NCAA | Washington volleyball escapes media poll scramble

Check out which teams remain in rankings despite recent lack of success

• next #3 Washington @ #5 Stanford | November 20 | 7:30 PM | Pac 12 Networks

NCAA | Washington volleyball sophomore is national player of the week

Middle blocker Lianna Sybeldon honored by American Volleyball Coaches Association

• next: Utah @ #3 Washington | November 1 | 7PM | no TV

Pac-12 | Washington volleyball's Lianna Sybeldon named player of the week

Sophomore middle blocker helps lead Huskies to wins over UCLA and USC

Pac12 | Washington volleyball’s Krista Vansant named Player of the Week yet again

Junior outside hitter named Pac-12’s best defensive player after victories over California and Stanford

Pac-12 | Washington volleyball’s Krista Vansant repeats as Player of the Week

Junior outside hitter named Pac-12’s best offensive player for week of September 23-29

Pac-12 | Washington’s Krista Vansant is Pac-12 Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week

Huskies’ junior outside hitter wins honor for third time in her career

Pac-12 | What we learned from Washington volleyball’s two wins against Canada

Defense and adjustments are key to two wins against Canada’s National Team

• #5 Washington def. Canadian National Team 3-1 (25-21, 25-19, 24-16, 25-23)
• #5 Washington def. Canadian National Team 3-1 (24-26, 25-20, 25-16, 25-21)
• next #6 Washington @ #14 Illinois | September 13 | 5:30PM (Pacific)

NCAA | Live chat with Krista Vansant today at 1PM

Join Vansant online chat at Seattle Times Sports

Pac-12 | Pac-12 Power Rankings: Week Ten

Secret revealed: How to be named Pac-12 Player of the Week

[11.01.12 | CORRECTED VERSION: Correcting name in photo caption to Lianna Sybeldon]

Pac-12 | Washington’s Melanie Wade is conference defensive Player of the Week

Freshman middle blocker cited for big weekend against Stanford & Cal

Stanford’s Wopat wins offense award; USC’s Bricio again earns freshman award

Pac-12 | What we learned from Washington’s win over California

#5 Washington 3, California 0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-15)

next: #5 Washington @ #7 USC | October 26 | 6PM

Pac-12 | Pac-12 Power Rankings: Week Eight

Will first half of conference season end in a three-way tie?

NCAA | Washington’s Krista Vansant named National Player of the Week

Coach Jim McLaughlin: “It’s a really good vibe”

Pac-12 | Vansant, Gil named Pac-12 Players of the Week

Krista Vansant gets second honor this season on offense; Amanda Gil cited for defense

[Press release from the Pac-12:]

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- The Pac-12 Conference office announced today the Pac-12 Volleyball Players of the Week for the week of Sept. 25-30. WASHINGTON’s Krista Vansant and Amanda Gil were voted Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, while ARIZONA STATE’s Macey Gardner was selected Conference’s Freshman of the Week for the second time this season.

Krista Vansant (16)
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

Sophomore outside hitter Krista Vansant (Redlands, Calif.) powered the Huskies to consecutive top-five upsets with wins over fourth-ranked UCLA and third-ranked USC. It was the first time since 2006 that UW defeated top-five teams in back-to-back matches. On Wednesday against the Bruins, Vansant put down a career-high 31 kills against just five errors for a .448 attack percentage. It was the first 30-kill performance by a Husky since 2008 and the most of any Pac-12 player this season. She also added 11 digs for a double-double, as Washington outlasted UCLA in five sets for a ninth-straight win over the Bruins in Seattle. Against the third-ranked Trojans on Friday, Vansant led the team again with 12 kills in the three-set victory, missing just twice for a .370 attack mark. She hit .424 for the weekend while averaging 5.38 kills per set. Washington is off to its best start since 2009.

