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

Why wasn't Washington's Cassie Strickland named Pac-12 Libero of the Year? 

College | Pac-12 volleyball nonconference season opens against opponents big and small

#7 Washington goes 3-0 but #8 USC makes biggest splash | Seattle U gets big win

Washington's Cassie Strickland and Tia Scambray
-2014 file photo courtesy Shutter Geeks Photography

In Pac-12 volleyball, nothing is more imbalanced than the first four weeks.

On the one hand, schools like #8 USC and #2 Stanford traditionally seek out several top national opponents to tune up for the tough conference schedule. This year, USC matches up with—among others—#18 North Carolina, #12 BYU, #10 Kentucky, Creighton and Pepperdine, all front-line opponents. Stanford’s schedule includes #1 Penn State, #18 North Carolina, #6 Illinois, Duke, Minnesota and Texas A&M, perhaps the toughest nonconference lineup in the country.

All across the Pac-12, teams try to schedule at least one marquee matchup. #16 Arizona has #3 Texas and #22 Ohio State; #15 Arizona State has #6 Illinois and #9 Colorado State; #21 Colorado faces #1 Penn State, #6 Illinois and #14 Florida State; #11 Oregon takes on Florida and Nebraska, both tied at #4. And so on.

On the other end of the spectrum, both #7 Washington and unranked Washington State have scheduled teams that finished the 2014 season with relatively modest RPIs. Neither has an attention-grabbing opponent during the first four weeks, and the Huskies could enter the Pac-12 part of the season without being seriously tested.

In the Pac-12, scheduling philosophies fall into three general categories:

1. Get tough. Some coaches (USC’s Mick Haley, Stanford’s John Dunning) want their teams to face adversity early. Defeating opponents with high RPIs pays off at tournament time, when RPI helps determine which 16 teams get to host the first two rounds. Fans, of course, enjoy seeing top teams from other parts of the country.
2. Start slowly. Some coaches figure that success during the Pac-12 part of the schedule is what matters most, and all but ignore RPI implications. These coaches treat early season matchups essentially as part of extended preseason training, even if fans have little to look forward to. This season, Washington’s home nonconference schedule includes Buffalo (2014 RPI: 173), Murray State (114), two matches against Cal State Northridge (46) and St. Mary’s (162). None of those teams is currently ranked; Murray State is 3-0, St. Mary’s is 2-1, Buffalo and Cal State Northridge are both 0-3.
3. Play ‘em if only they’d come. Many Pac-12 teams travel across the country to face schools from other top conferences. But, with few exceptions, other power conference teams refuse to head out west, where they almost always lose.

Over the weekend, UW earned three sweeps in the annual Northwest Challenge, easily defeating Gonzaga, Portland State and Boise State. Three sophomore hitters—Courtney Schwan (4.0 kills per set, .444) Tia Scambray (3.3 kps, .300) and Crissy Jones (3.0 kps, .440) were the offensive stars across the three matches. Senior middle Melanie Wade had a hand in 16 blocks (1.78 blocks per set), while senior setter Katy Beals and sophomore setter Bailey Tanner each tallied 4 aces. Senior libero Cassie Strickland had a stellar weekend, averaging 4.38 digs per set. As a team, UW outhit its three opponents .363 to .132.

USC was the weekend’s biggest winner, defeating both North Carolina and 2014 National runner-up BYU at Galen Center. Trojan All-American Samantha Bricio led the way, averaging 5.80 kills per set, and was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week. It's all the more impressive considering USC snuck into the NCAAs last season with a 16-16 record, and saw All-American Ebony Nwanebu transfer to Texas in the offseason.

Stanford was without a star of its own: All-American Inky Ajanaku is out for the season with a knee injury. Even so, the Cardinal swept both Texas A&M and Minnesota, as senior Jordan Burgess averaged 4.0 kps. Haley Hodson was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week after averaging 3.17 kps.

Colorado lost to #23 San Diego, then upset #14 Florida State. The Buffs also defeated Oklahoma, dropping the Sooners to 0-3. Washington will play Oklahoma in Norman in three weeks, and the Sooners were thought to be the toughest team on UW’s nonconference schedule.

In Berkeley, Seattle U (3-0) raised eyebrows with a 3-0 sweep of California (2-1). Jelena Vujcin had a big weekend for the Redhawks, averaging 3.33 kps. Including 9 against the Golden Bears.

Pac-12 schools suffered other early losses. Oregon State, coming off its best season in a decade, lost to both Wichita State and #17 Hawai’i. Utah lost to Lipscomb, a team with a 2014 RPI of 39, just behind the Utes’ 37. UCLA lost 3-0 to Loyola Marymount (44 RPI in 2014.) Washington State lost to Radford before sweeping both Elon and East Tennessee State.

