Cougars Have Work Cut Out As Postseason Nears
With the tournament season about three weeks away, Washington State volleyball coach Cindy Fredrick had this to say Tuesday:
“We’ve got to win at least three out of our last four matches. We have to,” said Fredrick, whose 9-5 team is tied with Arizona for fourth place in the Pacific-10 Conference.
“And we would be well put to win four of them,” she added.
Well put, and well on their way to an upset, considering the Cougars (21-5 overall) travel to Stanford (24-2, 15-0) Saturday after a Friday night match at Cal (8-16, 3-12). WSU closes the regular season at home Nov. 20 with Oregon State and Nov. 21 with Oregon.
WSU, slipping from No. 10 to No. 12 in the USA Today/AVCA Top 25 poll, has never won at Stanford, dating to 1986. The defending national champion Cardinal wrapped up their third straight conference title last weekend. Their five senior players hold a 57-1 record at home. Earlier this season, Stanford beat WSU in Pullman 15-11, 15-8, 16-14.
“I don’t think Stanford is as good as it’s going to be down the road at the NCAAs,” Fredrick said. “We missed a prime opportunity when they were here to take advantage of their health problems.”
The injured players, setter Lisa Sharpley (knee) and middle blocker Kerri Walsh, (shoulder) are nearly recuperated as the Cougars take on Stanford for the 25th time. The Cardinal lead the series 23-1.
Although ninth-place Cal leads the series against WSU, 15-14, the Cougars have won the last 10 matches. The Bears took WSU to five games in the past six years at Berkeley, with the Cougs winning the last five.
Eagles make things interesting
Eastern Washington still is favored to host the Big Sky Conference tournament on Nov. 28-29, but the Eagles hurt their chances last Saturday by losing at Sacramento State.
The Eagles (20-4, 11-2 Big Sky) will win the conference title and host the tournament if they win their final three matches - Thursday vs. Cal State Northridge (14-11, 6-8), Saturday vs. Northern Arizona (16-8, 10-4) and Nov. 21 vs. Portland State (11-15, 5-8), all at home. Although Eastern is 4-0 against the three teams, Northridge took the Eagles to five games in an early-season tournament and NAU lasted five in Flagstaff. Both matches were played before EWU starters Kim Maxwell and Jessica Clish suffered season-ending injuries.
Sacramento State (19-6, 11-3), meanwhile, finishes at seventh-place Idaho State (7-19, 4-9) and last-place Weber State (11-15, 3-10). If Eastern losses one game and Sacramento wins out, both teams will finish with 13-3 conference records and the Hornets will win the tiebreaker.
Spikes and digs
When the NWAACC tournament is played Nov. 20-22 at Bellevue CC, Community Colleges of Spokane will be the only school invited that has qualified in all 19 previous tournaments. However, the Sasquatch still don’t know if they’ll be going as the No. 1 or No. 2 seed from the Eastern Division. CCS and Columbia Basin enter tonight’s matches tied for first at 8-1. If they both win - CCS is at Big Bend (2-7) and CBC plays Walla Walla (6-3) - a playoff match will determine the division winner. …
Kim Exner became the all-time Eagles’ kill leader last weekend, surpassing Kellie Glaus’ 1,217 kills. … Gonzaga (9-17, 3-7 WCC) faces one of the top hitters in the country, Sarah Noriega, when it travels to No. 20 Loyola Marymount (19-5, 9-2) Friday. The senior was named AVCA player of the week Tuesday for the second time this season after setting an NCAA single-match kills record. Noriega landed 47 kills in a four-game win over then-No. 21 San Diego. Gonzaga finishes the road trip Saturday at Pepperdine (20-3, 9-2). ..
Whitworth concluded its season last weekend with its seventh straight loss and a 5-19 overall, 3-13 NCIC record. Sophomore Nicole Bruner led the team in kills (2.04 per game) and hitting (.241).
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: SUPCAT = COLUMN - College volleyball notebook