Amanda Gil (1)
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

 Senior middle blocker Amanda Gil (San Jose, Calif.) dominated at the net, helping UW to a pair of upsets of top-five teams last week. Playing against her former team for the first time since becoming a Husky, Gil had a team-high eight block assists against fourth-ranked UCLA, as UW held the Bruins to a .238 attack percentage, well under their .301 season average. She also added six kills on a .357 attack percentage, as UW won its ninth-straight against the Bruins in Seattle. Against the Trojans, Gil had six more blocks in three sets, as USC hit just .221 for the night. For the week, Gil averaged 1.75 blocks per set.

 It is Vansant’s second-career offensive player of the week honor, the second time this season season she has earned the nod. It is Gil’s first-career weekly honor. With the two selections this week, Washington has received 34 weekly honors all-time. Gardner’s freshman of the week selection is the third for ASU all-time.

2012 Pac-12 Players of the Week

	Offensive	Defensive	Freshman
Aug. 27	Alaina Bergsma, ORE	Arica Nassar, OSU	Samantha Bricio, USC
Sept. 3	Krista Vansant, WASH	Karsta Lowe, UCLA	Samantha Bricio, USC
Sept. 10	Camille Saxton, OSU	Becky Defoe, OSU	Madi Bugg, STAN
Sept. 17	Arica Nassar, OSU	Marcelina Glab, WSU	Macey Gardner, ASU
Sept. 24	Lauren Plum, ORE	Jordan Burgess, STAN	Jordan Burgess, STAN
Oct. 1	Krista Vansant, WASH	Amanda Gil, WASH	Macey Gardner, ASU

See also:  Washington climbs to a tie for #2 in Week 7 Coaches' Poll

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POSTED BY Jack Hamann | PHOTOS BY Leslie Hamann

www.nolittlethings.com

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Pac-12 | Washington’s Krista Vansant named Pac-12 Player of the Week

UW sophomore Vansant was MVP of Tiger Classic; senior Dunaway and freshman Beals also nominated.

Washington's Krista Vansant (16)
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- The Pac-12 Conference office announced today the Pac-12 Volleyball Players of the Week for the week of Aug. 27-Sept. 2. 

WASHINGTON’s Krista Vansant was voted Offensive Player of the Week, UCLA’s Karsta Lowe was selected the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week and USC’s Samantha Bricio was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week.

WASHINGTON sophomore Krista Vansant (Redlands, Calif.) led UW in straight-set victories over then-No. 7 Purdue, LSU and Rice to claim the Tiger Classic title. Vansant was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament after averaging 4.82 points per set, 4.22 kills per set, 2.67 digs per set and 0.78 blocks per set, to go along with a .314 hitting percentage. She had double-digit kills (14 and 13, respectively) in the wins over the Boilermakers and Tigers, then posted her second double-double of the season against Rice (11 kills, 11 digs). Vansant also had seven blocks over the three matches, including three in the upset-win over Purdue. The 2011 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, she earned her second MVP honor of the season and has posted double-digit kills in every match this season.

Washington's Orlandini & Vansant earn Player of the Week honors

The Pac-12 has honored two Washington Huskies this week. Jenna Orlandini is the conference Defensive Player of the Week. Freshman Krista Vansant is the Freshman of the Week. The Pac-12 release:

Washington libero Jenna Orlandini (4)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

"Sophomore libero Jenna Orlandini (La Cañada, Calif.) and freshman outside hitter Krista Vansant (Redlands, Calif.) led the Huskies to a pair of victories over rival Washington State, including a five-set, comeback win in Pullman to close the regular season. Defensively, Orlandini had nine digs and a career-high four aces in the 3-0 win in Seattle. Her passing helped UW run their offense at a .506 clip. In the next match, she racked up 27 digs, while also helping Washington post a .340 hitting percentage.


"Vansant was the most efficient hitter on the night in Seattle, going 14-for-19 with one error and posting a .684 hitting percentage. She also had a pair of aces and three digs. She followed up with 25 kills in 29 attempts in the five-setter at Washington State, hitting .388 for the match. She also added nine digs in the comeback victory. For the week, she av-eraged 4.88 kps, 1.50 dps and 5.12 pps, while posting a .471 hitting percentage."

Cal senior Tarah Murrey was selected Offensive Player of the Week. Full text of the release is here: Pac-12 | Bank of the West Weekly Volleyball Honors.

