Dawgs Hit The Road For Oregon Swing
November 17, 2015 | Volleyball
THIS WEEK IN HUSKY VOLLEYBALL
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18
#2 Washington at Oregon State • 7:30 pm
Corvallis, Ore. • Gill Coliseum
Live on Pac-12 Networks - Live Stats
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20
#2 Washington at Oregon • 4:00 pm
Eugene, Ore. • Matthew Knight Arena
Live on Pac-12 Networks - Live Stats
SEATTLE - A trip down to Oregon is the next task for the second-ranked Huskies as they push towards the postseason and look to continue chasing the Pac-12 title. Following a win on Sunday over Cal, the Dawgs are right back at it this Wednesday with a match against the Beavers in Corvallis at 7:30 p.m. The Huskies then head to Eugene to take on the Ducks on Friday with a 4 p.m. start time to wrap up the week. Both matches will be televised live by the Pac-12 Networks.
The Huskies improved to 24-2 on the year and 14-2 in Pac-12 play with wins last week over then-No. 6 Stanford and California, and rose to No. 2 in the AVCA poll and No. 6 in the RPI. Washington has been on the heels of USC, which improved to 15-1 in conference play last week and moved back up to No. 1 in the AVCA poll this week. The Dawgs now have a two-game lead over Stanford and UCLA for second in the conference standings. The only meetings left between the top-four teams in the standings will be Stanford visiting UCLA in the final week of the regular season, and UCLA then going to USC in the second to last match of the year.
Washington is on a seven-match win streak, longest in the Pac-12. The Huskies rank second in the NCAA in attack percentage now at .316, behind Florida's .324 mark. UW is also fifth in opponent attack percentage, holding teams to .143. Washington is also sixth in blocks per set (2.98) and ninth in kills per set (14.54) nationally. Lianna Sybeldon still leads the NCAA in attack percentage at .486, a mark that would rank second in Pac-12 history. Melanie Wade is 19th in blocks per set at 1.41.
Oregon State has gone 3-13 in Pac-12 play, with two wins over California and one over Utah. In the first meeting, the Huskies had a straight set win at home, 25-13, 25-22, 25-20, holding OSU to just .034 on offense, but the Beavers did serve six aces in the match, and OSU is third in Pac-12 play as a team with 62 aces. Sophomore Mary-Kate Marshall leads OSU with 3.73 kills per set in conference play, ranking seventh in the league, and is second on the team with 2.27 digs per set. Katelyn Driscoll also averages 2.40 kills per set, and Kayla Ellis is eighth in the Pac-12 with 3.85 digs per set. Middle Haley Clarke has 1.00 blocks per set in Pac-12 play while hitting .269.
The Ducks are fighting to keep their NCAA hopes alive, sitting at 13-12, with an RPI of 53rd this week. Oregon just earned perhaps its biggest win of the year, upsetting then-No. 9 UCLA in five sets in L.A., its first win over a top-10 team since 2012. The Huskies won the first match in Seattle, 25-20, 25-21, 25-16, and outhit Oregon, .337-.160. In conference matches, the Ducks are hitting .224 but allowing a .248 mark on average. Senior Martenne Bettendorf and freshman Lindsey Vander Weide have matching 3.38 kills per set averages in conference play and Taylor Agost adds 2.73 per set on a .255 attack percentage. Amanda Benson is one of the league's top liberos with 4.39 digs per set.
