All-American selections snub Pac-12 & Vansant

SAN ANTONIO—As we reported yesterday, Washington’s Bianca Rowland was named a second team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). Rowland’s AVCA citation reads:

Bianca Rowland, a 6’0 middle blocker for the University of Washington, is a senior from Lynwood, Wash. Rowland averaged a career-best 1.50 blocks per set on the season, second in the Pac-12, and her .345 attack percentage ranked fifth in the conference. She wound up third in career blocks at UW with 492, and second in career attack percentage at.387. After making AVCA All-American honorable mention the past two seasons, this is her first time appearing on an All-American team.

Bianca Rowland
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

It bears mentioning that few, if any, D1 middle blockers were more efficient in the second half of the season. When the Huskies switched to a two-setter offense before the Bay Area road trip, Rowland’s offense soared, repeatedly hitting above .400, and often much higher.

Overall, the Pac-12 got just middling respect from the AVCA voters. Three USC players—outside hitter Alex Jupiter, setter Kendall Bateman and libero Natalie Hagglund—joined UCLA’s Rachel Kidder on the 14-member First Team. Jupiter was the Pac-12 player of the year, and should be among the leading 3 candidates for national player of the year.

Rowland was joined by just one other Pac-12 player on the Second Team, Cal’s talented outside hitter Tarah Murrey. USC’s Lauren Williams and Oregon’s Alaina Bergsma were named to the Third Team, for a total of 8 Pac-12 players of the 42 First, Second and Third Team All-Americans.

Pac-12 players earning honorable mention include WSU’s Meagan Ganzer, Oregon’s Lauren Plum, Stanford’s Rachel Williams and Carly Wopat.

From where we sit, the Pac-12 was given short shrift this year. I would have put Murrey on the First Team, Lauren Williams on the Second Team, and Ganzer (whose WSU coach, Jennifer Greeny is on the All-American selection committee) and Wopat on the Third Team. California—last year’s Final Four runner-up—has a lot to complain about: Correy Johnson should have made Honorable Mention, and I’d put libero Robin Rostratter on the Third Team.

Nebraska’s three honorable mentions were a bit much, particularly Lauren Cook, given her off-court troubles this season. I also question putting Texas’ Bailey Webster on the First Team and teammate Haley Eckerman on the second. Eckerman was named national Freshman of the Year.

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

The real head-scratcher, however, is how Pac-12 Freshman of the Year—and Pacific Region Freshman of the Year—Krista Vansant was completely left off the list. C’mon, committee, really? There are four other freshmen (Texas’ Eckerman, North Carolina’s Chaniel Nelson, Marquette’s Chelsea Heier, Tenessee’s Mary Pollmiller) more deserving than the best freshman in the west?  

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:

How did California beat Washington?

It was late in the final set. Washington and California were tied, with each team exchanging side-outs. Sometimes points were earned by strong attacks; others were given up on errors.

Suddenly, almost quietly, Cal strung together two in a row, and the match ended.

While that was the script last night in Seattle, it was also the exact same scenario last month in Berkeley. And last season in Seattle. And two seasons ago in Seattle.

The Golden Bears have now defeated the Huskies six times in a row, spanning 2-1/2 seasons. And almost every time, there’s just a whisker of difference, always in Cal’s favor.

“We seem to match up really well,” said Cal Coach Rich Feller after his team escaped with another 3-1 victory (25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23). “Right now, our team obviously has some confidence in playing the Huskies.”

“I thought Cal played well,” counted Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin, as he lamented his team’s inability to close out tight sets against the Bears. “It’s a maturity thing. It gets real tough in the later stages of the set. It takes a lot of fortitude, you gotta have composure. It’s hard. We’re learning how to deliver at the end of sets. But we’re not good enough yet.”

Washington's Kelly Holford (3), Summer Ross (99) and Gabbi Parker (11) celebrate a kill by Bianca Rowland (15)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

It was Senior Night at Hec Ed Pavilion, and both coaches lauded the career—and recent resurgence—of Washington senior Bianca Rowland. Saturday night, Rowland had 12 kills and 2 errors on 23 attacks (.435) Over the past six matches (Arizona State, Arizona, UCLA, USC, Stanford & Cal), Rowland has a combined 60 kills and just 5 errors on 122 attacks (.451). Considering the competition (the past four opponents are all ranked in the top five nationally), it would be fair to say no one in Division 1 is playing better right now than Rowland.