Krista Vansant (16) gets high-fives from teammates
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

This was the third time Vansant has won Freshman of the Week honors:

Rowland on a roll ...

Washington's Bianca Rowland (15)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

How was your last four weeks? Hope it was as good as Bianca Rowland's.

During her last 8 matches over the past four weeks, the Washington senior middle blocker has been a jaw-droppingly efficient hitting machine. Over that stretch, she has 81 kills and just 11 errors on 156 attempts ... a stunning .449 average (kills minus errors divided by attempts).

The Pac-12's leading hitter across the entire season is USC's Lauren Williams, hitting at a .416 clip ... 33 points below Rowland's eight-match tear.

The offensive surge corresponds to the return of setter Jenni Nogueras (after the death of her father). In the two-setter offense, Nogueras and Rowland are paired, and the combination has been increasingly deadly.

On the season, Rowland is now hitting .340 (208 kills, 45 errors on 480 attempts. She's also second in the Pac-12 with 1.53 blocks per set.

Twice this season, Rowland has been named the defensive player of the week. She's due for an offensive player of the week honor, don't you think?

Washington's Bianca Rowland is hitting .449 (81 kills, 11 errors on 156 attempts) over the past 8 matches

Washington's Pac-12 Player of the Week bump?

As we pointed out two weeks ago (Want to be Player of the Week? Beat Washington!), players on teams that defeat the Huskies seem to have an inside track for the Pac-12's weekly Player of the Week award. It happened October 17 (Cal's Christina Higgins & Stanford's Karissa Cook), and again October 24 (Oregon's Lauren Plum.)

Well, the Huskies lost again this week, to #1 UCLA and #4 USC. And the Pac-12 Players of the Week? Kelly Reeves of the Bruins (defense), and Lauren Williams of the Trojans (offense).

Washington fans can have fun with figuring this out. Does it mean that the Pac-12 assigns extra value when a team is able to defeat the Huskies? Or does it mean the Huskies are in the habit of allowing certain opponents to have big weeks against them?

Of course, if you are a WSU fan, you'll point out that the Cougars have also lost to those very same teams on the very same weekends. Perhaps its a state of Washington curse ...

Maybe the real test will come in two weeks, when UW and WSU play each other twice.

Want to be Player of the Week? Beat Washington!

Oregon's Lauren Plum (4)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

For the second week in a row, a Pac-12 setter has been named AVCA National Player of the week. And, in both cases, the honor came after the athlete helped lead her team to a victory over Washington.

This week, it's Oregon's Lauren Plum. Last week, it was Stanford's Karissa Cook. Both setters were, frankly, impressive in their distribution of sets, especially to the right side. It's a lesson the Huskies can learn from.

Stanford's Karissa Cook
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Pac-12 Players of the Week face Huskies next

The Cal Bears took two of the three top Pac-12 honors this week, earning top offensive and defensive players of the week.

California's Tarah Murrey

Cal’s Tarah Murrey, a leading contender for conference player of the year, won the offense award for her 19 kills and 15 digs in a sweep of Oregon, plus her 18 kills and 20 digs in a four-set win over Oregon State.

Bears’ junior middle blocker Kat Brown had 15 blocks for the weekend, hitting a combined .562.

#4 Cal hosts #2 Washington Friday night in a regional televised showdown billed as the national match of the week.

Madi Kingdon had a match-high 16 kills during Arizona’s 3-2 upset of UCLA and was named freshman of the week.

And speaking of Arizona …

The Wildcats beat the Bruins despite UCLA’s advantage on the stat sheet, including kills (63-59), hitting percentage (.256-.239), service aces (8-4), digs (69-62) and blocks (9.0-6.0). UCLA came into the match rated #2 in the nation.

Never-shy Arizona Coach Dave Rubio, whose team hasn’t been a #1 or #2 team since before Bill Clinton met Monica Lewinsky,  scored the quote of the week:

“UCLA didn’t come in here juiced and we are good enough to push a team like that. We played a lot better during the difficult moments, and that put us in a position to win.”