Professional | 11 Washington alums playing pro volleyball overseas

Post-college volleyball careers now part of elite players’ job options

NCAA | Washington, Nebraska coaches almost came to blows last time they met

A 2010 confrontation between Washington’s Jim McLaughlin and Nebraska’s John Cook set the sports world buzzing. On the eve of a rematch, McLaughlin expresses regret.

by Jack Hamann, Volleyblog Seattle

Special to the Seattle Times

Assistant coaches step between Nebraska's John Cook and
Washington's Jim McLaughlin on December 10, 2010 in Seattle
-Omaha World-Herald photo by Matt Miller

They should, you would think, be two mellow dudes.

Nebraska coach John Cook grew up playing volleyball on San Diego beaches. Up the coast in Santa Monica, future Washington coach Jim McLaughlin was rippin’ waves and setting quicks.

Both married athletes. As acclaimed coaches, both won multiple championships. Neither has ever been terribly comfortable in the spotlight.

But on December 10, 2010, the two former beach boys kicked sand in the face of the volleyball world by doing something totally gnarly.

They nearly came to blows.

Read the rest of the story in the December 5, 2012 Sports section of The Seattle Times, in print or online. Feel free to comment on both the Seattle Times site and/or on Volleyblog Seattle.  

Team USA defeats Italy, earns 2012 Olympic berth

Team USA, the US Women's National Volleyball Team, earned an Olympic berth today with a 3-1 World Cup victory over previously undefeated Italy. The set scores were 25-23, 25-15, 22-25, 25-21.

Former University of Washington libero Tama Miyashiro is on the Team USA World Cup roster. She did not play in the Italy match, but has seen playing time during the 11-match round-robin tournament.

Team USA celebrates it's earning of a 2012 Olympic berth at the World Cup in Toyko's Yoyogi National Stadium
Former University of Washington libero Tama Miyashiro is at the far left, in blue and white.

Team USA and Italy both have 9-1 records in World Cup play. USA can win the gold medal with a 3- or 4-set victory over host Japan on Friday. The top three finishers at the tournament earn the first three bids to the 2012 Olympic Summer Games in London.

Several former Washington Huskies have been competing for a spot on the 2012 Olympic team, including Miyashiro, setter Courtney Thompson, setter Jenna Haglund, and outside hitters Becky Perry, Jill Collymore and Kindra Carlson. Those on the expanded roster spend part of each year training in Anaheim; many also sign professional contracts to play in Europe or Asia. At this point, Miyashiro would seem to have the best chance of the former UW players to earn a spot on the Olympic roster, with Thompson also a possibility. Thompson saw substantial playing time recently leading the USA to a Pan Am Games bronze medal.

SEE: USA Volleyball report about today's victory over Italy.

Breaking Down UW’s Colorado/Utah sweep

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It was getting ugly.

It was the third set; Utah’s Chelsey Schofield blocked a Bianca Rowland slide attack, knotting the score at 4. During the next rally, Barfield and setter Evan Sanders failed to connect. Barfield pushed a weak shot across the net, extending the rally.

But Utah couldn’t convert, opening the door for a Krista Vansant kill.

It was Kelcey Dunaway’s turn to serve. Last season, like this season, she was third on a middle blocker depth chart that has room for just two starters. But last season, she was a designated server, notching 25 aces, second-best (tonow-graduated Kindra Carlson) on the team. This season, she stood mostly on the sidelines, as Bianca Rowland stayed in to serve.

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But the night before, against Colorado, Rowland missed three serves. And in the first two set against Utah, she missed three more.

“And Kelcey came up to me,” said Washington Coach Jim McLaughlin after the match, “and said, ‘Jim, I’m ready if you need me.’ And I love it when somebody says that.”

“I know that my serve is just as good as it was last season,” Dunaway said, “and I knew it had actually gotten better.”

From 12 feet behind the service line, Dunaway tossed the ball—not too high, no too far—and hit it squarely in the middle, with her right arm as high as it could reach. The ball sailed without any rotation, and knuckled to the upper arms of Utah’s Morgan Odale. The near-perfect float serve was almost impossible to pass, and the Utes were instantly out of system. They gift-wrapped an easy return to the Huskies, and Vansant soon had her second kill in a row. The score was 6-4 Washington.

Dunaway’s second serve was the same, and so was the result: Three in a row for Vansant. Then four in a row. Then six Vansant kills out of seven points. In all, Dunaway served nine in a row, forcing Utah to spend both of its timeouts. By the time the Utes finally scored on a tip, it was 13-5, and the match was all but over.

Kelcey Dunaway serves against Utah during a nine-point second-set run
[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

“It was nice,” said Dunaway, “I miss serving. I really like it.”

* * *

Every team in the Pac-12 attracts top-shelf athletes … and that includes the two newcomers, Colorado and Utah. The Utes played good defense, holding the Huskies to a .183 average for the match, a number inflated by UW’s .400 clip in the third set.

Huskies high in national stat rankings

The University of Washington doesn’t have a single starting server this season employing a booming jump serve (think Jill Collymore in 2009 or Kindra Carlson in 2010). Every time one of the Huskies steps to the service line, opponents can expect a jump float, usually a flat knuckleball to the deep corners. Washington’s three outside hitters—Summer Ross, Kylin Muñoz and Krista Vansant—lead the team in aces.

It must be working. Washington has the highest aces per set average of any Division 1 team in the nation. UW has dialed up 65 aces in 31 sets, a 2.1 ace/set average. No other Pac-12 team ranks in the top fifty nationally.

The Huskies can also hit and block. The team is hitting .308, good for fourth nationally (trailing only Michigan State, Hawai’i and Cal.) Washington also averages 2.95 blocks per set, the ninth-best number in the country.

The NCAA doesn’t report rankings for opponents’ hitting percentage, but the Pac-12 website lists Washington second only to Cal. The Huskies hold opponents to a meager .123.

Washington's Kelly Holford serves during a scrimmage
[Volleyblog Seattle video screen shot by Leslie Hamann]