Oct. 19, 1999 FIRST SERVE: The Washington volleyball team (6-11 overall, 2-7 Pac-10) begins the second half of the Pac-10 slate this weekend against the Oregon schools. Oregon State (8-9, 2-7) comes to Seattle Friday night for a 7:00 p.m. match. Saturday, Oregon (6-12, 0-9) faces the Huskies, also at 7:00 p.m. Washington swept the Beavers and Ducks earlier this season in Oregon for its only Pac-10 wins thusfar. SERIES HISTORY: Washington holds a 31-18 advantage in the series with Oregon State and is 36-15 all-time against Oregon. The Huskies were swept by the Beavers last season after having won the previous five in a row. Washington has won eight in a row against Oregon since a 3-0 loss in 1995. UW coach Bill Neville is 10-7 all-time against Oregon State and 15-2 versus Oregon. NOTES: The Huskies will play 10 matches against teams in the preseason top 25, including six against top-10 teams ... '98 All-Pac-10 first-teamer Kristina Laffling became only the seventh Husky to reach 1,000 kills earlier this season ... she now has 1,138 kills as well as 912 digs, ranking her sixth and fourth in UW history, respectively ... her kills total is second-most among active Pac-10 players ... Laffling finished only one block shy of her first career triple-double vs. WSU with 25 kills, 23 digs and nine blocks ... both Laffling and sophomore Allison Richardson have been named to the all-tournament team in both tournaments this year ... Richardson lead the Huskies with 25 aces in 57 games ... last year, the Huskies' aces leader (Angie Short) had only 27 aces all year ... Richardson is also second on the team with 198 kills and 130 digs ... she had 62 and 86, respectively, all of last season ... freshman quick hitter Paige Benjamin ranks No. 2 in the Pac-10 with her .370 hitting percentage ... Saturday at Washington State, sophomore Malena Thompson set new career highs for blocks (6) and assists (3) and tied her career best for digs (15). COACH NEVILLE: Bill Neville (George Williams '67) is currently in his ninth season as the Husky head coach. The former USA men's team assistant and Canadian men's team head coach has an overall record of 116-110 (.513) since taking over the UW program midway through the 1991 season. His teams have made three NCAA appearances, all in the last five seasons, during which they have posted a 4-3 record. Neville is assisted by Diane Flick, Julie Baker and Duane Storti. QUICK HITS: Here's a quick rundown of the Husky volleyball team: No. Player Pos. Ht. Yr. Notes 1 Sabrina Page DS 5-3 Jr. Has played in 53 of 58 games as DS 3 Paige Benjamin Q 5-10 Fr. Leads the UW with 1.03 blocks/game 4 Allison Richardson SW 6-1 So. All-tournament at both ISU and UoP 6 Gretchen Maurer S 5-11 Fr. Spent summer with U.S. Junior team 7 Linnet Rain Q 6-2 Fr. Started vs. Wisconsin and Illinois State 8 Kristina Laffling SW 5-11 Sr. Needs 8 kills to move to 5th in UW hist. 9 Malena Thompson SW 6-0 So. Career-high 15 digs, 6 blocks at WSU 10 Britni Churnside S 5-9 So. Has started 16 of 17 matches at setter 11 Kiki Maroutsos SW 5-11 So. Perhaps team's top server 12 Elissa Ross DS 5-9 Fr. Career-high 16 digs vs. No. 9 Wisconsin 14 Janelle Grovey SW 5-10 Fr. Won 13 letters at Sweeny HS in Texas 16 Lisa Underhill Q 6-3 So. 21 kills, nine blocks at Washington St. 17 Emily Seacat OP 6-3 Jr. 21 kills, 6 aces in win at Oregon St. 21 Sarah Allmon OP 5-11 Sr. Out for the season after knee surgery |
