Pac-10 Dominates Regional Semifinals

Call it the meeting of the Pacific-10 Conference’s finest.

When the Cougars travel to Stanford for next weekend’s NCAA Volleyball Tournament’s Pacific Region semifinals, three of the four teams will represent the Pac-10.

The region’s top seed Stanford (27-2), No. 2 in the country, will play No. 13 Southern California (20-8) in one half of the bracket. No. 9 Washington State (26-5) will meet No. 6 Loyola Marymount (26-2) of the West Coast Conference in the other.

Sunday, Loyola Marymount defeated No. 14 UC Santa Barbara 14-16, 15-7, 15-8, 15-9.

Friday’s regional semis are set for 6 and 8 p.m. with the order to be determined today. The championship match is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday.

“We’re excited,” said Washington State setter Stephanie Papke, referring to the 75 percent Pac-10 field. “We know who we’re playing. We know who they are. It’s better to know our opponent than to go across the United States somewhere and play someone we don’t know.”

Added middle blocker Sarah Silvernail: “The Pac-10 will win and we know we can beat USC and Stanford … we’ve done it.”

The Cougars split their matches with both the Trojans and the Cardinal this year, all home teams winning on their home floor.

“We’re pretty much counting on USC to knock off Stanford,” said Washington State coach Cindy Fredrick, half kidding, half wishing. “I think that will probably happen.” , DataTimes