Pac-12 | Washington’s 2013 conference volleyball season begins on the road

Pac-12 finally releases schedule

The first Pac-12 volleyball match of 2013 won’t arrive on the Washington campus until almost mid-October, barely ten weeks before Seattle’s Key Arena hosts the 2013 NCAA Final Four.

As we reported last week, Washington plays just 8 nonconference matches this season, only three at home. The home conference schedule doesn’t get underway until October 11.

The Huskies, 25-7 last season (with an RPI of 14 and a national ranking of 9), will start the 2013 Pac-12 season with trips to Pullman, Eugene, Boulder and Salt Lake City:

WASHINGTON VOLLEYBALL 2013

		PACIFIC TIME		2012 RPI	2012 W-L
NONCONFERENCE
Fri	Aug 30	TBA	Boise St	141	17-15	Portland
Sat	Aug 31	TBA	Gonzaga	182	9-20	Portland
Sat	Aug 31	TBA	Portland St	77	21-11	Portland
Tue	Sep 3	7PM	Seattle U	227	9-19	Seattle (UW)
Fri	Sep 13	7PM	Illinois	37	14-16	Champaign, IL
Sun	Sep 15	3PM	Loyola Chicago	174	17-12	Chicago, IL
Thu	Sep 19	7PM	Coppin St	285	11-14	Seattle
Fri	Sep 20	7PM	Cal St Northridge	76	21-10	Seattle
PAC-12 CONFERENCE
Wed	Sep 25	7:30PM	@ WSU	129	13-19	Pullman
Fri	Sep 27	8PM	@ Oregon	4	30-5	Eugene
Fri	Oct 4	6PM	@ Colorado	111	14-18	Boulder
Sat	Oct 5	TBA	@ Utah	82	14-19	Salt Lake City
Fri	Oct 11	8PM	Arizona	53	16-15	Seattle
Sun	Oct 13	3PM	ASU	42	20-14	Seattle
Wed	Oct 16	7:30PM	California	40	15-16	Seattle
Sun	Oct 20	4:30PM	Stanford	1	30-4	Seattle
Fri	Oct 25	8PM	@ UCLA	8	23-8	Los Angeles
Sun	Oct 27	5PM	@ USC	11	30-6	Los Angeles
Fri	Nov 1	7PM	Utah			Seattle
Sun	Nov 3	3PM	Colorado			Seattle
Fri	Nov 8	TBA	@ ASU			Tempe
Sun	Nov 10	11AM	@ Arizona			Tucson
Wed	Nov 13	TBA	UCLA			Seattle
Fri	Nov 15	TBA	USC			Seattle
Wed	Nov 20	TBA	@ Stanford			Palo Alto
Fri	Nov 22	TBA	@ California			Berkeley
Wed	Nov 27	TBA	OSU	63	14-18	Seattle
Fri	Nov 29	8PM	WSU			Seattle
NCAA TOURNAMENT
Thu- Sat	Dec 5/7	TBA	NCAA 1st/2nd Round
Fri- Sat	Dec 13/14	TBA	NCAA Regionals			USC, Nebr., Kentucky, Ill.
Thu- Sat	Dec 19/21	TBA	NCAA Championships			Seattle Key Arena

A few observations:

• As we reported last week, Oregon will not play in Seattle for the first time in 37 seasons. The Pac-12’s unbalanced schedule means the Huskies will play their Northwest rival (and 2012 NCAA Finalist) just once—in Eugene. Washington also plays Oregon State just once—November 27 in Seattle.
• 16 of Washington’s 20 conference matches will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
• The four matches not on the Pac-12 Network schedule include both contests (home and away) against Utah, the home match against Oregon State and a road match at Arizona State. ASU beat Washington last season, and is our early pick to finish in the top half of the conference standings. The ASU blackout is due to the Pac-12 Network’s decision to broadcast men’s preseason basketball that week. Basketball also bumps Oregon @ USC off the tube this season.
• To accommodate television, Washington will play five Wednesday matches this season. Last season, weekday match attendance was poor throughout the league, especially 8PM contests that were the second match of televised doubleheaders. Washington has five late matches on the schedule so far, with several more possible.
• To avoid conflicts with football, Washington plays five Sunday matches. The first home weekend of the conference season corresponds with a huge Oregon @ Washington football game that Saturday, October 12, so the volleyball matches against the Arizona schools are Friday/Sunday.
• Speaking of football and attendance, volleyball fans can look forward to a much easier commute this season, as Husky Stadium’s renovation will finally be complete, freeing parking spaces and allowing better traffic and pedestrian flow.
• Last season, the Pac-12 was by far the strongest conference, with five teams among the top 14 in RPI (#1 Stanford, #4 Oregon, #8 UCLA, #11 USC & #14 Washington) and those same five teams among the top 13 in the final AVCA coaches’ poll (#2 Oregon, #4 Stanford, #6 USC, #9 Washington & #13 UCLA). In 2013, Washington will face the four California schools in succession—twice.

Washington coach Jim McLaughlin’s reaction to the schedule will have to wait. He and the Huskies are currently on a two-week tour of Slovenia and Italy. See Terry Wood's report in Sunday's Seattle Times.