NCAA Volleyball Action Returns To Seattle
November 30, 2010 | Volleyball
Nov. 30, 2010
» Seniors Work To Get The Vibe Right
» Video: Washington Holds Its Pre-NCAA Press Conference
» Four Huskies Earn All-Pac-10 Honors
Complete Release in PDF Format 
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS • FIRST & SECOND ROUNDS
SEATTLE, WA • HEC EDMUNDSON PAVILION
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2
Washington vs. Michigan • 7:30 p.m. | Live Video
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3
Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 • 7:30 p.m.
SETTING THE SCENE
The NCAA Division-I Women's Volleyball Championship will be setting up shop in Seattle for the next two weeks, and the Huskies are looking to take advantage of the home court and home crowd to make a deep tournament run. Washington (21-8), under 10th-year head coach Jim McLaughlin, is making its ninth-consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, and will open up against Michigan (23-9) this Thursday, Dec. 2, at 7:30 p.m. at Hec Ed.
Also converging on Seattle is Hawaii (28-2), the No. 15 overall seed and regular season WAC champions, and Portland State (21-8), the Big Sky Conference champions. The Wahine and Vikings will face off on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. The winners will then play on Friday, Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m. The winner of this four team group will move on to the Regional Semifinal, which will be held again at Hec Ed Pavilion next Friday.
The Seattle group promises to be one of the most intriguing of all the first and second round match-ups. Though Hawaii is the only seeded team, the Huskies, Wahine, and Wolverines have all been ranked in the Top-25 by the AVCA all season. In the most recent poll released Monday, Hawaii was ranked seventh, UW 11th, and Michigan 23rd.
The Huskies concluded the regular season with a pair of wins at home against the Oregon schools last weekend, placing fifth in the Pac-10 with a 10-8 conference mark. It marks the first time since 2003 that UW was not first or second in the conference, but the Huskies suffered several close defeats, and only had one three-set loss all year. Washington went 9-2 at home, and benefited from the sixth-best home attendance in the nation at over 3,000 fans per match.
PRACTICES & PRESS CONFERENCES
Here is the schedule for Wednesday's practices which are open to the public at Hec Ed as well as the press availability for each team.
Portland State Practice 11:00am - 12:30pm
Hawai'i Press Conference 12:00pm - 12:30pm
Hawai'i Practice 12:35pm - 2:05pm
Portland State Press Conference 12:35pm - 1:05pm
Michigan Practice 2:10pm - 3:40pm
Washington Press Conference 3:10pm - 3:40pm
Washington Practice 3:45pm - 5:15pm
Michigan Press Conference 3:45pm - 4:15pm
SEATTLE PREPARES FOR NCAA REGIONAL
One of the four teams playing at Hec Ed this week will be hoping for an extended stay, as Seattle was chosen before the season to host NCAA Regional play. The Seattle Regional is one of four sites for the 2010 tournament, and will feature two Round of 16 matches on December 10 and then the Quarterfinal on December 11 with the winner moving on to the Final Four in Kansas City, Missouri. This will be the fourth time that Washington has hosted NCAA Regionals since 2004. In the six NCAA regional games it has hosted, the UW has averaged nearly 5,500 fans per session. Washington has made it through the first two rounds of tourney play to reach their own home court each of the three previous times Seattle has hosted Regionals. Visit GoHuskies.com for ticket details or call the ticket office at (206) 543-2200.
HUSKIES IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
This marks the 15th appearance in the NCAA Championships for the Huskies, and the ninth in a row under head coach Jim McLaughlin, easily the greatest stretch in program history. Over the last eight years, Washington has one at least one match in the tournament every year, going 23-7 over the past eight years. The Huskies are the last Pac-10 team to win the NCAA title, doing so in 2005, when UW became the first team to sweep every match in the 64-team tournament era. Washington also reached the Final Four in 2004 and 2006, and the Regional Final (Elite Eight) in 2003 and 2008. Last year the Huskies were seeded sixth and defeated Northern Colorado in the first round in Fort Collins, Colo. before being upset by Colorado State in the second round. UW's first NCAA appearance came in 1986, and the Huskies got their first wins in 1988, when they advanced to their first ever Regional Final, defeating Stanford for the first time in the process. The next best run was in 1997 with current assistant Leslie (Tuiasosopo) Gabriel starring in the middle as UW reached the Round of 16. This will be the fourth time hosting Regionals for Seattle, and UW has advanced to Regional play each time previously in 2004, 2006, and 2008. Under McLaughlin, UW is 12-2 in NCAA tournament matches in Seattle.
