Regional Recap - Winners and Losers
Teams that go up 2-0 in a volleyball match rarely lose. If your team wins the first two sets, the probability of winning the match itself is nearly 90%. But oh, when that 10% comes a-calling, hearts are broken indeed.
When Washington came back from an 0-2 deficit to beat USC on its home floor last Saturday night, the odds might have been even worse. Not only did USC have the home court advantage, but the Trojans had two match points in the fifth set.
That didn’t stop Pac-12 Player of the Year Krista Vansant from taking it to the Trojans until the last ball fell. Vansant led the way with a career-high 38 kills and 30 digs. When it was all over, the Huskies took the victory 26-28, 23-25, 25-22, 25-18, 17-15.
Washington is calling it one of the greatest nights in the program’s history. It’s hard to argue with that assessment. Especially because the win means they’ll get a chance to play a virtual home match themselves when the Final Four kicks off in Seattle on Thursday.
The Huskies pulled off the win despite an unreal match from USC’s Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, Ebony Nwanebu, who logged 30 kills without a single error in 553 swings and hit .566 for the match. But Nwanebu couldn’t do it alone and USC did not get much help from its star player who received the most sets this season, Samantha Bricio. Bricio was off of her game for most of the match and finished with just 13 kills on 50 attempts, hitting .100. She was also ineffective from the serving line with no aces and three errors.
It just wasn’t her night. But the sophomore will have to learn from this one and come back strong next year. The Trojans will lose three players including Pac-12 Libero of the Year Natalie Hagglund, but they should still be a force to be reckoned with in 2014.
Needless to say, the 2013 Women’s NCAA Regional weekend was eventful. In the end, three of the top four teams made it to the Final Four. I predicted that only two would make it, and Washington almost proved me right. But the late Husky comeback left Missouri as the only top four no-show.
Purdue did the heavy lifting in the Illinois Regional Final, taking out both Missouri and Illinois before losing to Wisconsin 3-1. It was a decisive victory for Wisconsin as was Texas’s 3-0 win over Nebraska in the Lincoln Regional Final. Home court advantage could not help the Huskers against the No. 1 team in the nation. Though Texas let them creep back in a few times, the Longhorns were ultimately in control of the match from start to finish.
The match that probably should have taken place in the Final Four was the Stanford-Penn State match. Just as expected, it was hard fought, back-and-forth battle that came down to the wire in Game 5. This match could have gone either way. Stanford came out strong, winning the first set 25-22. Penn State came back and won the next two 25-22 and 28-26. But the Cardinal re-grouped to win the fourth set 25-18 and had the momentum heading into the deciding fifth set. Stanford had its chances to close out the match as they led 9-6 in Set 5 before letting the Nittany Lions creep back in and ultimately take the victory behind their block and attack.
There’s no shame in losing to a team as talented and well-coached as Penn State, but Stanford failed to capitalize when they had chance, something teams just can’t afford to do against Russ Rose’s gang.
So the stage is set for the Final Four in Seattle:
Thursday, December 19th
No. 1 Texas vs. No. 12 Wisconsin – 4:30 PT
No. 2 Penn State vs. No. 3 Washington – 6:30 PT
When Washington came back from an 0-2 deficit to beat USC on its home floor last Saturday night, the odds might have been even worse. Not only did USC have the home court advantage, but the Trojans had two match points in the fifth set.
That didn’t stop Pac-12 Player of the Year Krista Vansant from taking it to the Trojans until the last ball fell. Vansant led the way with a career-high 38 kills and 30 digs. When it was all over, the Huskies took the victory 26-28, 23-25, 25-22, 25-18, 17-15.
Washington is calling it one of the greatest nights in the program’s history. It’s hard to argue with that assessment. Especially because the win means they’ll get a chance to play a virtual home match themselves when the Final Four kicks off in Seattle on Thursday.
The Huskies pulled off the win despite an unreal match from USC’s Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, Ebony Nwanebu, who logged 30 kills without a single error in 553 swings and hit .566 for the match. But Nwanebu couldn’t do it alone and USC did not get much help from its star player who received the most sets this season, Samantha Bricio. Bricio was off of her game for most of the match and finished with just 13 kills on 50 attempts, hitting .100. She was also ineffective from the serving line with no aces and three errors.
It just wasn’t her night. But the sophomore will have to learn from this one and come back strong next year. The Trojans will lose three players including Pac-12 Libero of the Year Natalie Hagglund, but they should still be a force to be reckoned with in 2014.
Needless to say, the 2013 Women’s NCAA Regional weekend was eventful. In the end, three of the top four teams made it to the Final Four. I predicted that only two would make it, and Washington almost proved me right. But the late Husky comeback left Missouri as the only top four no-show.
Purdue did the heavy lifting in the Illinois Regional Final, taking out both Missouri and Illinois before losing to Wisconsin 3-1. It was a decisive victory for Wisconsin as was Texas’s 3-0 win over Nebraska in the Lincoln Regional Final. Home court advantage could not help the Huskers against the No. 1 team in the nation. Though Texas let them creep back in a few times, the Longhorns were ultimately in control of the match from start to finish.
The match that probably should have taken place in the Final Four was the Stanford-Penn State match. Just as expected, it was hard fought, back-and-forth battle that came down to the wire in Game 5. This match could have gone either way. Stanford came out strong, winning the first set 25-22. Penn State came back and won the next two 25-22 and 28-26. But the Cardinal re-grouped to win the fourth set 25-18 and had the momentum heading into the deciding fifth set. Stanford had its chances to close out the match as they led 9-6 in Set 5 before letting the Nittany Lions creep back in and ultimately take the victory behind their block and attack.
There’s no shame in losing to a team as talented and well-coached as Penn State, but Stanford failed to capitalize when they had chance, something teams just can’t afford to do against Russ Rose’s gang.
So the stage is set for the Final Four in Seattle:
Thursday, December 19th
No. 1 Texas vs. No. 12 Wisconsin – 4:30 PT
No. 2 Penn State vs. No. 3 Washington – 6:30 PT
