UW advances to volleyball Final Four
Published 9:38 pm Sunday, December 15, 2013
LOS ANGELES — On what turned out to be one of the greatest nights in Washington volleyball history, the third-seeded Huskies rallied from two sets down — and saved two match points — to defeat No. 6 USC in five sets in the NCAA quarterfinals late Saturday night at the Galen Center. With the victory, the Huskies advanced to the Final Four in Seattle.
Washington (30-2) will join Penn State, Wisconsin and Texas at KeyArena later this week. UW reached the Final Four for the first time since 2006, and the fourth time in program history.
Washington will face No. 2-seed Penn State in the NCAA semifinals Thursday night at KeyArena. No. 1-seed Texas will play No. 12-seed Wisconsin in the first semifinal at 4:30 p.m., followed by the UW-Penn State battle 30 minutes after the end of the first match.
For the first time all season, UW rallied back from two sets down and beat the Trojans for the third time this year — the second time in the Galen Center — by a score of 26-28, 23-25, 25-22, 25-18, 17-15, in front of 2,205 fans.
Senior Gabbi Parker delivered the final two kills that sealed the win.
“Preparation is huge,” Monroe High School alum Kylin Munoz said. “It’s the third time we’ve played USC so we kind of knew what they wanted to do … I think everyone worked really hard, and it paid off, being prepared to play them in a tough, tough match.”
Pac-12 Player of the Year Krista Vansant, who was in tears on the court after the emotionally draining marathon, carried Washington back from the brink of defeat with career-highs of 38 kills and 30 digs — the first 30-30 performance for a Husky in NCAA tournament history. The 38 kills are a UW NCAA tournament record, besting the 35 of Stevie Mussie against BYU in 2007.
“I do it for my teammates. I do it for this program and what UW volleyball stands for,” Vansant said. “We’ve created an opportunity where we can do something really special and I think that when we all click, it could be really special for us.”
UW head coach Jim McLaughlin was impressed with his team’s ability to fight back.
“What a match,” McLaughlin said. “It wasn’t pretty all the time, but the intangibles were there. As a coach, I can’t say enough about these guys, the heart, the commitment, all those things that are really important to overcoming adversity.
“I think the Trojans had our number (in the first two sets). They’re a great program. Mick (Haley) does a great job, he’s a Hall of Fame coach, so this is a huge, huge win for our program. It’s a nice return for all the hard work.”
