Sept. 27, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
#3 Washington hosts #15 Oregon • 7 p.m.
Alaska Airlines Arena
Coverage:
Live Telecast on UWTV, Channel 27
Live Webcast and Chat on GoHuskies.com
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1
#3 Washington hosts Oregon State • 7 p.m.
Alaska Airlines Arena
Coverage:
Live Webcast and Chat on GoHuskies.com
THIS WEEK IN HUSKY VOLLEYBALL
With classes about to start at Washington, the Husky volleyball team continues its own learning process and faces a couple more tests this weekend at home as 15th-ranked Oregon and Oregon State come to town. The Pac-12 leading Ducks are at hand on Friday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m., followed by the Beavers on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena. The match with Oregon will be televised live on UWTV, channel 27.
The Huskies (11-1, 3-1 Pac-12) have won three in a row since their only loss of the season, and moved up to third in the national polls this week. They earned a critical set of road wins last week at the Arizona schools, and now have four-straight home matches at hand, their longest home stretch of the season.
Oregon is currently alone atop the conference standings at 4-0, having defeated the Arizona schools at home and Colorado and Utah on the road last week. Oregon State is tied with the Huskies at 3-1, beating all the same teams as the Ducks save for a home loss to Arizona. The Pac-12 is as deep and competitive as ever, evidenced by five conference teams currently ranked in the top-six nationally.
COVERAGE
The Oregon match on Friday will be televised live by UWTV, channel 27 in the Seattle area. Michael Preston will provide play-by-play and former letterwinner Carolyn Farny adds her analysis. Gametracker will be available for both matches, and GoHuskies.com will offer a live chat for each match as well.
UWTV TAKES THE HUSKIES LIVE
Washington will have a record 10 television appearances this season, including eight live broadcasts on UWTV during the Pac-12 season. Fans in the Seattle area can watch UWTV on channel 27 carried by Comcast. The new partnership will be the first chance fans will have to watch regular season matches on live television. UWTV broadcasts began with the Pac-12 opener against USC, and include home matches against UCLA, Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Arizona State, California, and Washington State. The home match against Stanford will be aired by ROOT Sports on a tape delayed basis, as will Washington's road match at California. In addition, every Husky home match, even those not televised, will be available to stream for free on GoHuskies.com.
LAST TIME OUT
The Huskies hit the road for the first time in Pac-12 play, visiting the triple digit temperatures of Arizona for a Friday-Sunday series with the Wildcats and Sun Devils. First up was Arizona, receiving votes in the Top-25. The Huskies survived a set-point down in the first set, taking it 27-25, then pulled away with wins of 25-18 and 25-10. The Huskies hit .288 to .139 for the Wildcats, led by Krista Vansant who hit .500 with 13 kills. She added 11 digs for a double-double. Evan Sanders had a double-double of her own with 34 assists and 10 digs. Kylin Muñoz and Summer Ross also added eight kills apiece, and Jenna Orlandini had 17 digs. UW had seven service aces to just one for UA. On Sunday afternoon the Huskies were back in action against the Sun Devils. The only real trouble was early in the second set, when ASU took a 12-6 lead, but Washington bounced back to take the set and win in three, 25-13, 25-20, 25-13. Bianca Rowland had the team lead in points, with eight kills, four blocks, and three service aces. Muñoz hit .500 with seven kills on 14 swings, and Vansant had 10 kills to lead the team. Washington held ASU to .000 on offense, thanks in large part to 14 blocks, nine of which went to Lauren Barfield.
