Final Four: Lessons from the semifinals

SAN ANTONIO—No conference has had as much volleyball success as the Pac-12. But the last time a Pac-12 team won the national title was 2005 … right here in San Antonio … when Washington rolled over favored Nebraska. Since then, Washington, Stanford, Cal, USC and UCLA have all reached the Final Four, but Nebraska won in 2006, and Penn State gave the Big Ten bragging rights the last four years in a row.

USC's Kendall Bateman signals while Illinois' Michelle Bartsch looks through the net
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Illinois would like to repeat that feat, but they’ll have to get by the Bruins. Thursday night, UCLA thoroughly outplayed Florida State, a team which might have a hard time finishing higher than seventh in the Pac-12 (note to the NCAA Selection Committee: here’s further proof that the 16 teams you seeded included a lot of teams that you overrated—including Florida State.) If Washington hadn’t stumbled at Minnesota, it would not seem much of a stretch to see them beating both Iowa State and Florida State and making it a three-Pac-12 final.

UCLA’s strength was its speed. Outside hitter Rachael Kidder has the quickest arm of any player among the four teams in San Antonio; she often hits around the block instead of trying to tool blockers. Even when sets were poor—particularly when they were too far outside, Kidder found ways to direct sharp-angled kills rather than toss across free balls. On the right side, Kelly Reeves hit line with confidence throughout the first set, forcing FSU’s middle blockers to cover more ground than they could handle. Tabi Love is simply a pounder—she does best when setter Lauren Van Orden receives a perfect pass, and everyone in the building knows Love is simply going to cock her arm and smash. Unlike the other Bruins, Love is not terribly agile, and UCLA can sometimes get stuck in a bad rotation if Love has to hit out of transition, rather than getting time to retreat to her full approach.

Kidder’s quickness allows UCLA to launch faster, lower sets. Illinois, on the other hand, sends up soaring sets, and allows its powerful senior outside hitters Colleen Ward and Michelle Bartsch to swing away. The best way to slow that strategy is to serve tough and keep the Illini on their heels. USC kept it close throughout the match, largely on the strength of libero Natalie Hagglund’s defense and setter Kendall Bateman’s distribution. But it took a long time for All-American outside hitter Alex Jupiter to get into a groove; in the end, her poor passing, erratic serving and spotty defense gave Illinois too many free ball opportunities. Like any great team, the Illini never stopped hitting as hard as they could for as long as they could, which usually spells victory in a clash between two top teams.

Illinois is impressive. But given that their two most dominant players—Ward and Bartsch—are both seniors, those of us who follow the Pac-12 have to wonder: where was this team the past couple of years? With hitters that strong and confident, how did they manage to avoid the Final Four so long?

Saturday’s championship match will likely come down to that most basic of skills: serving and serve-receive. Whichever setter gets the most in-system opportunities will allow her team to prevail.

Final Four: Illinois defeats USC

SAN ANTONIO--It was one of the best Final Four matches of the past ten seasons.

In a heavyweight battle between elite teams from the Pac-12 and the Big-Ten, it all came down to which All-American could soar highest: USC's Alex Jupiter, or Illinois' Colleen Ward.

In the end, it was one of the longest and most exciting points--a rally that seemed to last forever--that allowed Illinois to earn a 15-10 fifth set victory, and a date against another Pac-12 team in the finals.

Illinois will now face UCLA Saturday night for the NCAA Division 1 title.

USC blocks against Illinois
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Final Four: USC forces a fifth set

SAN ANTONIO--Colleen Ward is the real deal. The Illinois outside hitter is calling for the ball and hitting as hard as she can. USC hasn't stopped her yet.

USC's Kendall Bateman and Natalie Hagglund continue to dazzle. And now that teammate Alex Jupiter has finally been putting the ball away, USC won the fourth set 25-18..

It was an impressive performance, especially after the Trojans collapsed at the end of the third set, giving up the final six points.

Illinois blockers face USC's attack
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Final Four: USC/Illinois in titanic battle

SAN ANTONIO--Illinois looks like--dare I say this?--a Pac-12 team.

As slow and uncertain as Florida State looked against UCLA, the Illini have the quickness and athleticism we see week in/week out in the Pac-12.

USC's All-American Alex Jupiter is off to a very slow start, committing serve and receive errors, and failing to get her attacks to hit the floor. By contrast, her teammate Lauren Williams is virtually unstoppable, hitting quicks with power and confidence. The Trojans' defense has been stellar, with Natalie Hagglund showing why she's the nation's best libero this season. (Props to outside hitter Sara Shaw for an otherworldly save in the first set at 23-22.

