College | Washington volleyball bounces all the way back to beat UCLA

In a thriller, Huskies win the final three sets behind Vansant, Sybeldon

#4 Washington def. #20 UCLA 3-2 (18-25, 24-26, 25-17, 25-20, 15-10)

• New Mexico St @ Seattle U | Sat, Oct 4 | 1PM
• #4 Washington @ Oregon State | Fri, Oct 10 | 6PM | Pac-12 Networks
• #4 Washington @ #11 Oregon | Sun, Oct 12 | 11AM | Pac-12 Networks

Pac-12 | UCLA’s new Pauley Pavilion works well for volleyball

A smart remodel of a classic arena

Pac 12 | What we learned from Washington’s win against UCLA

#5 Washington 3, #4 UCLA 2 (22-25, 30-28, 19-25, 28-26, 16-14)

next: #3 USC @ #5 Washington | Friday, September 28 | 6pm [note early start time]

Jim McLaughlin exchanged a mid-court post-match handshake with UCLA coach Mike Sealy, then strode toward the locker room tunnel.

But as the Washington head coach passed the student section, the already- raucous cheers grew louder. McLaughlin turned and pumped his fists. When students howled with appreciation, McLaughlin’s grin stretched wider, and he blew the cheering section a kiss.

Washington  coach Jim McLaughlin salutes the crowd
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Jack Hamann

“This is a big game,” he said moments later. “These are the games that I came to Washington for. And these are the games that I recruited kids for. So, yeah, I just love this stuff.”

Volleyblog Seattle video: ·         match point ·         Jim McLaughlin press conference highlights

Make no mistake, though: McLaughlin knew darned well that this match could have gone either way.

Pac-12 | How Washington and UCLA compare

#4 UCLA @ #5 Washington | Wednesday, September 25 | 7pm

Last season, UCLA rolled into Seattle with a 9-1 record. The Bruins had scored impressive road wins against Long Beach State, Ohio State, Hawai’i, USC and Washington State. No one realized at the time that new coach Mike Sealy would lead UCLA to the 2011 National Title.

Washington, on the other hand, had looked terrible the night before, swept aside by USC to suffer its first loss of the season. In crunch time, Washington had been outscored a combined 11-1 at the end of each of the sets.

But, the next night against the Bruins, it was Washington that prevailed, in decisive fashion. As we reported at the time, the Huskies served big-time, passed nails and eliminated errors. Kylin Muñoz had one of the biggest matches of her career (13 kills, .429) and then-freshman Krista Vansant overcame early jitters to contribute ten big kills.

In particular, the first frame was a set to remember, as 74% of all points that set came from successful attacks (19 kills for Washington, 18 kills for UCLA). In the end, it was a 3-0 Washington sweep.

UCLA's Kelly Reeves (L) passes during UCLA's 2011 loss at Washington
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

Final Four: UCLA/Illinois tied 1-1

SAN ANTONIO--In the semifinals, USC led Illinois late in the third set, but gave up six in a row and lost the set ... and eventually, the match.

Tonight, UCLA was cruising in the second set. But Illinois went on a 7-0 run, and stole the second set 25-23, to tie the match 1-1.

UCLA's Tabi Love is struggling mightily, hitting just .062 on 16 swings. Coach Mike Sealy pulled her twice.

Both teams are hitting poorly, largely because they aren't serving receiving with any consistency, forcing long rallies. In one stretch, Illinois setter Annie Luhrsen became so frustrated that she repeatedly turned and attacked on the second ball--earning several kills.

UCLA's Lauren Van Orden celebrates a point against Illinois
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Final Four: coach/comedian Mike Sealy of UCLA

SAN ANTONIO--UCLA's young head coach, Mike Sealy, has provided much of the levity this week at the Final Four. A sampling:

• "At the time, our offense was so tragic and just stagnant ..." [referring to a point late in the season when the Bruins briefly switched to a two-setter offense.]
• "The old superstitious baseball kid in me had to find a slump-buster." [on why he cut his flowing hair during the "tragic" point of the season; the Bruins are 5-0 since he was shorn.]
• "She's all unicorns and rainbows ... Even when she doesn't make sense, it is still beautiful." [referring to his often-ebullient hitter Kelly Reeves]
• "We couldn't decide if we are going to chest bump or hug it out." [on his conversation with Illinois head coach Kevin Hambly--whom he faced as a UCLA player when Hambly was at BYU--as they talked about what to do during tonight's pre-match handshake.]

UCLA coach Mike Sealy
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

UCLA advances; Bruins coach wins Coach of Year

SAN ANTONIO--The USC/Illinois semifinal is every bit as thrilling as the UCLA/Florida State semi was dull.

With the Trojans and Illini trading amazing plays, USC finally ended the first set with a 27-25 win, courtesy of a block by Spokane's (Mead High School) Alexis Olgard.

UCLA completed a sweep of Florida State, with All-American Rachael Kidder doing most of the damage. Kidder has 21 kills, and hit .462.

UCLA's Rachael Kidder
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

UCLA's second-year coach, Mike Sealy, was named national Coach of the Year by the American Volleyball Coaches' Association. Interestingly, USC's Mick Haley was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year by fellow conference coaches.

Special Report: Why fewer women are coaching D1 volleyball

IN THE PAST 15 YEARS, THE PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN COACHING WOMEN’S D1 VOLLEYBALL TEAMS HAS PLUMMETTED—FROM 62% TO 47%. MORE THAN EVER, MALE HEAD COACHES DOMINATE THE WOMEN’S GAME … A TREND NOT SEEN IN OTHER D1 TEAM SPORTS. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING IN VOLLEYBALL? A VOLLEYBLOG SEATTLE SPECIAL REPORT.

• Update: Kathy DeBoer, Executive Director of the American Volleyball Coaches Association, reacts to this report. See AVCA Director: “We don’t have a lot of good solutions”
• Correction: Apologies for misspelling the last name of Florida Coach Mary Wise.

Last season, every Pac-10 women’s volleyball head coach was a man. This season, one-quarter of the Pac-12 is run by women. Two of those coaches—Utah’s Beth Launiere and Colorado’s Liz Kritza will be in Seattle this weekend to face the Washington Huskies. Launiere and Kritza will also meet WSU’s first-year coach Jen Greeny this weekend in Pullman; Greeny is the third member of the Pac-12’s small, but growing, coaching sorority.

From zero to 25 percent: Sounds like real progress for women seeking top volleyball jobs. But across the country, the trend is decidedly in the other direction. D1 women’s volleyball is increasingly a man’s game.

Volleyblog Seattle gleaned numbers from a recent NCAA report titled Race and Gender Demographics 2009-2010. We found that the percentage of female head coaches in Division 1 volleyball has plummeted since 1995, from 62% to 47% last season. No other D1 women’s team sport has experienced anything close to this gender shift.

“It’s one of the very few sports where, since Title IX, there’s fewer women head coaches than there were before,” says Shannon Ellis, head coach at Seattle University. “That’s surprising to a lot of people.”

“Women are getting into the volleyball profession after college, and then, at some point, we have a high rate of attrition,” says Utah’s Launiere. “We’re losing them before they get to become D1 head coaches.”

“It seems like the higher the strength of the conference, the fewer and fewer female coaches you find,” says Colorado’s Kritza.

What’s happening in volleyball? And why? Ellis, Launiere and Kritza revealed some intriguing theories during conversations this week with Volleyblog Seattle.