SCOUTING THE DUCKS
Oregon currently is alone in first in the Pac-12 with a 4-0 record (11-0 overall). They defeated the Arizona schools at home, and then went on the road for wins at Colorado and Utah last week, dropping just one set to ASU thus far in conference play. The Ducks also had the first surprise of the season, as they knocked off then-No. 1-ranked Penn State in the season opener. Their only loss was the match following the PSU win, as they fell in five sets to Minnesota. However, UO has not faced a ranked team since that first weekend. But they have done all they can do since, winning ten straight matches. Junior Alaina Bergsma has been one of the top outside hitters in the conference thus far, ranking third in the Pac-12 and 14th nationally with 4.56 kills per set. Sophomore middle blocker Ariana Williams leads the team with a .347 attack percentage, and Oregon ranks fourth as a team in the league with a .267 mark. The Ducks are third in the Pac-12 in aces with 1.33 per set, but they rank last in blocks with 1.77. Oregon makes up for that by leading the league with 14.60 kills per set, seventh-best nationally. Last year Oregon upset the Huskies in Eugene, but Washington swept the Ducks in Seattle in the rematch. Washington holds a 56-18 edge in the series.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Oregon State is off to a very strong start in conference play, going 3-1 so far to improve to 11-3 overall. After two five set losses in the first week of the season, one to Gonzaga which UW swept, the Beavers are 9-1, the only loss in four sets at home to Arizona. The Beavers also have a 3-2 win at then-No. 22 Long Beach State. OSU swept both Utah and Colorado last week. Junior Camille Saxton led the way with 31 kills over the six sets, moving up to 12th in the Pac-12 with 3.52 kills/set, and her 19 total aces rank third in the league. Freshman middle Arica Nassar is hitting very well, connecting at a .341 clip with 2.40 kills/set. Becky Defoe, the team's libero, averages 4.21 digs per set to rank seventh in the conference. The Beavers have outhit their opponents, .218 to .162 for the season. They also rank fifth in the Pac-12 with 1.20 aces/set and sixth with 2.45 blocks/set. Washington has won 16 straight against the Beavers, and took both meetings in straight sets a year ago.
UP NEXT
The homestand continues for the Huskies with Colorado and Utah coming to town for the first time as Pac-12 members. The Buffaloes are up first on Friday, Oct. 7, followed by the Utes on Saturday, Oct. 8. Both matches will start at 7 p.m. and be televised live on UWTV.
HUSKIES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The American Volleyball Coaches Assocation (AVCA) continues to have its work cut out for it as five of the top-10 teams nationally last week suffered at least one defeat. Previous No. 1 Cal and No. 2 Stanford each lost twice at USC and UCLA last week. Illinois rose from third to the new No. 1 team in the country this week. The Huskies also moved up a spot to No. 3, their highest ranking since 2009. After Illinois, the Pac-12 has the next five teams in a row, with UCLA, UW, Cal, USC, and Stanford going two through six. Nebraska breaks the run at No. 7, followed by Texas, Penn State, and Minnesota. UCLA jumped the Huskies this week despite Washington winning two weeks ago at home. The Dawgs began the season ranked seventh nationally in both the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine polls. That was down one spot from where UW finished the 2010 season. Oregon is 15th this week, giving the Pac-12 six teams in the top-15.
RECORDS WATCH
The Dawgs are a young squad but there are a few numbers to keep an eye on early in the season. The first milestone came from Coach McLaughlin, as he reached the 250 wins mark at Washington with the victory at Gonzaga on Sept. 3. McLaughlin is already the winningest coach in program history, raising the bar with each subsequent win. This season, senior Bianca Rowland will be chasing the UW career hitting percentage mark, which Jessica Swarbrick currently holds at .406. Rowland is at .401 through three years but she has hit .456 and .409 the past two seasons. Rowland is also making her way up the charts in career blocks, as she just passed Sanja Tomasevic for seventh in block assists with 357, and her 377 total blocks are now seventh on the career list as well. At 1.09 career blocks per set, senior Lauren Barfield currently ranks eighth in school history.
NUMBER CRUNCHING
A look at the current stats finds the Huskies near the top of the NCAA in a number of categories. UW is currently tops in the nation in service aces per set with 2.16. Washington has done the service work collectively, as six Huskies already have nine or more aces, and Bianca Rowland has six in the past two matches. The Huskies are atop the Pac-12 and second nationally in attack percentage, hitting .303 to rank fourth, and their .115 opponent hitting percentage also leads the conference. The Dawgs are second in the Pac-12 and sixth in the NCAA in blocks per set at 3.04, with Lauren Barfield ranking 16th nationally at 1.39. Bianca Rowland is also sixth in the Pac-12 and 35th natoinally at 1.28. Washington in 10-0 when hitting above .250 and has a 9-0 mark when holding its opponent under .200.
