Nov. 21, 2011
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22
#11 Washington vs. Washington State • 7 p.m.
Alaska Airlines Arena
Coverage:
Live Telecast on UWTV, channel 27
Live Video and Chat on GoHuskies.com
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25
#11 Washington at Washington State • 7 p.m.
Pullman, Wash. • Bohler Gym
Coverage:
Live Video provided by WSU for a fee
Live Chat on GoHuskies.com
THIS WEEK IN HUSKY VOLLEYBALL
Washington and Washington State have had to wait the entire season to meet on the volleyball court, but now both teams will quickly be able to settle things with a home-and-home series that will bring the regular season to a close. The teams will meet first in Seattle in a rare Tuesday night match at 7 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena. Then it is off to Pullman for the rematch just three days later, on Friday, Nov. 25, also at 7 p.m.
The schedule quirk came up this year with the expanded Pac-12 conference electing to still use a round-robin format for 2011, which added four more matches to the slate. Oregon and Oregon State will also play twice this week, as will Arizona and Arizona State. This will be the first time the Huskies have played the same opponent in back-to-back matches since 2005, when UW won twice at Hawai'i on Sept. 16 and 17.
The 11th-ranked Huskies (21-7, 13-7 Pac-12) earned a pair of key road wins at Utah and Colorado last weekend and are looking to secure at 10th-straight NCAA tourney bid. The NCAA Selection Show is less than a week away, coming up this Sunday, Nov. 27, at 3 p.m. on ESPNU.
COVERAGE
UWTV will air its final live telecast of the season on Tuesday night with Michael Preston and Carolyn Farny calling the action. The station can be found on channel 27 in the Seattle area. GoHuskies.com will also provide a free live stream, and live chat. WSU will live stream Friday's match for a subscription fee. GoHuskies.com will have a live chat from Pullman.
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
Washington needed a pair of wins to build momentum towards the postseason and strengthen its case as a potential first round host. To that end, UW's first Pac-12 trip to Utah and Colorado was critical. The Huskies delivered, coming up with sweeps at both stops. In Salt Lake City on Friday, Washington stepped up late in sets for a 25-18, 27-25, 28-26 victory. The Dawgs saved a trio of set points in the second set, and overcame a 15-21 deficit in the third. Freshman Summer Ross was excellent with a team-high 13 kills, hitting .321. Bianca Rowland also hit .500 with 11 kills, helping UW hit .280 as a team with 55 kills, its most in a three-set Pac-12 match this year. The next night UW's offense was even sharper against the Buffs, hitting .316 for a 25-18, 25-20, 25-20 victory. The .316 mark was UW's best since Sept. 17 vs. UCLA. Four Huskies hit over .300 with at least seven kills apiece. Freshman Krista Vansant had 13 kills and hit .312, Kylin Muñoz had 11 kills and hit .409, Rowland hit .412 with 10 put-aways, and Lauren Barfield matched her season-best with a .778 attack percentage, killing seven balls on nine errorless swings. Rowland also added eight block assists as UW out-blocked CU, 12.0-3.0. For the weekend, Jenna Orlandini averaged an excellent 5.50 digs per set.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
Washington State has made strides this season under first year head coach Jen Greeny after going winless in conference play a year ago. WSU is 12-18 for the year and 4-16 in Pac-12 play, having swept the season series from ASU and adding wins at home over Oregon State and Colorado. The Cougars have also had close calls at Oregon, at OSU, and a CU, losing all in five sets. Currently WSU has lost its past six matches. Senior Meagan Ganzer has led the Pac-12 most of the season in kills per set, averaging 4.84 kills per set. She has had three matches of 30 or more kills this season. As a team, the Cougars have been outhit, .245 to .197. Digs have been tough to come by, as they rank last in the league with 12.14 per set. Sophomore setter Camryn Irwin is averaging 9.61 assists per set, and has been a strong server with 29 aces. Last season UW posted 3-0 wins in both meetings, and has won three straight and 15 of the past 16 to take a 58-22 lead in the all-time series.
RECORDS WATCH
The Dawgs are a young squad but there are a few numbers to keep an eye on this 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. Senior Bianca Rowland just became the eighth Husky to play in 400 career sets, now having apeared in 420. Rowland is also making her way up the charts in career blocks, as she is five blocks away from tying Darla Myhre for fourth in UW history with 469 blocks. Her 444 block assists also rank fifth in school history, and she needs three more blocks to tie for 10th in the single season list, currently owning 138 this year. Rowland also recently passed the 1,000 career points plateau, the eighth Husky to do so since points began being tracked in 2000. Fellow senior Lauren Barfield may not have seen as many sets as Rowland, but her career average continues to climb. At 1.13 career blocks per set, Barfield currently is eighth in school history, while Rowland has upped her career average to 1.12 which is ninth. Rowland and Barfield are also second and eighth, respectively, on the career attack percentage list. Evan Sanders, while spending her first three years at Colorado State, just passed the three thousand career assist mark on Nov. 11 against Stanford. She currently has 3,066.
UP NEXT
The 2011 NCAA Championship bracket will be unveiled this coming Sunday, Nov. 27, at 3 p.m. Pacific time. ESPNU will televise the selection show live.
