Big Homestand For Dawgs Against Top-20 L.A. Schools

THIS WEEK IN HUSKY VOLLEYBALL

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17
#19 Washington hosts #14 USC • 7 pm
Alaska Airlines Arena
Live on Pac-12 Networks National | Live Stats

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19*
#19 Washington hosts #20 UCLA• 6 pm
Alaska Airlines Arena
Live on Pac-12 Networks National | Live Stats

*Courtney Thompson Hall Of Fame Night
- Doors open at 5pm
- 1,000 Courtney Thompson shirts will be given out
- At 5:15pm Courtney Thompson will be taking photos and signing autographs on the north side of the concourse

SEATTLE - The first half of Pac-12 play concludes this week with the Husky volleyball team back home for a crucial couple of matches against the Los Angeles schools. It's a quick turnaround week as well, as the Dawgs host 14th-ranked USC this Wednesday night, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena. Then Friday 20th-ranked UCLA comes to town for a 6 p.m. match during which the Huskies will honor two-time Olympian Courtney Thompson before she goes into the Husky Hall of Fame this weekend. Both matches will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks.

The two top-20 matches this week will be big in shaping up the Pac-12 race as it hits the halfway point. 19th-ranked Washington and UCLA are tied for third at 5-3 in conference play along with Oregon, while USC is alone in second with a 6-2 record. Stanford now sits two games ahead with an 8-0 record.

Courtney Thompson already has her jersey number hanging from the Alaska Airlines Arena rafters, but will now be joining the Husky Hall of Fame as an individual, after going in previously with the 2005 National Championship team. Thompson was a 2006 grad who set the Pac-12 record for assists and the NCAA record for assists per set. A three-time All-American from Kent, Wash., Thompson played for Team USA at the 2012 Olympics, earning a silver medal, and the 2016 Olympics, earning a bronze. She currently contributes to the Huskies as a mindset consultant and is one of the founders of the Give It Back Foundation with other current and former members of the U.S. Women's National Team.

USC comes into town having won four of its last five to go 14-5 overall. The Trojans beat Arizona State in five sets and Arizona in four sets at home last week. Its two losses came at Stanford and home against Oregon. Brooke Botkin and Khalia Lanier are two of the most productive hitters in the Pac-12 but Emily Baptista is also playing well of late. In conference play, Lanier averages 4.63 kills per set, Botkin has 4.30 and Baptista adds 2.70 while hitting .286. Libero Victoria Garrick is third in Pac-12 play with 4.77 digs per set and Lanier is tied for second with 0.50 aces per set. Freshman setter Raquel Lazaro is third with 11.47 assists per set in Pac-12 play. Brent Crouch is in his first year leading the Trojans and formerly was an assistant coach at St. Mary's at the same time as Keegan Cook.

UCLA has won three straight matches, all 3-0, against Oregon State, Arizona State, and Arizona, to get to 10-5 overall and 5-3 in conference. UCLA's Pac-12 losses came to USC, Stanford, and Oregon. In league play, the Bruins are hitting .213 with opponents hitting .205. The Bruins are leading the Pac-12 with 1.52 aces per set in conference play, and third in digs per set at 16.85. Sophomore Mac May is leading the Bruins with 3.70 kills per set in Pac-12 play and is averaging 0.56 aces per set to lead the league, and junior middle Madeleine Gates is seventh with a .335 attack percentage. Senior Zana Muno's 4.59 digs per set is fourth overall. The Huskies have won nine straight in the series against the Bruins.

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