“She’s good all the time now,” said McLaughlin. “She’s just that good. We gotta go to her a little more, to be honest with you.”

“What a great player,” said Feller. “I won’t miss her as a competitor. I will miss seeing her display her skills. She’s fabulous.”

But the Golden Bears have plenty of good players on their side, which helps answer the question: How did California beat Washington?

WASHINGTON COULD NOT STOP CALIFORNIA’S SLIDE ATTACK

California's Elly Barrett (10) sets a slide to Kat Brown (11)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

A slide play is when a hitter—most often, but not always, the middle—runs toward the pin (antenna) and takes a fairly flat set to hit a sharply-angled attack, often off the block.

“They’re in love with the slide. They run it to death,” said McLaughlin. “They got away from us on the slide, for sure.”

Cal’s Shannon Hawari had 12 kills (.556), mostly off the slide. Correy Johnson, Cal’s right side hitter, added 11 kills (.409), most from way outside the pins.

“Correy’s pretty magical sometimes,” Feller said. ”She’s just so rangey, and she’s got all the shots. She’s got a pretty fast arm that I think people underestimate.”

Although other teams have had success against the Huskies with a slide, McLaughlin is confident his system is designed to handle it.

“You gotta do it by committee; you gotta have people in the right spot blocking,” he said, “and then you gotta have people in the right spots defensively. Middles have to take big steps. And we were drifting, and we can’t drift.”

WASHINGTON COMMITTED TOO MANY HITTING ERRORS

On the night, Washington hit an anemic .135, thanks largely to committing 29 attack errors.

“We were just not getting a good beat,” said McLaughlin. “We were early on our transition hits. We’re not on a first step going to the ball, and we’re running underneath the ball and we’re launching it.”

Running under the ball was a particular problem at crucial times for both Krista Vansant and Kylin Muñoz. Vansant had 10 hitting errors to go with her 13 kills (.061); Muñoz added another 6 errors with her 11 kills (.126) During big rallies at the ends of sets one and four, Muñoz and Cal’s Tarah Murrey were their respective teams’ go-to hitters; Murrey—an All-American senior—far outplayed Muñoz, who sent the match’s final attack sailing out of bounds when she aimed too high for the Cal blockers’ hands.

“Tarah Murrey was good when she had to be,” said McLaughlin.

Besides Rowland, the other bright spot for the Huskies’ attack was Summer Ross. Last month in Berkeley, Ross had 14 kills on just one error; Saturday she added six kills on just one error. McLaughlin was impressed.

“I challenged her a little bit after last night (a win against Stanford) and said, ‘Look, you can pass, you can block, you can serve. But you can hit, too.’ And she’s got a good arm. She did a better job tonight. She’s just gotta go after it a little more.”

THE TWO-SETTER OFFENSE WORKS … EXCEPT WHEN IT DOESN’T

After a rough start, McLaughlin’s mid-season installation of a 6/2 (two-setter) offense seems to be working, especially lighting offensive fires under Rowland and sophomore outside hitter Gabbi Parker.

Kelly Holford digs as Krista Vansant (16)
looks on
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

But teams are allowed only 12 substitutions per set, and a 6/2 burns through substitutions quickly. That, in the end, may have cost the Huskies the fourth set. Unhappy with the play of Parker, libero Jenna Orlandini, middle blocker Lauren Barfield (“they were not meeting their standards”), McLaughlin used extra substitutions to bring in Kaleigh Nelson, Kelly Holford and Kelcey Dunaway. Toward the end of the set, Washington had no more substitutions, McLaughlin was forced to use just two hitters in the front row.

“We ran out of subs in the fourth set,” said McLaughlin. “I think if we don’t run out of subs, we win that set.”

That said, #11 Washington has finally completed a killer four-match march against the nation’s elite: #1 UCLA, #4 USC, #3 Stanford and #5 Cal. They were rarely out of any set, and rallied dramatically for a victory over Stanford. With the team’s final four conference matches against teams toward the bottom of the standings—Utah, Colorado and Washington State (twice)—McLaughlin hopes the lessons learned from playing great teams will allow his team to make another deep run in the tournament.

“I liked our fight. We have some fight in us. Our backs are against the ball and we respond.”

How did California beat Washington?

“It might be the first time we lost a match when we won the serve/serve receive battle.” –Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin.

