College | Washington volleyball's Lianna Sybeldon honored (twice)

UW senior is First Team All-American for both AVCA and Volleyball Magazine 

• Tonight | 4:30PM (Pacific) | #3 Texas vs. #4 Nebraska | National Championship 

College | At last, Washington volleyball's Cassie Strickland earns a big postseason honor

UW senior libero wins an award no Husky athlete has ever won before 

College | All-American slights and other Final Four musings

Washington libero Cassie Strickland deserves to be an AVCA All-American 

• Tonight | 4:00PM (Pacific) | #9 Kansas vs. #4 Nebraska | ESPN2 
• Tonight | 6:30PM (Pacific) | #3 Texas vs. #2 Minnesota | ESPN2 

College | Once again, Nebraska ends a stellar Washington volleyball season

How an unexpectedly successful season came to a sudden end 

• #5 Nebraska def. #1 Washington 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-20, 25-21) 

College | Washington volleyball seniors lead the way to the Elite 8

Sybeldon, Wade, Strickland and Beals book another dance with Nebraska 

• #1 Washington def. #14 Ohio State 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 12-25, 15-8) 
• Dec 12 | 1PM (Pacific) | #1 Washington vs. #5 Nebraska | ESPNU 

College | Hot Washington volleyball will keep its cool in Lexington Regional

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College | 48 down, 16 to go, including Washington volleyball

How do the Huskies stack up against the remaining contenders? 

• Fri, Dec 11 | 4:30PM | #1 Washington vs. #14 Ohio State | ESPN 3 

College | Colorado fires head volleyball coach Liz Kritza

One of Pac-12's few female head coaches had success against Huskies 

College | Pac-12 Volleyball's Postseason Award system explained

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College | Washington volleyball dinged by tournament selection silliness

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• Fri | 5:00PM | Michigan St. vs. Arkansas St @ Alaska Airline Arena 
• Fri | 7:30PM | Denver @ #1 Washington 

College | Volleyball Tournament Selection Sunday | Where will Washington wind up?

Pac-12 co-champs will find out where they stand tonight

Today | 6PM | ESPNU 

College | It was an ugly volleyball match, but Washington will take it

Huskies find a way to win; DeHoog surgery ends her season

• #2 Washington def. Oregon 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 29-27, 25-21)

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 avenges defeat by beating Stanford at home

Huskies’ balanced attack frustrates short-handed Cardinal

• #3 Washington def. #6 Stanford 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-15)

College | What will it take for Washington volleyball to beat Stanford?

Serving and passing are key, but defense could make the difference 

• THU | 8PM | #6 Stanford @ #3 Washington 

College | High or low, Washington volleyball has a big weekend

Huskies seniors go undefeated at home in four years of playing SoCal rivals 

• #5 Washington def. #8 UCLA 3-1 (25-20, 24-26, 25-15, 25-20) 

College | Washington volleyball lets a squeaker slip away in Stanford

Lianna Sybeldon has a big night, but, oh, that fourth set …

• #11 Stanford def. #4 Washington 3-2 (24-26, 25-19, 16-25, 25-20, 15-13)
• Fri, Oct 23 | 6:00PM | #4 Washington @ California

College | Washington volleyball has fun winning

Right-side power and relentless defense dooms Ducks

• #4 Washington def. #24 Oregon 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-16)
• Wed| October 21 | 7:30PM | #4 Washington @ #6 Stanford

College | In battle of unbeatens, Washington volleyball loses round one to USC

Destiny Julye has another big night, but it's not enough to overcome Samantha Bricio's 27 kills 

#2 USC def. #5 Washington 3-1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-21, 33-31) 

• Wed, Oct 7 | 7:30PM | #14 Arizona @ #5 Washington 
• Fri, Oct 9 | 7:00PM | #6 Arizona St @ #5 Washington 

Washington's Destiny Julye gets one of her 15 kills against USC's block
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

LOS ANGELES—In Mick Haley's opinion, Keegan Cook was gutsy. 

