No. 7 Washington Opens 2011 In Long Beach
August 23, 2011 | Volleyball
Aug. 23, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
LONG BEACH STATE MIZUNO INVITATIONAL
Long Beach, CA • Walter Pyramid
Friday, August 26
#7 Washington vs. Prairie View A&M • 5 p.m. | Gametracker
UMBC at #22 Long Beach State • 7 p.m.
Saturday, August 27
#7 Washington vs. UMBC • 12 p.m. | Gametracker
UMBC vs. Prairie View A&M • 5 p.m.
#7 Washington at #22 Long Beach State • 7 p.m. | Gametracker
THIS WEEK
First serve for the 2011 Washington volleyball season is at hand. The seventh-ranked Huskies begin their season with many new faces and new possibilities, but the same expectations: to compete for a conference and national championship. A number of young Huskies will cut their teeth this weekend at the Long Beach State Mizuno Invitational, which should provide an early but significant challenge for the Dawgs.
Washington, coming off an NCAA Quarterfinal appearance last season, opens up this Friday evening against Prairie View A&M at 5 p.m. Pacific time at LBSU's Walter Pyramid. They then play a Saturday double-header, starting with UMBC at 12 noon, then returning for their first test against a ranked opponent as they face 22nd-ranked Long Beach State at 7 p.m.
A number of storylines will develop this weekend, as it remains to be seen who will get the start at setter for the Huskies, and how the outside hitter rotation will play out with freshmen Kaleigh Nelson, Summer Ross, and Krista Vansant entering the mix and all potentially seeing playing time right off the bat.
COVERAGE
A live video stream will be available for the Long Beach State match Saturday night on longbeachstate.com. Gametracker will be available for all tournament matches, and GoHuskies.com will offer a live chat from Long Beach for all three matches.
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 begin with the Pac-12 opener against USC, and will 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.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
The Panthers of Prairie View A&M are located in Prairie View, Texas. They won the Southwestern Athletic Conference West Division title in 2010, before falling in the semifinals of the SWAC tournament. Senior Jasmine Houston was the SWAC Newcomer of the Year last season, hitting .324 for the year. The Panthers were 15-19 overall last year. Alicia Pete has coached the Panthers for 12 years, including two SWAC titles and NCAA tourney appearances.
SCOUTING THE RETRIVERS
UMBC is short for the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. The Retrievers of UMBC made the finals of the America East Conference tournament last year, ending the year with a 12-17 record, and they were picked to finish second in the conference in this year's preseason coaches poll. Senior setter Allie Spaay was an All-Conference Second Team selection last season and sophomores Hallie Carter and Ali Goc were All-Rookie Team members. Ian Blanchard is in his seventh season as head coach.
SCOUTING THE 49ERS
The 49ers have a lot of experience returning to a team that went 25-8 a year ago and reached the NCAA tourney for the 24th year in a row, one of the nation's longest streaks. LBSU lost in the NCAA opening round to San Diego, 3-0. Starting off this year they rank 22nd in the AVCA poll and 19th in the Volleyball Magazine poll. Leading the way this season is senior outside hitter Caitlin Ledoux, who is a two-time All-America honorable mention. Sophomore Haleigh Hampton was an All-Big West selection last year and one of the nation's best blockers, averaging 1.58 blocks per set to rank third in the NCAA. They did lose their starting setter in two-time All-Big West member Ashley Lee. Head Coach Brian Gimmillaro has taken the program to three NCAA Championships and eight Final Fours in his 26 years. The 49ers lead the all-time series, 4-1, though Washington won the last meeting back in 2007.
HUSKIES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Dawgs begin the season ranked seventh nationally in both the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and Volleyball Magazine polls. That's down one spot from where UW finished the 2010 season. Not surprisingly, both polls have defending champion Penn State in the top spot, but the rest of the top four shakes out different. USC is second in the AVCA poll but fourth in VM. Cal is third in the AVCA and second in VM, and Texas is fourth in the AVCA and third in VM. Nebraska is fifth in both and Stanford is sixth followed by UW. UCLA is 11th in both polls, giving the Pac-12 five teams ranked in the top-11.
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 would be for Coach McLaughlin, as he is five wins away from reaching 250 victories at Washington. 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 is eighth in block assists with 315, and her 331 total blocks are just three shy of 10th on the career list. At 1.02 career blocks per set, senior Lauren Barfield ranks 10th in school history and could climb much higher with a big senior year.
UW WINS IN AND OUT OF CONFERENCE
With a 11-0 run through its non-conference schedule last season and three NCAA wins, the Huskies ran their record against non-conference foes to 101-6 since the beginning of the 2003 season. That adds up to a .944 winning percentage out of the Pac-12. Five of the six losses have been five-set nailbiters as well. Though its not as if UW has been shabby in league play either. Starting in 2004 when the Huskies won their first Pac-10 title, they have gone a combined 101-25 (.802) in conference matches and finished first or second six out of seven years.
