Pac-12 | Volleyball power rankings for week nine

Big Sunday showdown as conference reaches halfway marker (sort of)

• next: #3 Washington @ UCLA | 8PM |October 25 | Pac-2 Network

  

The first half of the conference season wraps up this weekend—sort of. Each team will have played 10 of the other 11 teams once, an imbalance created by the league’s decision to cut one week from the schedule. Washington, for example, plays Oregon and Oregon State just once each.

Washington's Melanie Wade (5) checks out Stanford's defense as the Cardinal prepare to serve.
-photo by Shutter Geeks Photography

The biggest matchup is Sunday in Los Angeles, as #3 Washington visits #4 USC. If the two teams can both win on Friday (USC vs. Washington State and Washington vs. UCLA), the match will be for first place. Two of the leading candidates for conference Player of the Year—the Huskies’ Krista Vansant and the Trojans’ Sam Bricio—will make this a must-see match.

Tonight, Oregon visits Stanford at 7:30PM in the Pac-12 Networks’ weekly Wednesday night game. The Ducks have already lost to Washington and USC; a loss tonight would make the regular-season title all but out-of-reach. First team All-American Lauren Plum could be back in action for Oregon, and Liz Brenner should be fired up against the Cards.

After upsetting USC on Sunday, Arizona entered the AVCA poll at #25. ‘Cats could be for real if they can get past Utah and Colorado, two teams that have proven tough to beat at home.

WEEK NINE PAC-12 POWER RANKINGS …

		CONF	ALL
1	Washington	7-1	15-1	Huskies not acting cocky after beating Cards; McLaughlin knows there are many tests ahead, starting this weekend in LA
2	USC	7-1	17-2	Trojans lose focus in Tucson, should take it out Friday on the Cougs. Can they sustain on Sunday against Dogs?
3	Stanford	6-2	13-4	Cards’ only losses are to the #1, #3, #4 & #5 teams in the nation (Tex, Wash, SC, Fla). Lots of serve receive practice this week?
4	Arizona	5-3	13-4	‘Cats sweep USC despite nearly identical stats for both; now travel to Rockies where Buffs and Utes have been resilient at home
5	Oregon	5-3	12-6	Ducks showing some life, even without Lauren Plum. Could they actually be doing better without their All-American?
6	California	4-4	11-6	Bears’ long NW week ends on good note in Pullman; chance now to roast Ducks in Berkeley
7	Colorado	4-4	12-6	Buffs are 3-0 in Boulder, and 1-4 on the road. Happy to be home again for the Arizonas
8	Utah	4-4	15-5	Utes can’t overcome poor serve/pass performance against Plumless Ducks; matchup with struggling ASU could be entertaining
9	Washington St	2-6	14-5	Which unlucky team has to face USC at Galen after the Trojans’ embarrassing loss? Good luck with that, Cougs.
10	UCLA	2-6	11-7	Bruins win! But Bruins also lose! Which team shows up against Washington Friday?
11	Arizona St	2-6	13-7	Devils long, sad slide continues with a 5 match losing streak. Second-worst Pac-12 hitting % somehow owns best defensive %
12	Oregon St	0-8	9-10	Landmark: Beavs the first Pac-12 team to have an overall losing record. Well, at least they get a trip to the Bay Area this week.

5 teams are undefeated at home; Arizona will have to prove it’s for real by winning on the road:

	ROAD WINS			HOME LOSSES
USC	4		Washington	0
Washington	3		Stanford	0
Stanford	3		USC	0
Oregon	2		Colorado	0
California	2		Arizona	0
Utah	2		California	2
UCLA	2		Oregon	2
Arizona	1		Utah	2
Colorado	1		UCLA	2
Washington St	1		Arizona St	3
Arizona St	0		Washington St	4
Oregon St	0		Oregon St	6

And another Big Three matchup looms this weekend:

Oct 4	@ USC def. Stanford 3-1
Oct 20	@ Washington def. Stanford 3-2
Oct 27	Washington @ USC
Oct 30	USC @ Stanford
Nov 15	USC @ Washington
Nov 20	Washington @ Stanford

See also: What we learned from Washington volleyball’s win against Stanford

NOTES:

Seattle University—now tied for first in the Western Athletic Conference—has seen one of its players earn Player of the Week honors for the second week in a row. Last week, it was Iris Ivanis. This week, it’s fellow Croatia native Martina Samadan. Samadan had a monster week, averaging 4.27 kills and 1.36 blocks per set, hitting .545 and serving seven aces.

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Photos courtesy Shutter Geeks Photography