NOTES:

• In 2001, Jim McLaughlin started his Washington tenure by going 1-2 that first weekend, beating Purdue, but losing to BYU and Texas. This past weekend, McLaughlin started his Notre Dame career by going 1-2, beating Middle Tennessee State, but losing to Bowling Green and Cleveland State. Over three matches, the Fighting Irish have been out-hit .251-.196. The Notre Dame roster includes just one senior and two juniors.
• The USA Women’s National Team is now 6-1 in World Cup play, and has taken the overall lead in the 12-team race for two 2016 Olympic berths. The most recent matches—against Peru, Algeria, Kenya and Argentina—have all been 3-0 blowouts. In three sets, Algeria managed just 14 total points (25-7, 25-2, 25-5). USA’s final four matches are against Cuba (2-5), Russia (6-1), Japan (6-1) and Dominican Republic (4-3)
• Congratulations to Brooke Niles and Karolina Sowala, women’s winners of the National Volleyball League’s Seattle Championships over the weekend at rainy/windy Alki Beach. Dave Palm and Eric Zaun won the men’s title.

College | Washington volleyball ranks high in preseason polls

Coaches predict Huskies will finish 3rd in Pac-12, #10 in first national AVCA poll

Third team All-American Lianna Sybeldon will be a Washington senior in 2015
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

Volleyball coaches like Washington’s chances in 2015.

In the annual preseason Pac-12 coaches’ poll, Washington finished third, behind Stanford and Arizona State. Stanford got 11 first-place votes, Washington got the other top nod. Because coaches cannot vote for their own teams in this poll, we know Stanford’s John Dunning picked UW for the top spot, and that Washington’s Keegan Cook joined every other coach in choosing Stanford. Stanford will be without All-American middle blocker Inky Ajanaku, out for the season with a knee injury sustained while playing with the US National Team this summer in Peru. (see: Stanford volleyball All-American Inky Ajanaku injured.)

In the first weekly AVCA national coaches’ Top 25 poll, Washington is ranked #10. Penn State is #1 and Stanford #2. Other Pac-12 teams include #13 Oregon, #16 Arizona State, #17 Arizona, #20 UCLA, #22 USC, #23 Utah and #24 Colorado. Oregon State is not in the top 25, but received enough votes to rank #29. Only two Pac-12 schools—California and Washington State—did not receive votes.

Over the past two seasons, the Huskies have won a combined 63 of their past 69 matches, losing just twice each season to Pac-12 foes (once at Stanford, once at Utah, twice at Colorado). The other two losses were to eventual national champion Penn State in the 2013 NCAA Final Four, and to Nebraska in the 2014 NCAA Round of 16.

AVCA Week 1 Poll			Pac-12 Preseason Poll
1	Penn State (54)		1	Stanford (11)
2	Stanford (6)		2	Arizona St
3	Texas (1)		3	Washington (1)
4	Florida		4	Oregon
T-5	Nebraska		5	USC
T-5	Wisconsin (1)		6	Colorado
7	North Carolina		7	Arizona
8	Illinois		8	UCLA
9	Florida St		9	Oregon St
10	Washington		10	Utah
11	BYU		11	California
12	Colorado St		12	Washington St
13	Oregon
14	Ohio State
15	Kentucky
16	Arizona St
17	Arizona
18	Hawai'i
19	Michigan St
20	UCLA
21	Iowa St
22	USC
23	Utah
24	Colorado
25	Duke

College | Washington volleyball will be on the road to start & end Pac-12 season

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• #21 Duke vs. #23 Hawai’i | Fri, Dec 5 | 5PM | Alaska Airlines Arena
• New Hampshire @ #3 Washington | Fri, Dec 5 | 7PM | Alaska Airlines Arena
• NCAA Second Round | Sat, Dec 6 | 7PM | Alaska Airlines Arena

College | Top 5 reasons to see Oregon @ Washington volleyball in person this Friday

Ducks visit Seattle for first time in two years; have done damage in the past

• #11 Oregon at #2 Washington | Fri, Nov 7 | 7:30PM
• Oregon State at #2 Washington | Sun, Nov 9 | 5PM

College | Washington volleyball on record run, will fans respond?