Illinois' defense has been equally sensational. Lots of tall, strong players on this team, and they know how to play the back row. Senior outside hitter Colleen Ward has been unstoppable since halfway through the first set; her arm is as quick as UCLA's Rachel Kidder.

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?  

All Pac-12: Rowland, Vansant, Ross

Bianca Rowland & Krista Vansant
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Washington's Krista Vansant was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, and senior Bianca Rowland was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference first team today.

Vansant was also named All-Conference Honorable Mention. Outside hitter Summer Ross was honorable mention for the Freshman team.

USC swept all the other major awards: Mick Haley, coach of the year, Alex Jupiter, player of the year, Kendall Bateman, setter of the year, and Natalie Hagglund, libero of the year.

From where we sit, two players on the All-Conference honorable mention team belonged instead on the First Team: Correy Johnson and Robin Rostratter, both of Cal.

Summer Ross should have been on the All-Freshman team. Hitters are too often evaluated only for their hitting, but Ross is an exceptional server, passer and blocker, and she played nearly every single second of the season.

Lauren Barfield--one of the nation's top blockers and a vastly improved hitter--deserved Honorable Mention consideration.

The Pac-12 press release and full list of honorees: Pac-12 Postseason Honors Announced

Huskies, Bruins & Trojans atop conference & national stats

After last weekend’s scramble—in both the Pac-12 and nationally—the Washington Huskies have a chance to gain ground on the conference leaders.

UCLA and USC each have two losses; Washington, Cal and Stanford each have four. If the Huskies can manage a sweep, they’ll inch ever closer to the top of the nation’s toughest conference.

All five schools are nationally ranked in the top 10: #1 UCLA, #3 Stanford, #4 USC, #7 Cal & #10 Washington. Naturally, those schools also dominate the conference team and individual stats.

Washington leads in three team categories: Opponent Hitting Percentage, Blocks and Service Aces. USC is tops in Hitting Percentage and Kills. Overall, the top four in every team category includes the Huskies, Bruins and/or Trojans:

Nationally (318 Division 1 teams), Washington is first in blocks/set and 17^th in aces/set. USC is 5^th and UCLA 13^th in assists/set. The Trojans are 4^th and the Bruins are 17^th in kills/set. USC is 7^th in hitting percentage. For some reason, the NCAA doesn’t report opponent hitting percentage, but Washington is undoubtedly in the top ten, if not the national leader. It certainly leads all other ranked teams:

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?

USC 3, Washington 0 | First impressions

Both coaches shook up their third set lineups … by switching their OH1s. Kylin Munoz, hitting almost exclusively cross-court, was being dug over and over by libero Natalie Hagglund; Jim McLaughlin inserted Kaleigh Nelson, hoping she’d hit line. Alex Jupiter continued to struggle for the Trojans, so coach Mick Haley moved her to the right side. Neither was much of a factor; Jupiter hit just .097 for the match, with 6 hitting errors.

The star of the match was Hagglund (30 digs), who kept attack after attack from hitting the floor. UW’s libero, Jenna Orlandini, had a stellar match with 19 digs, but simply could not match Hagglund. Sara Shaw and Katie Fuller each had 15 kills.

For Washington, middle blocker Lauren Barfield emerged as a force, with 7 kills and just 1 error (.400) and smart play and leadership around the net. The Huskies need to work on the timing between setter Evan Sanders and MB Bianca Rowland. And the serving was not clutch: 10 errors for the Huskies, many at crucial times.

Also in the Pac-12:

USC @ Washington: at the 2nd set break

USC leads 2-0 (25-20, 28-26).

Lots of nerves in the first set, as SC missed 5 serves, UW 4. The Trojans committed 6 hitting errors to 7 for the Huskies (4 by Vansant); both teams hit far below their season averages (UW just .024)

Both teams were tipping; SC did a better job picking it up.

The difference? SC was digging tough, especially on back row attacks by Munoz and Vansant.

In the second set, both teams reduced hitting errors, but service nerves continued. Alex Jupiter, the Trojans’ All-American outside hitter, has been no factor: 4 kills, 4 errors on 19 swings.

The standout player on the court for me is USC libero Natalie Hagglund. She has 22 digs, many on crushing attacks by Vansant and Rowland.

Also in progress around the Pac-12: