Comparing Washington and Western Michigan

WASHINGTON HUSKIES vs. WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS
University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion, Minneapolis
2:30PM (Pacific) - Friday, December 2, 2011
Live coverage on the web: Gopher All-Access

Here’s your chance to compare the two teams side-by-side, first by team, then by position:

	WASHINGTON	WESTERN MICHIGAN
Matches played	30	31
Sets played	99	115
Overall record	23-7	23-8
Conference Record	(Pac-12) 15-7	12-4 (MAC)
Attack Pct.	.248	.236
Opponents’ Attack Pct.	.166	.190
Kills/Set	13.1	14.4
Opponents’ Kills/Set	12.0	13.1
Aces/Set	1.6	0.9
Opponents’ Aces/Set	0.7	0.7
Digs/Set	14.2	18.2
Opponents’ Digs/Set	16.1	16.4
Blocks/Set	3.2	1.9
Opponents’ Blocks/Set	1.8	1.7
Avg. home attendance	2,553	1,122
Wins vs. Tournament teams	UCLA Stanford Oregon Arizona (2) Long Beach St.	Cent. Michigan (2) Ball St. Liberty Morehead St Marquette UW-Milwaukee
Losses vs. Tournament teams	USC (2) California (2) UCLA Oregon	Cent. Michigan Ball St. Northern Illinois (2) North Carolina

				SETTERS
Evan Sanders							Terin Norris
6-0	SR		8.04	assists per set	11.40		RS FR	5-9
			1.76	digs per set	2.53
			22/28	aces/errors	13/39
Jenni Nogueras
5-11	SO		6.20	assists per set
			1.81	digs per set
			12/6	aces/errors
				HITTERS
Krista Vansant							Ali Gossen
6-2	FR		351/132	kills/errors	314/129		SO	6-0
			939	attempts	923
			.233	hitting pct.	.200
			2.35	digs per set	2.47
			48	blocks	49
			24/35	aces/errors	24/19
Kylin Muñoz							Gillian Asque
6-1	JR		272/92	kills/errors	269/112		SO	5-10
			791	attempts	740
			.228	hitting pct.	.212
			--	digs per set	--
			67	blocks	57
			--	aces/errors	--
Summer Ross							Carlee Berland
6-2	FR		158/55	kills/errors	143/57		FR	6-2
			496	attempts	242
			.208	hitting pct.	.356
			2.18	digs per set	0.47
			108	blocks	16
			25/24	aces/errors	--
Gabbi Parker							Claire Gerwig
6-0	SO		91/38	kills/errors	108/63		FR	6-0
			272	attempts	344
			.195	hitting pct.	.131
			--	digs per set	--
			17	blocks	16
			14/34	aces/errors	--
				MIDDLES
Bianca Rowland							Jessica Brown
6-0	SR		224/47	kills/errors	343/104		JR	5-11
			508	attempts	828
			.348	hitting pct.	.289
			147	blocks	82
			--	aces/errors	15/6
Lauren Barfield							Ashley Turnage
6-5	SR		161/42	kills/errors	312/89		SR	6-0
			358	attempts	663
			.332	hitting pct.	.336
			125	blocks	96
			--	aces/errors	--
				DEFENDERS
Jenna Orlandini							Lena Oliver
5-6	SO		4.51	digs per set	5.70		SO	5-5
			22	receive errors	18
			23/23	aces/errors	5/14
Kelly Holford							Kaycee Acree
5-9	JR		1.56	digs per set	2.64		FR	5-7
			4	receive errors	21
			--	aces/errors	31/33

[Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann]

Kalamazoo Gazette: Western Michigan's aggressive freshmen

 December 1, 2011

Western Michigan freshman volleyball players aggressive in pursuit of success

By Paul Morgan | Special to the Kalamazoo Gazette

KALAMAZOO — With just one senior and a bunch of new players, it was thought that Western Michigan University's volleyball team was a season away from being special.

Freshmen Claire Gerwig, Kaycee Acree and Carlee Berland weren't brought up that way, though. They wanted success now.

Kaycee Acree
[Kalamazoo Gazette]

"I come from a club (KIVA) and a high school team (Louisivlle, Ky., Assumption) where we expect to win championships," Gerwig said. "We don't accept anything else."

Acree, who played for national powerhouse club program Munciana, couldn't agree more.

"My club was always about winning championships, so coming to Western and hearing them talk about it was awesome," the defensive specialist said. "I didn't know how the freshmen would do, but I knew we would grow and get so much better."

The three first-year players have grown and contributed. Add in redshirt freshman setter Terin Norris, the MAC freshman of the year, along with freshman Richelle Ranney, a back-up middle blocker, and the Broncos seem set for years to come.

Western head coach Colleen Munson will see this weekend how the freshmen handle the pressure of the NCAA tournament. The Broncos, an at-large selection, play Washington at 5:30 p.m. on Friday at the University of Minnesota in a first-round match. A win would put them in Saturday's second round.

"When they came into the program, their eyes were wide open and they wanted to contribute right away," Munson said. "These kids haven't taken no for an answer.

"They've improved their game, their attitudes are very aggressive and they are independently confident in what they are doing."

Acree has proven to be solid in the backrow with sophomore Lena Oliver and junior Boo Sweeney. Western led the MAC in digs per set at 18.30. Oliver was tops on the team with 655 digs, Acree was next at 304 and Sweeney had 283.

Gerwig and Berland have been fighting over the number two leftside hitter spot all season. Berland has more kills, 143, but Gerwig is coming off her best match of the season. She had eight kills and a .500 hitting percentage against Valparaiso. The two are dead even in blocking, each having five solos and 11 assists.

"I'm surprised at how much better I've been able to get this season," Berland said. "When you are in club or high school, you think your level is as high as it can get, but now coming here, the coaches and team pushes you and you're doing more than you thought you could do."

But there is just one spot currently available for the two newbies.

"It's worked out well for Claire and me," Berland said. "In practice we push each other to our potential because we are fighting for that time on the court.

"It's brought out the best in both of us."

It remains to be seen if the NCAA tournament will bring out the best in all of them.

"I'm excited and a little anxious," Acree said. "I couldn't sleep on Sunday night (after the announcement that WMU made the tournament).

"It will be an awesome experience."

Seattle Times: McLaughlin keeps the focus simple (Jerry Brewer)

[Photo by Dean Rutz, The Seattle Times]

Seattle Times sports columnist Jerry Brewer has an in-depth feature this morning: Washington volleyball coach Jim McLaughlin keeps the focus simple: Improvement.

The story focuses on the McLaughlin's decision earlier this season to switch to a two-setter offense. Among Jerry's observations:

"Spend a half season examining one of Seattle's greatest, and most unlikely, winning teams, and sometimes you don't know whether you're learning about volleyball or physics. This giant is peerless, a creation of superior intellect and talent to go with chemistry, brutal honesty and a disdain for ambiguity."

"The Huskies have built an enviable tradition, but they don't live off tradition. In some ways, McLaughlin rebukes the very thing he has created. Why? Because tradition can stunt growth."

Jim McLaughlin is "the most cerebral coach you'll ever meet and possibly the best, too."

"The coach presents a long list of things, broken into three categories: Completely Control, Mostly Control and Have No Control. Interestingly, under the Have No Control section, he includes winning."