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• #11 Oregon at #2 Washington | Fri, Nov 7 | 7:30PM
• Oregon State at #2 Washington | Sun, Nov 9 | 5PM

College | Washington volleyball’s Sybeldon and Scambray jump high, hit hard

Power hitters key win in Pac-12 opener

#4 Washington def. Washington State 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-15)

• Western Washington @ Seattle Pacific | Thu, Sept. 25 | 7:30PM
• #4 Washington @ California | Fri, Sept. 26 | 8PM | Pac-12 Networks
• Simon Fraser @ Seattle Pacific | Sat, Sept. 27 | 7:30PM

College | Pac-12 volleyball teams establish preseason dominance

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• Seattle University @ #5 Washington | 7PM | September 11

Pac-12 | Washington will play Stanford and Cal just once each in 2014

• Cal will not visit Seattle and Washington will not travel to Stanford in 2014

NCAA | Final Four redux: Washington volleyball to host Wisconsin in 2014 preseason

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Pac-12 | What we learned from Washington volleyball’s win over USC

The game within the game: service risk/reward pays off for just one team

• #3 Washington def. #4 USC 3-1 (25-15, 21-25, 25-21, 25-17)
• next: #3 Washington @ #6 Stanford | November 20 | 7:30PM | Pac 12 Networks

Pac-12 | Washington volleyball's Lianna Sybeldon named player of the week

Sophomore middle blocker helps lead Huskies to wins over UCLA and USC

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

Pac12 | Washington volleyball’s Krista Vansant named Player of the Week yet again

Junior outside hitter named Pac-12’s best defensive player after victories over California and Stanford

Pac-12 | Volleyball power rankings for week eight

Is the Pac-12 title chase now a three-way race?

• next: #7 Stanford @ #6 Washington | 4:30PM |October 20

With the fourth week of conference play now underway (Washington defeated Cal Wednesday night,) the Pac-12 race is showing signs of becoming a 3-way race.

Washington's Kaleigh Nelson (6) attacks line in Sunday's 3-0 sweep of Arizona State
-Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann

The six matches between USC, Washington and Stanford are always dynamite, never more so than what could be in store this season. Only one of those matches has already been played; the second is this Sunday in Seattle. The lineup:

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

Stanford @ Washington is clearly the biggest conference match this week. One big question will be whether the unusual start time—Sunday at 4:30PM—will damper what is traditionally one of the largest Huskies’ home crowds of the season. The other notable match could be USC @ Arizona State.

WEEK EIGHT PAC-12 POWER RANKINGS …

		CONF	ALL
1	USC	6-0	16-1	Trojans looked like the nation’s top team as they swept the Oregon schools; can either Arizona team dent SC’s armor?
2	Washington	6-1	14-1	Huskies now 3-0 at home after smart win against enigmatic Cal; Stanford on Sunday will be biggest test so far
3	Stanford	5-1	12-3	Cards’ only three losses are to the #1, #2 & #3 teams in the nation (USC, Fla, Tex). Can they prevail against #6 UW?
4	Arizona	3-3	11-4	‘Cats put up a good fight in Seattle, then get an Evergreen split in Pullman … but barely. LA schools are next and UCLA is desperate.
5	Utah	3-3	14-4	Utes recover nicely from Stanford shellacking to earn first conference road win of the season at Cal. Can they beat Ducks?
6	California	3-4	10-6	Bears suffer brutal home loss to Utah, then miss a week of class to lose @ UW and sightsee in the NW (WSU match not ‘til Sat PM)
7	Colorado	3-3	11-5	Buffs were 3-1 at home, then lost 2 straight in the Bay Area. Can they get a road win in the Willamette Valley?
8	Oregon	3-3	10-6	Ducks recovered from early Bruins trouble, but were outclassed by SC. No longer among elite without another pin hitter.
9	Arizona St	2-4	13-5	Disastrous week in Washington, especially the loss at WSU. Once a contender, trying now not to be pretenders.
10	Washington St	2-4	14-3	Cougs would love to replay the Ariz 5th set … just a few unforced errors away from what could have been a big home sweep.
11	UCLA	1-5	10-6	Bruins finally get a conference win, but it takes five to beat Beavs. A split in the desert may not be enough to save season.
12	Oregon St	0-6	9-8	Beavers battle, that’s for sure. Someone will lose to this team; might it be either Utah or Colorado?

And for those of you keeping tabs of the all-important road wins/home losses:

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

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

NOTES:

• Despite hitting just .062, #10 Minnesota sent #5 Michigan State to only its second loss of the season Thursday night, and its first conference loss in the Big Ten. The score in Minneapolis was 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 24-26, 25-22, 15-17) in a match that featured 32 hitting errors by Minnesota, and 40 by Michigan State. The Spartans were particularly hurt by their 15 service errors, many at crucial moments.