BERKELEY, CA— Haas Pavilion was sweltering. It was the second set, the score tied at 18, Cal leading one set to none. The ensuing rally seemed to last an eternity: sets were less than sharp, attacks were strong but digable. Time and again, someone made a near-impossible save and play continued. Tips fooled no one; roll shots didn’t drop; the ball seemed as if it would never hit the hardwood. Finally, after another how’d-she-do-that save, Summer Ross’ dig gave setter Jenni Nogueras enough options, and Krista Vansant finally found the floor.

Cal’s 3-1 victory over visiting Washington was not a thing of beauty. It was an odd, emotional and ultimately exhausting slugfest between two of the best teams in the nation. And it started with an unexpected twist that may someday be viewed as either brilliant or badly designed.

The twist had its roots five days earlier, when Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin studied stat sheets and film the Sunday after routine sweeps of Colorado and Utah. All season, his starting setter, Evan Sanders, had struggled to consistently connect with fellow senior All-American middle blocker Bianca Rowland. Redshirt sophomore setter Nogueras displayed better timing with Rowland, even if she was less in synch with some of her other teammates.

Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin sorting out
an out-of-rotation call
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

So McLaughlin had an idea: why not use both setters, with Nogueras paired primarily with Rowland, and Sanders with senior middle Lauren Barfield? The system has a name, a 6-2 (six hitters, two setters), and is in use in a significant minority of college and high school programs.

“I think it’s a good format for them (the Huskies),” McLaughlin said. “I thought of it Sunday, and we put it into effect, maybe Tuesday, Wednesday.”

In his eleventh season at Washington, it was the first time McLaughlin had ever used a two-setter system in a conference match. And his switcheroo surprised Cal coach Rich Feller.

“Yes, it did,” said Feller. “It was good. It was a great tactic by him.”

Time will tell. On three occasions, the Huskies were called for being out of rotation on serve receive, a common error when learning a new system. Kelcey Dunaway, one of Washington’ six hitters, got only three sets. And the Huskies’ two left-side hitters, junior Kylin Muñoz (.037) and freshman Krista Vansant (-.026) both had their worst matches of the season. Vansant struggled so mightily that she was pulled for the first time this year—at the end of the third set and most of the fourth set—for sophomore Gabbi Parker.

“Krista’s gotta learn,” said McLaughlin, “and sometimes you’ve gotta learn the hard way. Hitting down into the block just can’t happen. It can happen in high school, but it just can’t happen at a high level against a team that knows how to block.”

But the 6-2 offense also had a considerable upside. Bianca Rowland had 11 kills and just 1 error on 25 swings (.400). And freshman Summer Ross had her best match of the season: 14 kills, 1 error on 39 attempts, the most on the team.

“I told the team, I was proud of her (Summer), said McLaughlin. “She dug well and passed well, hit well, she did everything. I was really proud of her composure, her competitiveness. You know, they’ve written a lot of stuff about her, but she’s starting to earn it a little bit. It’s just different at this level, but she’s showing she can be a player at this level.”

But in the end, Cal earned its fourth straight victory over Washington, stretching back to last season. How did they do it?

THE BEARS DUG DEEP

Cal had 94 digs for the match; a big number. Some of that was due to poor hitting choices by the Huskies (see next section), but most was Cal’s never-say-die approach to defense. The Bears had good eyework, getting arms, hands and fists under the ball, then chasing several balls all the way to the stands to keep rallies alive. Libero Robin Rostratter had 26 digs; her UW counterpart, Jenna Orlandini, had another steady match with 20 digs.

The Huskies had 71 digs; they may have missed the presence of defensive specialist, who was the odd-player-out in the six-hitter system.

“Cal played awfully well,” said McLaughlin, “they played better than anything we’ve seen on film.”

THE HUSKIES DIDN’T MAKE CAL PAY

As they have all season, the Huskies served tough.

“That’s the best serving team we’ve seen,” said Feller.

Although Cal was forced out of system time and again (resulting in several sloppy-looking sets by Cal’s Elly Barrett), the Huskies all-too-frequently couldn’t convert the opportunity. In some cases, Sanders and Nogueras passed up opportunities for quick sets or back sets that might have gone for quick kills. In other cases, Vansant and Kylin Muñoz missed chances to tool the blockers or hit line, sending far too many attacks straight to Rostratter.

Cal’s serving, by contrast, was nothing spectacular, but once again, the Huskies had too few “first time” kills.

