College | Washington volleyball’s prospects as the NCAA Tournament looms

UW’s balance and passing will be key

• #2 Washington def. Oregon State 3-0 (25-19, 25-10, 25-21)
• Fri, Nov 20 | 4:00PM | #2 Washington @ Oregon

College | Washington volleyball ranks high in preseason polls

Coaches predict Huskies will finish 3rd in Pac-12, #10 in first national AVCA poll

Third team All-American Lianna Sybeldon will be a Washington senior in 2015
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

Volleyball coaches like Washington’s chances in 2015.

In the annual preseason Pac-12 coaches’ poll, Washington finished third, behind Stanford and Arizona State. Stanford got 11 first-place votes, Washington got the other top nod. Because coaches cannot vote for their own teams in this poll, we know Stanford’s John Dunning picked UW for the top spot, and that Washington’s Keegan Cook joined every other coach in choosing Stanford. Stanford will be without All-American middle blocker Inky Ajanaku, out for the season with a knee injury sustained while playing with the US National Team this summer in Peru. (see: Stanford volleyball All-American Inky Ajanaku injured.)

In the first weekly AVCA national coaches’ Top 25 poll, Washington is ranked #10. Penn State is #1 and Stanford #2. Other Pac-12 teams include #13 Oregon, #16 Arizona State, #17 Arizona, #20 UCLA, #22 USC, #23 Utah and #24 Colorado. Oregon State is not in the top 25, but received enough votes to rank #29. Only two Pac-12 schools—California and Washington State—did not receive votes.

Over the past two seasons, the Huskies have won a combined 63 of their past 69 matches, losing just twice each season to Pac-12 foes (once at Stanford, once at Utah, twice at Colorado). The other two losses were to eventual national champion Penn State in the 2013 NCAA Final Four, and to Nebraska in the 2014 NCAA Round of 16.

AVCA Week 1 Poll			Pac-12 Preseason Poll
1	Penn State (54)		1	Stanford (11)
2	Stanford (6)		2	Arizona St
3	Texas (1)		3	Washington (1)
4	Florida		4	Oregon
T-5	Nebraska		5	USC
T-5	Wisconsin (1)		6	Colorado
7	North Carolina		7	Arizona
8	Illinois		8	UCLA
9	Florida St		9	Oregon St
10	Washington		10	Utah
11	BYU		11	California
12	Colorado St		12	Washington St
13	Oregon
14	Ohio State
15	Kentucky
16	Arizona St
17	Arizona
18	Hawai'i
19	Michigan St
20	UCLA
21	Iowa St
22	USC
23	Utah
24	Colorado
25	Duke

Sand | Washington volleyball “excited” to start sand season in Sacramento

A short season kicks off this weekend against Keegan Cook’s alma mater, St. Mary’s

• Sat, Mar 21 | 11:00AM | vs. St. Mary’s @ Sacramento State
• Sat, Mar 21 | 2:00PM | vs. Pacific @ Sacramento State
• Sun, Mar 22 | 11AM | @ Sacramento State
• Mon, Mar 23 | 4:00PM | @ Pacific (Stockton)

College | After Showdown in Seattle, Washington volleyball climbs in polls

Huskies now ranked in the top 4; Vansant and Scambray named Pac-12 Players of the Week

• Washington State @ #4 Washington | Wed, Sept 24 | 7:30PM
• #4 Washington @ California | Fri, Sept 26 | 8PM

NCAA | Media, coaches, RPI all concur: Washington volleyball close to a top NCAA seed

RPI and standings could favor Huskies in bid to be one of four #1 seeds

• next Oregon State @ #3 Washington | November 27 | 6PM

NCAA | Washington volleyball remains in the Top 5

Despite loss at Stanford and squeaker at Cal, UW poised to capture Pac-12 crown

• next: Oregon State @ #3 Washington | November 27 | 6PM

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 among elite in media poll

Huskies in top 3 of all national polls and RPI

• next: UCLA @ #3 Washington | November 13 | 6PM | Pac 12 Networks

NCAA | With two more victories Washington volleyball continues RPI climb

A week without upsets leaves coaches’ poll largely unchanged, but UW opponents boost Huskies’ RPI

NCAA | Washington volleyball still among elite of weekly RPI and polls

Huskies remain among top four in all rankings

NCAA | Washington volleyball remains high in media poll

Huskies in top 4 of all national polls and RPI

see also: Washington volleyball stays near top of weekly RPI and coaches’ rankings

NCAA | Washington volleyball stays near top of weekly RPI and coaches’ rankings

Huskies benefit as teams they’ve defeated keep winning

NCAA | Washington volleyball vaults in media poll and RPI

Huskies remain among the elite ahead of showdown with UCLA & USC

NCAA | Washington volleyball moves up in weekly coaches’ rankings

After win against Stanford and losses but other ranked teams, Huskies back up to #3

Every season, there’s a weekend when top teams tumble. This was that week.

-photo by Shutter Geeks Photography

• #1 USC lost to Arizona
• #2 Florida lost to #18 Missouri
• #5 Michigan State lost to #10 Minnesota
• #5 Michigan State lost to #15 Wisconsin
• #7 Stanford lost to #6 Washington
• #8 Nebraska lost to #25 Purdue
• #15 Wisconsin lost to #16 Michigan
• #16 Michigan lost to #10 Minnesota
• #17 Ohio State lost to Northwestern
• #17 Ohio State lost to Illinois
• #22 Arizona State lost to UCLA
• #22 Arizona State lost to #1 USC

This week’s big winners were Washington (over California and #7 Stanford) and Minnesota (over #5 Michigan State and #16 Michigan). Missouri is undefeated (23-0) but ranks only 11^th, perhaps because it’s win at home over #2 Florida was its first match this season against a ranked team.

This week’s AVCA poll, with Volleyblog Seattle’s ballot in tomorrow’s Volleyball Magazine media poll:

WEEK NINE

AVCA Coaches		School (First Place votes)	Volleyblog Seattle
This Week	Last Week
1	3	Texas (44)	3
2	4	Penn St (12)	2
3	6	Washington (4)	1
4	1	Southern Cal	4
5	2	Florida	9
6	7	Stanford	6
7	10	Minnesota	5
8	9	Hawai’i	12
9	11	San Diego	16
10	5	Michigan St	13
11	18	Missouri	7
12	12	Colorado St	10
13	8	Nebraska	14
14	13	North Carolina	8
15	14	Kentucky	17
16	15	Wisconsin	15
17	16	Michigan	NR
18	19	Florida St	18
19	20	BYU	11
20	21	Oregon	NR
21	25	Purdue	NR
22	23	Kansas	NR
23	24	Duke	19
24	17	Ohio St	NR
25	NR	Arizona	NR
	22	Arizona St	NR
	NR	Central Arkansas	20

Others Receiving Votes and appearing on two or more AVCA ballots: Creighton 63; Arizona State 50; Oklahoma 44; UCLA 26; California 20; Cal State Northridge 10; Illinois 9; Western Kentucky 9; Ohio 8; Miami (FL) 7; Northwestern 7; St. Mary's (CA) 6; Iowa State 4

see also: What we learned from Washingtonvolleyball’s win over Stanford

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Photos courtesy Shutter Geeks Photography