UW volleyball seeded sixth in NCAA tournament
In a change from its recent postseason assignments, the Washington volleyball team will open the 64-team NCAA tournament with a first-round match at home this Friday.
The sixth-ranked Huskies were made the tournament’s No. 6 overall seed Sunday and were placed in the Penn State regional, which puts Washington on a potential collision course with the third-seeded, and No. 1-ranked, Nittany Lions on their home court in the Sweet 16 in two weeks.
The Huskies (26-3), the 2005 national champions, are attempting to become just the sixth team in 26 years of NCAA volleyball tournaments to reach the Final Four in four consecutive years. Washington begins play at 7 p.m. Friday against Missouri (17-12), sixth in the Big 12.
In another first-round match at Edmundson Pavilion 4:30 p.m. Friday: Brigham Young (21-7), which tied for second in the Mountain West Conference, and Mississippi (25-7), the second-place finisher in the Western Division of the Southeastern Conference.
Friday’s winners will meet Saturday at 6 p.m. for the right to advance to the Sweet 16 and regional play at Penn State.
Coach Jim McLaughlin, who inherited an 8-19 team when he arrived in 2001, has taken UW to the NCAA tournament six consecutive years. Washington has not been home for the first round since 2004.
“One of the key things in the tournament is to keep the routines as normal as possible, and we can do that easier at home,” he said. “It’s just less wear and tear, and we get to play in front of our home crowd.”
Said outside hitter Christal Morrison, “It’s always great to play in front of our home crowd here in Seattle. We’re going to try and get a record crowd out for these matches.”
Stanford, which UW defeated 3-2 at Maples Pavilion on Oct. 12, was made the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed. The Cardinal, like Penn State, is hosting a regional. Nebraska, the 2006 champion, is the No. 2 seed and was assigned to the Wisconsin regional.
Texas is the No. 4 seed and will play in the Florida regional, where USC is the fifth seed despite finishing third in the Pac-10 behind second-place Washington. UW lost to USC 3-2 on Nov. 16.
Does having to going through Penn State make it extra-tough for UW?
“It’s all tough,” said McLaughlin, whose 2006 Huskies, the sixth seed in last year’s tournament, defeated a third-seeded Penn State at Edmundson Pavilion. “It’s tough to win the thing.”