Meet the Huskies' starting six volleyball superstars

Coach Jim McLaughlin, a former surfer, has transformed Washington into one of the nation's elite. Five short years ago, UW won eight matches; now, the volleyball program has become one of nation's elite. The Huskies' volleyball rotation usually goes eight players deep. Here's the starting six, keeping in mind libero Candace Lee subs for both middle blockers in the back row, and defensive specialist Danka Danicic serves and plays back row for Brie Hagerty.

Sonja Tomasevic, outside hitter

Ht: 6-1. Yr.: Senior.

Noteworthy: 2005 Pac-10 player of the year (the first UW player so honored) ... 2005 and 2003 All-Pac-10 ... 2003 All-American, second team ... UW career leader in kills (1,716) and aces (150); ranks fifth in digs (1,157), making her one of three Huskies to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs ... Injured for seven weeks in 2004; returned for postseason play.

Thompson on Tomasevic: "She's an incredible player and an incredible person. I think she makes us better on and off the court. I call her Aunt Sanja because she's a little bit older than all of us. She's kind of the wise old woman. With the energy she brings, she's like the glue of this team."

Courtney Thompson, setter

Ht: 5-8. Yr.: Junior.

Noteworthy: 2005 and 2004 All-Pac-10 ... 2004 All-American, first team ... Leads nation in assists per game (14.96); has led UW to nation's second-best hitting percentage (.347) ... UW career record holder in assists (4,579); ranks sixth all-time on Pac-10 assists list.

McLaughlin: "She is an amazing player. She's our quarterback. Our offense runs through her."

Morrison on Thompson: "She's goofy, hilarious, definitely a hard worker. She's the personality on the team. She does a great gorilla imitation. We were at Arizona State during Halloween and I told her I'd pay her $5 if she did it next to a guy we saw wearing a full-on banana suit. She did."

Christal Morrison, outside hitter

Ht.: 6-2. Yr.: Sophomore.

Highlights: 2005 All-Pac-10 ... 2004 Pac-10 freshman of the year ... 2004 All-American, second team ... 2005 Pac-10 All-Academic, honorable mention ... Leads Pac-10 in aces per game (0.56) ... One of the nation's top recruits prior to her 2003 graduation from Puyallup High School; powerful jump serve; tinkering with the idea of going the pro beach route after college.

Team's unofficial videographer/paparazzi: "I've made three short films on my teammates, and I'm working on my fourth. Years from now, we're going to love watching these."

McLaughlin: "I don't think even she knows how good she's going to be."

Candace Lee, libero

Ht: 5-7. Yr.: Senior.

Noteworthy: 2005 and 2004 All-Pac-10 ... 2004 All-American, honorable mention ... Second on career Pac-10 list for digs (1,964); trails all-time leader Chrissie Zartman (UCLA, 2001-2004) by just 101 ... Anchors top defense in Pac-10 (.130 opponents' hitting percentage) ... Was the first player McLaughlin recruited after coming to UW five years ago.

Morrison on Lee: "Candace gets attacked by bugs a lot. We gave her bug repellent for her senior gift. She makes incredible digs, and a lot of times she'll yell, 'Uuuup!' when she digs a really hard ball."

McLaughlin: "She is a great player in many ways, maybe the elite libero in the whole country. She's going to be on the U.S. team, I'm sure. Above and beyond that, she's a special person. You're not supposed to have your favorites, but she's one of the greatest kids I've ever coached — men, women or U.S. teams."

Alesha Deesing, middle blocker

Ht: 6-1. Yr.: Sophomore.

Noteworthy: 2005 All-Pac-10 ... Fifth in nation in hitting percentage (.415); similar to baseball's batting average, stat measures a player's effectiveness in attacking opponents' defense (total attacks divided by kills minus errors) ... Second in Pac-10 in blocks per game (1.36).

Morrison on Deesing: "The two words for her are silent thunder. She's more reserved and quiet, but you get her on the court and she wants to tear everything apart."

McLaughlin: "Dees is a physical player who's going to get kills on the quick and who will try and control the net. Offensively, she's a threat on every play. Defensively, if she makes the right read, she's over the net fast. She causes problems for people."

Brie Hagerty, outside hitter

Ht: 6-1. Yr.: Senior.

Noteworthy: 2005 All-Pac-10, honorable mention ... 2004 All-Pac-10 ... Ranks No. 8 among UW's all-time leaders in kills (1,167), passing UW assistant coach Leslie Tuiasosopo (1,146, 1995-98) late this season; third on team with 3.73 kills per game ... Transferred to UW from Ohio State before her junior year ... Powerful hitter with imposing arm speed; combines with Tomasevic and Morrison to give UW an intimidating "power trio."

Morrison on Hagerty: "She's accident-prone and crazy; so intense, funny and just, 'AhhhHHHH!' It's funny because she trips all the time. She trips over nothing, and she makes a lot of noise when she does it. We got her a helmet for her senior gift."

Darla Myhre, middle blocker

Ht: 6-2. Yr.: Senior.

Noteworthy: Third on UW career list for total blocks (441) ... An agile, effective leaper who ably, consistently "roofs" opposing attackers ... Nominated as best singer on team (in duets with Tomasevic).

Morrison on Myhre: "You mean Radar? She can hear every conversation we hear. She knows everything that's going on. Everything."

McLaughlin: "She does everything well. She's a good, complete volleyball player with maybe her identity being this great blocker. But she's really improved her hitting, and her numbers have really gone up. She's second in hitting efficiency in the Pac-10. But because we had five players on the Pac-10 first team, she didn't get a piece of the [All-Pac-10] pie, and that's unfortunate."

Danka Danicic, defensive specialist

Ht: 5-10. Yr.: Senior.

Noteworthy: 2005 Pac-10 All-Academic, honorable mention ... Called on for her serving ability and aggressive back-row defense ... Aka Danka D, D-nice, D-unit or just D; often mentioned as one of the team's best dressers and dancers.

Morrison on Danicic: "Cool and stylish."

McLaughlin: "When she comes in to serve, usually her rotation is usually our best point-scoring rotation. She has great eye-work. She's always in the right place at the right time."

Volleyball court graphic by Kristopher Lee, The Seattle Times. Player profiles by Terry Wood.