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Nov. 14, 2012
SEATTLE - The sixth-ranked Husky volleyball team returns to action this Friday, hosting a top-10 opponent at Alaska Airlines Arena for the fourth time this season. Just two weeks remain in the regular season, as the Huskies (20-5, 11-5 Pac-12) look to make a postseason push and keep improving to season’s end. Washington hosts the fourth-ranked Oregon Ducks this Friday night at 7 p.m., and then Saturday night Oregon State comes to town as UW hosts its annual Senior Night. Washington has gone 2-1 this season against top-10 opponents, defeating UCLA and USC but falling in five sets to Stanford. Oregon (22-3, 13-3 Pac-12) gave UW its first loss of the year, 3-1, in Eugene back on Oct. 13 so the Huskies will be looking to turn the tables in front of their fans. The Ducks are currently second in the Pac-12 race and feature one of the top offenses with senior Alaina Bergsma ranking second in conference matches with 4.70 kills per set while hitting .319. Junior Lauren Plum leads the NCAA in assists per set with 13.04. Senior Katherine Fischer is also one of the top Pac-12 servers, averaging 0.32 aces per set, and senior Haley Jacob is fourth in the league with 4.27 digs per set. In the first meeting, UW had 19 team blocks to just five for Oregon, but the Huskies made 14 service errors while the Ducks missed just seven. Oregon had a slight .288-.281 edge in attack percentage. The Huskies will be looking for a season sweep of the Beavers, who have lost eight straight Pac-12 matches to head into the week at 13-15 overall and 3-13 in conference play. Krista Vansant had 20 kills in Corvallis in just three sets as UW won the first meeting and held Oregon State under .100 offensively. The Beavers have hit .170 overall in Pac-12 matches while opponents have hit .258 against them. OSU leads the Pac-12 in service aces in conference play, averaging 1.44 per set, just ahead of UW’s 1.42 rate. Senior Camille Saxton is the individual aces leader, with 0.39 per set. Libero Becky Defoe ranks fourth in Pac-12 play in digs per set with 4.39. Despite having one more home match next week, UW will honor its four seniors on Saturday night, making travel more convenient for family members. The Huskies have four seniors who will be honored: Kelcey Dunaway, Amanda Gil, Kelly Holford, and Kylin Muñoz. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