USC's legendary head coach was impressed when Washington's first-year coach scrambled his first set lineup at Galen Center Sunday afternoon. With his leading hitter, Courtney Schwan, sidelined after her ankle was injured during Friday's 3-0 victory at UCLA, Cook tried something new. He moved Crissy Jones from opposite to outside, and had Bailey Tanner hit opposite in the front row and set in the back row. "He (Cook) did something that probably most coaches wouldn't do," said Haley, admiringly.  

But the decision was a disaster. Jones struggled mightly in that first set—1 kill and 2 errors on 14 swings—as USC blew past UW 25-16. And so, as the second set began, Cook returned Jones to her usual opposite position, and inserted freshman Destiny Julye on the outside.  

Even more than she did Friday when she replaced the injured Schwan, Julye made an immediate impact. She recorded 6 kills and an big stuff block to lead Washington to a 25-22 second set win. "Keegan was very smart to go back to something more familiar to his players so they could play freely," said Haley.  

"I just told her to hit high and hit hard," said Cook. "She was really swinging." 

Washington's Cassie Strickland celebrates a point against USC
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

Facing undefeated USC--now the nation's number one team--on the Trojans' home court, Washington had much to be pleased about. Lianna Sybeldon had another strong match, tallying 10 kills, most with authority. Cassie Strickland was again alert and physical on defense, leading by example with 15 digs while exhorting her teammates to cover blocks with amazing success. Tanner was an effective hitter and an even better setter. 

But the USC match offered evidence of where Washington has room to improve. Serving and passing—both Huskies trademarks—were off their usual standards. In part, the Huskies tried to serve Samantha Bricio as much as possible, with mixed results. Although Bricio seemed to tire in the first set, she caught her second wind after the break, something Haley credits to Bricio's offseason weight training.

USC's Samantha Bricio had 27 kills and 3 service aces against Washington
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

Sybeldon and Melanie Wade, UW's outstanding middles, needed to be more involved in the offense as both Jones and Tia Scambray had sub-par performances. Cook said that Wade, in particular, should have gotten more than 14 sets. 

Last season's 2014 team had few weaknesses, but in pressure situations, last year's hitters had a tendency to send across too-easy tips and roll shots when sets weren't perfect. Against USC Sunday, that same problem stepped in, as the Huskies seemed reluctant to try to tool blocks or hit high hands down the stretch. 

Except for Julye. The 5-11 freshman continued to blast away in the third and fourth set, eventually earning a team-high 15 kills. Even during one bad stretch in the fourth, she kept hitting hard, eventually landing more winners. Many were line shots off the block. "Julye really went off," Haley marveled. "She's really got to be tickled with her performance." 

Washington's Lianna Sybeldon tips over the USC block attempt
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann 

The fourth set brought full-throated roars from a USC crowd mixed with plenty of purple. A Julye kill tied it at 22; another Julye kill knotted it at 23. A barely-in Jones cross-court made it 26-26; and a Wade line-scraping slide brought it to 27-all. Trailing 29-30, Sybeldon sealed two consecutive blocks, first on Bricio and then on Alicia Ogoms. 

But the final three points went USC's way, on Bricio's 27th kill followed by two consecutive UW hitting errors. It handed Cook his first-ever loss as a head coach, and forces him to figure a way to extract lessons from defeat. Great teams, he said after the match, learn from adversity. Washington has plenty of potential adversity ahead, starting with undefeated Arizona State Friday night in Alaska Airlines Arena. 

And then there's USC. The Trojans will be in Seattle at the end of the month.   

NOTES 

• Courtney Schwan remained on crutches. She says her left ankle would be fully evaluated on her return to Seattle. 
• Only three teams remain undefeated in Division 1: USC, Arizona State and Kansas. Nebraska knocked off #1 Penn State in five sets Friday. On Sunday, Nebraska lost in five to Ohio State. 
• The US Women's National Team won the NORCECA tournament in Mexico, and will play for the North American slot at the Rio Olympics at a separate NORCECA tournament in January.