SENIORS LOOK TO GO OUT ON TOP
Just a few days after saluting the home crowd on Senior Night, UW's trio of senior standouts will be back on the Hec Ed court looking to play their way to their first Final Four. Jenna Hagglund, Becky Perry, and Kindra Carlson have each piled up invidual accolades, and collectively led UW to the NCAA tourney all four years of their careers. All have been named to the All-Pac-10 Team at least once. Hagglund, out of West Chester, Ohio, has been Washington's starting setter for the past four years, and has compiled the second-most career assists in school history, and 10th-most in Pac-10 history and is still moving up. Hagglund has appeared in more than 400 career-sets, ranking sixth in school history in sets played. She is also one of 10 finalists for the inaugural Lowe's Senior CLASS Award, and is a two-time AVCA All-American. Perry and Carlson have usually lined up as the left side and right side hitters to flank Hagglund and finish her assists with booming kills. After four years playing together, the two are just five kills apart, both having gone over 1,000 career kills earlier this season. Perry, an Austin, Texas native, is currently 10th in school history and Carlson is just ahead 9th. Carlson, from Eaton, Colorado, was an AVCA All-American last season and Perry was a Volleyball Magazine All-American in 2008. The trio led Washington to the Elite Eight run in 2008, and 20-win seasons every year.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!
The Huskies closed out the regular season at home with a pair of convincing victories over the Oregon schools. On Friday night, UW hosted the 24th-ranked Ducks, who had upset UW back in September. Washington got revenge thanks to a dominating block. The Huskies blocked a season-high 16.5 shots in just three sets, winning 25-20, 25-20, 25-10. The Ducks were held to a negative attack percentage for the night at -.020 while the Huskies hit .271. With all the blocks, no Husky reached double figures in kills but Becky Perry led with nine. Lauren Barfield equaled her career-high with 11 blocks including two solo stuffs. The next night was UW's Senior Night, and the Huskies didn't disappoint with a sweep of Oregon State, 25-23, 25-17, 25-18. Kindra Carlson had 19 kills, Jenna Hagglund had 35 assists and Jenna Orlandini tallied 18 digs and a career-best three aces.
SCOUTING THE WOLVERINES
The Wolverines are set to make their fifth consecutive NCAA appearance and 11th all-time. Michigan has been ranked in the AVCA Top-25 all season, and was 23rd in Monday's poll. The Wolverines are one of a record-tying eight Big Ten teams to make the tourney, and tied Purdue for fourth in the conference race with a 12-8 record, going 23-9 overall. Last season Michigan advanced to its first Elite Eight before falling to Hawaii in the Regional Final. Their run included an upset of Stanford in the Regional Semi. Senior Lexi Zimmerman is one of the nation's top setters, as she was an AVCA First Team All-American last year. Junior outside hitter Alex Hunt leads the team with 4.41 kills per set. Freshman middle Jennifer Cross has averaged 2.31 kills while hitting .317. The Wolverines have outhit opponents .242-.191 this year, but UM has been outblocked, 2.60-1.93. Michigan is 2-0 against the Pac-10 this season, getting a 3-1 win at Arizona State and a 3-1 win at Oregon State, both back in September. The Wolverines were 5-8 on the road but 6-0 in neutral matches. Their best wins came over then-No. 6 Illinois and against then-No. 14 Minnesota, both at home. Mark Rosen is in his 12th year coaching the Wolverines. The teams have met just twice before, with UW getting a 3-2 win back in 1997 in Seattle.
SCOUTING THE WAHINE
Hawaii was seeded 15th by the tournament committee despite coming off a 2009 Final Four appearance and being ranked in the top-five for most of the 2010 season. Last season Hawaii beat Michigan to reach the Final Four where it fell in the semis to Penn State. The Wahine has lost just twice all year, though one was in their last match, a surprise 3-0 defeat to Utah State in the WAC Championship match in Las Vegas. Prior to that, Hawaii had won 23 matches in a row, and swept nearly every match in that streak, winning 62 straight sets as they went 16-0 through the WAC regular season. The Utah State match snapped a 10-year reign as WAC tourney champs. The Wahine have won three NCAA titles, in 1982, 1983, and 1987. Hawaii swept the WAC awards, as junior outside hitter Kanani Danielson was named WAC Player of the Year for the second year in a row, middle Emily Hartong was named Freshman of the Year, and Dave Shoji was named Coach of the Year. Danielson averages 4.64 kills per set while hitting .304. Sophomore Brittany Hewitt leads the NCAA in blocks with 1.67 blocks per set. Senior setter Dani Mafua averages 11.21 assists and has the team hitting .287 overall. The only other setback for UH came in five sets at home against USC. They also posted a 3-1 win over UCLA. Hawaii is 12-0 in NCAA first round matches since the tourney expanded to 64 teams in 1998. Shoji, one of the sport's legendary coaches, is in his 36th year and has 1,044 wins, most among active coaches. Hawaii leads the series with UW, 8-3, winning in five sets last in 2008.