PLEASED TO MEET YOU
There are five new faces this fall for Husky fans to get acquainted with, as UW reloads after losing a trio of All-Americans to graduation last year. The biggest additions are to the outside hitter corps, as freshmen Krista Vansant, Summer Ross, and Kaleigh Nelson could account for a large chunk of the Husky offense this year. Freshman Kim Condie adds depth to the defensive specialists, and senior setter Evan Sanders joined UW from Colorado State for her final season. Vansant drew the most headlines, as she graced the cover of Volleyball Magazine as the No. 1 recruit in the country, and was named Gatorade National Player of the Year, a first for a UW recruit. Ross earned equal acclaim on the beach, winning World Youth and World Junior titles last season to be named USA Beach Volleyball Player of the Year, the first time a junior won the award. Nelson is a grayshirt freshman standout from Oregon with big athleticism. Condie helped her team to the California D-II state title her senior year. Sanders brings big experience to the young Dawgs, as she has been an All-Mountain West Conference First Team setter the past two years, leading the Rams to the NCAA tourney and Top-25 rankings.
RETURNER HONORS
Senior Bianca Rowland is the most decorated returning Dawg. The dynamic middle blocker has been named All-Pacific Region the past two years en route to being named an AVCA All-America honorable mention in 2009 and 2010. She was also named All-Pac-10 honorable mention the past two seasons. Evan Sanders was a two-time All-Mountain West Conference selection at Colorado State in 2009 and 2010.
COACHES TAB HUSKIES THIRD IN PAC-12
In a vote of the conference head coaches, the Husky volleyball team was picked third in the Pac-12 preseason poll. Washington is one of four Pac-12 teams that advanced at least to the Elite Eight last season. USC was the unanimous number one pick of the twelve conference coaches. The Trojans return every starter from their 2010 squad which reached the Final Four, earning 121 points in the poll. California, the NCAA runner-up last year, and the Pac-10 co-champion, was picked second with 105 points. The Bears defeated the Huskies in the Elite Eight last season. Washington was voted third with 97 points, the second year in a row that UW has been slotted third. Following the Huskies is defending conference co-champion Stanford, with 92 points. The Cardinal lost to USC in the Elite Eight last year. UCLA sits fifth with 90 points, and Oregon rounds out the top half in sixth-place with 65 points. Arizona and Arizona State go seventh and eighth, respectively, followed by Oregon State in ninth. Conference newcomers Utah and Colorado are 10th and 11th, with Washington State coming in 12th.
GIL TO MISS 2011 SEASON WITH KNEE INJURY
Junior Amanda Gil will be forced to miss the 2011 volleyball season due to a knee injury that will require surgery. Based on a successful surgery, recovery time would be estimated at six months. Gil was a Second Team All-American at UCLA in 2009 before transferring to Washington, where she was forced to redshirt the 2010 season due to conference transfer rules. The nation's second-leading blocker in 2009, the gifted middle blocker practiced with the team last season and participated fully in spring practice this year before recently feeling pain in her left knee. The injury is diagnosed as an osteochondral fracture. "It's a tough thing for her and it's a tough thing for the team," said Head Coach Jim McLaughlin. "She's a very good player, and it gives us a little higher level of experience with her on the floor. I'm concerned, but we have the best doctors here and they're going to do a good job, and now she's got to put every ounce of energy into getting back fully healthy."
2010 IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR
After and up and down regular season, the 2010 Huskies came together down the stretch and returned to the NCAA Elite Eight for the sixth time in the past eight years under Head Coach Jim McLaughlin. Washington beat three Top-25 teams at home, sweeping 23rd-ranked Michigan and 7th-ranked Hawaii, and then won an epic Sweet-16 match with No. 3 Nebraska, 3-1. The Huskies fell to eventual NCAA finalist California in the quarterfinals. Washington finished 24-9 overall and 10-8 in Pac-10 play, its most losses in conference since 2003. The team started the year with straight set wins in all ten preseason matches. Outside hitters Becky Perry and Kindra Carlson were both named to the All-Pac-10 Team and then both earned AVCA All-America Second Team honors. Setter Jenna Hagglund and middle blocker Bianca Rowland were All-Pac-10 honorable mention, and Rowland was an All-America honorable mention as well. Hagglund finished her career 10th in Pac-10 history with 5,326 assists, while Carlson and Perry finished eighth and tenth in career kills by a Husky. In her first season, redshirt freshman Jenna Orlandini was second in the Pac-10 in digs with a 4.82 average. The Huskies were second in the conference in opponent hitting percentage, limiting teams to .175, and they ranked second in aces (1.39), third in blocks (2.51), and fourth in hitting percentage (.283). Washington finished sixth in the final AVCA Top-25.
DAWG PACK CONTINUES TO GROW
Washington's incredible fans turned out in greater numbers than ever during the 2010 season, as the Huskies ranked fourth in national attendance, continuing to grow one of the best home court advantages in volleyball. The Huskies hosted NCAA first and second rounds as well as NCAA Regionals, and that allowed them to end an up and down regular season on a high note, advancing to the Elite Eight for the sixth time in eight years. After averaging 3,019 fans over 11 regular season matches, the number jumped to 4,014 fans per match during UW's four home postseason matches. Of the 15 hosted matches in 2010, total attendance came in at 49,470 giving an average match attendance of a school record 3,298. That ranked UW first in the Pac-10 for the sixth time in the past seven seasons. Hawaii led the way with 6,169 fans per match, followed by Nebraska (4,632), Wisconsin (3,737), Washington and then Penn State (3,274).