“It might be the first time we lost a match when we won the serve/serve receive battle,” said McLaughlin.

SLIP AND SLIDE

Washington has often struggled when the opposing middle blocker pulls behind the setter for a right-side slide. When Cal needed a run, they often ran their middles, to great effect.

“That’s their identity; they like to run the slide,” said McLaughlin. “And they had some success on us. But we’ll get better at that, it’s just exposure. You’re in a tight match against a good opponent, little things like that can make the difference.”

A BIG-TIME PLAYER STEPPED UP

All-American Tarah Murrey was all but invisible the first two sets. For the match, she hit just .132, taking 68 swings. But like all great athletes, she took over when the match was on the line. With the Huskies trailing 20-22 in the fourth set, a Cal For the match, she hit just .132, but Murrey took 68 swings. service error and three Summer Ross kills pulled UW even at 22, then 23, then 24, then 25. During most of Pac-12 play so far this season, the Huskies have come back time and again at the end of sets, and they seemed poised to do it again.

Cal's Tarah Murrey, off balance, attacks against Washington's Lauren Barfield (8) and Kelcey Dunaway (2)
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

But Murrey was on the other side of the net, and two of her kills were big-time: an out-of-system bomb that most players would have sent across as a free ball, and a back row attack that ultimately made the difference in the set and the match. Murrey would not be denied.

Both Summer Ross and Krista Vansant have all the tools be similarly big time. And McLaughlin thinks matches like this one can play a part. “We’re still growing, and we’re learning that, if we don’t do things right, there’s consequences. And that’s a good lesson.”

And, in the moments after the match, before Washington fans had time to weigh in about the wisdom of a 15-1 team—ranked second in the nation—changing its offense as it faced a fellow national power on a hostile court, McLaughlin was not backing down from his previous Sunday’s inspiration.

“This team has a chance, if we can learn, learn from our mistakes. And just kind of get into that and grind and accept it and get fired up about making some changes to get better.”

Pac-12 weekend preview

They are, without doubt, the two highest-profile matches in the nation this week: Washington's visit to the Bay Area.

On paper, the UW/Cal match Friday night is the bigger deal. Last season, Cal swept the Huskies home and away, then eliminated them at Hec Ed Pavilion in the Elite 8. The Golden Bears eventually advanced to the national championship match, where they lost to Penn State.

The Bears still have the multi-talented and eminently-likable Tarah Murrey; they still have Kat Brown and Robin Rostratter. What they don't have is last season's national player of the year, now-graduated Carli Lloyd. Lloyd was not just a great setter, she drove Washington crazy with setter dumps and attacks. In two conference matches against UW, she had a combined 10 kills on 19 swings with no errors. It will be interesting to see if the Bears miss that weapon this season.

No team has defeated Jim McLaughlin-coached Washington teams as often as Stanford. Many of the losses have been by the smallest of margins; when these two teams play, serve and serve receive usually decides the match. This year, the Huskies are one of the national leaders (#5) in aces per set.

Washington Huskies huddle
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Only once have the Huskies swept both of these teams in the Bay Area: in 2005 when Washington won the national title. Can they do it again? While history suggests no, we're gonna guess yes, both in four sets.

Oregon's early success is quickly fading, and its matches in LA could either make it a contender or a pretender. Here's guessing the latter, in 0-3, 0-3 fashion.

Arizona will likely pick up two wins in the Rockies; ASU, Utah and Colorado will battle to avoid the very bottom of the standings. We'll say Utah beats ASU, and ASU beats the Buffaloes.

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.”

Washington's impressive stats: do they matter?

Five of the nation's top six teams this week are members of the Pac-12 … and a sixth—#15 Oregon—is the only Pac-12 team without a conference loss. There can be little argument which league is the nation's best.

It bears noting, then, that Washington leads the Pac-12 in three crucial statistical categories: Best offensive hitting percentage (.303); lowest opponent hitting percentage (.115), and most service aces per set (2.06). UW is second in the league in most blocks per set (3.04). The aces per set is tops in the entire nation (320 Division 1 schools); the offensive hitting percentage is second best (trailing only Michigan State), and the blocking stat is sixth in the nation. The NCAA does not report lowest opponent hitting percentage.

So, are these numbers important? And what do they mean?

SoCal teams dominate NorCal

Cal and Stanford marched into the weekend rated the nation’s top two Division 1 women’s volleyball teams. #1 Cal—last season’s national runner-up—was undefeated; #2 Stanford’s only loss was to Cal.