SCOUTING THE VIKINGS
Portland State is making its second appearance in the Division-I NCAA Championships after winning the Big Sky tournament title in five sets over Northern Colorado. The Vikings also qualified in 2008 and traveled to Seattle that year as well, falling to the Huskies in three sets in the first round. PSU has won nine matches in a row, and has been resilient late with four five-set wins, including both of its Big Sky tourney wins. The Vikings have played at Hec Ed once already this year, defeating Mercer in The Invitational At Seattle, Washington. The Huskies swept the Vikings at the Northwest Challenge in Boise earlier this season. Senior OH Whitney Phillips was named Big Sky MVP this year, and dominates PSU's offensive stats with 4.81 kills per set. Senior MB Lana Zielke leads the team with a .340 attack percentage and 1.95 kills/set, and Big Sky Outstanding Freshman, setter Garyn Schlatter, ran the offense with 8.90 assists per set. UW has won eight straight against PSU and leads the series 19-13.
HUSKIES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Washington moved up two spots to No. 11 in the final AVCA poll before the NCAA tournament. But despite the lofty ranking, the Huskies were not among the top-16 seeds for the tournament, as the selection committee seemed to give more weight to RPI. The Huskies were ranked as high as No. 7 this season in both the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine polls. Washington is one of five Pac-10 teams among the top-11 in the AVCA rankings. Stanford, which shared the Pac-10 title with Cal, is ranked second and seeded third. Cal is ranked fourth but seeded seventh, behind USC which was seeded sixth and ranked fourth. Confused? UCLA is ranked ninth but also unseeded in the tourney. 20th-ranked Arizona also made the NCAA field. The Huskies opened the season ranked in the Top-10 in both preseason polls. The AVCA coaches poll ranked the Dawgs eighth, the second-highest Pac-10 team behind No. 4 Stanford. Volleyball Magazine started the Huskies 10th. Seven Pac-10 teams were ranked in the AVCA preseason poll, easily the most of any conference, leading the four from the Big Ten, though the Big Ten led all conferences with eight NCAA selections.
NUMBER CRUNCHING
Washington has ranked among the NCAA's most efficient offenses all year, and led the nation for a short stretch. UW now ranks No. 11 this week with a mark of .288. Junior Bianca Rowland ranks third in the conference and 11th nationally at .403. The Huskies are backing that up on defense, as they led the Pac-10 in opponent hitting percentage, allowing just a .170 mark, having held six opponents under .100. Opponent hitting percentage has dictated wins and losses thus far for UW, as they are 19-0 when holding opponents under .200, but 2-8 when they allow the other team to hit above .200. Jenna Hagglund ranks 10th nationally in assists per set at 11.81, and the Huskies are the only team in the Pac-10 with two outside hitters ranked in the top-10 in kills, as Kindra Carlson is fifth and Becky Perry comes in 10th. Carlson also ranks 22nd nationally in points per set, at 4.82.
RECORDS WATCH
Setter Jenna Hagglund passed a major milestone last weekend against Stanford, when she tallied career assist number five thousand in the second set. Hagglund becomes just the 10th setter in Pac-10 history to reach 5,000 assists, now owning 5,177. She ranks second in UW history only to Courtney Thompson, the all-time Pac-10 leader. On the Bay Area road trip, seniors Becky Perry and Kindra Carlson both eclipsed the 1,000 career kills mark, with Perry hitting the plateau first on Friday against the Cardinal and Carlson getting her 1K kill the next night against the Bears. They are the 14th and 15th Huskies to surpass the mark. Carlson now has 1,186 and Perry is right behind with 1,181, as they both passed their coach Leslie (Tuiasosopo) Gabriel on the Arizona trip for 9th- and 10th-place all-time. Carlson and Perry have also moved up to third and fourth, respectively, on the UW career points list. Hagglund is also moving up the UW top-10 list in career sets played, now ranking sixth with 424 career sets under her belt.
