against the Trojans, the Huskies kept it close in all three sets, but couldn’t finish the deal.

Since then, Washington has shown an uncanny ability to win close sets at home. On several occasions, they’ve trailed by 2 or 3 points when their opponent reaches 21 or more. Time and again, the Huskies coolly persevered, coming from behind, usually on the strength of great serving.

Washington's Krista Vansant (16) hits through the block on a combination play
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Sunday was no exception. In the third set, Arizona went ahead 22-20 on an amazing service ace by Courtney Karst, whose rocket serve clipped Washington’s right sideline. The next rally was long, but the Wildcats were in the net.

Evan Sanders stepped to the service line and the Huskies won the next two points, on an Arizona hitting error and a Krista Vansant kill. Leading 23-22, Sanders served an ace. On the final play, Jenna Orlandini made an astonishing dig, and the Wildcats put their subsequent attack out of bounds for the final point.

After the match, Sanders sought out Karst. They were club teammates (for Colorado’s Front Range), and Sanders still considers Karst her BFF.

“She asked me, ‘couldn’t you just let us win one set?’” said Sanders.

The answer, of course, was no.