#7 UCLA and (ridiculously under-ranked) #12 USC were the host schools. Earlier today, USC blanked Stanford 3-0, by the barest of margins (25-23, 26-24, 25-23), less than 24 hours after sweeping Cal 3-0.

UCLA took five sets Friday night to defeat Stanford, then won the first two sets tonight against Cal (25-17, 25-20).Cal came storming back to take the third set, 25-19, but the Bruins rolled in the decisive fourth and final set, jumping to a 16-4 lead before winning 25-15. UCLA’s Rachel Kidder did not match her Stanford match numbers … she had 12 kills and 8 errors on 45 swings (.089). As usual, Tarah Murrey carried the load for Cal with 18 kills, 5 errors (.210).

#15 Oregon remains the only undefeated Pac-12 team after sweeping Utah tonight. The Ducks have just one loss (Minnesota) on the season, but have yet to play UCLA, USC, Cal, Stanford or Washington. They’ll be in Seattle this Friday.

Oregon State also continues its dominance over the lower half of the league with a 3-0 shellacking of Colorado.

On Sunday, Washington visits Arizona State, and WSU plays at Arizona.

More on Cal over Stanford ...

From Bay Area Volleyblog reader W.E.:

We went to the 1-2 game in Berzerkeley last night. Good stuff, electric atmosphere even though the intros with the lights out and swooping spotlight was a little much.

Stanford couldn't take Cal's consistent pressure. Cal’s hitters [Tarah Murrey,Shannon Hawari & Adrienne Gehan] recovered from early timing issues with new setter Elly Barrett, and kept the fires lit outside. Cal’s slide worked well until about halfway through the fourth set. Barrett had a lot of success with setter dumps [4 kills on 4 attempts.]

Cal also seemed to have the better libero [Robin Rostratter, 29 digs]. Overall, Stanford lacked punch. Cal’s experience showed.

Cal setter Elly Barrett dumps against Stanford's Jessica Walker
(goldenbearsports.com)

The Haas Pavilion paid attendance was 3,854.

#1 Cal tops #2 Stanford; Utah wins

The Cal Bears, playing at home, won the final three sets to defeat Stanford 3-1. Cal's big hitter, Tarah Murrey, had 18 kills but hit just .157; the Bears hit just .264 for the match.

Stanford committed an astonishing 31 hitting errors to hit just .103 over four sets; Rachel Williams had 12 of those errors to go with her team-leading 15 kills. Undefeated Cal has now won 5 of its previous 7 matches against Stanford. It was Stanford's first loss of the season.

In Boulder, Utah swept Colorado in three sets. The Utes hit .275 to the Buffs' .161.

And in Eugene, the Ducks beat Cal Poly 3-0, in the league's final nonconference match of the preseason. The Pac-12 went 80-20 against nonleague competition.

Pac-12 staggered start

#1 faces #2 tonight in Berkeley, as top-ranked Cal hosts rival Stanford.

For some in Pac-12, rivalry week comes early. For others, including Washington, it comes very late. What’s going on?

When the first-ever Pac-12 schedule was released in spring, every team was to face its rival first and last in conference play. But several schools objected, since it meant playing three Pac-12 matches in just five days, with half the teams facing travel during that span.

The league agreed to let Washington and WSU move their series to the end of the season, meeting in Seattle the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and in Pullman three days later. The Oregon and Arizona schools followed suit.

USC's Galen Center

UCLA and USC played the first-ever Pac-12 match last Friday; UCLA steamrolled to a 3-0 win. One bright note in an otherwise troubled USC early season: 5,385 fans filled Galen Center, a USC home record.

Cal is hoping for similar support when it hosts what is known as the “Big Spike” series. For most of the past decade, Cal/Stanford has taken a back seat to the UW/Stanford series, as that duo finished in the top two every season between 2004-09. Stanford leads the Cal series 62-10, including a winning streak that spanned twenty seasons. Since breaking that streak, however, the Bears have won 4 of the past six matches, including a season sweep last season. Cal graduated national Player of the Year setter Carli Lloyd, but returns powerful outside hitter Tarah Murrey. Stanford graduated All-American Alix Klineman, but junior Karissa Cook is a big-time setter.

And in Boulder, Colorado and Utah go at it in their first-ever Pac-12 “rivalry” contest.