Huskies volleyball keeps title in striking distance

His team has played in the NCAA volleyball Final Four for three straight seasons and won a national championship in 2005.

His roster features three returning All-Americans, including first-team outside hitter Christal Morrison, the 2006 Pac-10 player of the year and the Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 NCAA Final Four.

His players respect his systems, embrace his work ethic, marvel at his think-tank understanding of the game, quote his bromides and acknowledge him as one of the most thorough and insightful mentors they have ever encountered. They also laugh at his jokes and call him "Jim."

Washington coach Jim McLaughlin has a lot going his way. So how did he react when his 2007 Huskies were ranked a relatively modest No. 8 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll? Disbelief? Dismay? Disappointment?

"I'd vote us right about where we are," said McLaughlin, who does not vote in the poll. "We're a top-10 team, and if you're in the top 10, you're within striking distance of winning that national championship. Then it's just how much you can improve.

"It's important to understand that where you start has no correlation to where you finish most of the time. We've just got to get better."

McLaughlin, who preaches a gospel of perpetual improvement to his players, will get his first in-game look at his lineup during this weekend's Husky Classic.

Washington, which ended its 2006 season ingloriously by being routed 3-0 by Stanford in a national semifinal last December, hosts San Francisco at 7 p.m. tonight at Edmundson Pavilion. The Huskies also play matches Saturday at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.

A look at UW personnel:

Key returnees: Morrison, a 6-foot-2 three-time All-American who ranked second in the Pac-10 last year in kills per game (4.56); 5-9 senior outside hitter Stevie Mussie, second on the team in kills per game (3.82) in 2006.

There are also a pair of All-American middle blockers in 6-1 senior Alesha Deesing and 6-1 junior Jessica Swarbrick; and libero Tamari Miyashiro, a Pac-10 all-freshman team choice last year.

Key loss: Four-time All-American setter Courtney Thompson, who now is training as a member of the 24-player U.S. national team and hoping to be one of the 12 invited to represent the U.S. at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Key newcomers: Three new setters, led by 5-10 freshman Jenna Hagglund from West Chester, Ohio. Hagglund completed high school early, enrolled at Washington for the spring quarter, and pulled a 3.7 grade-point average while training with the team.

To be determined: The Washington offense is stocked with skilled outside hitters. McLaughlin says 5-10 junior Jill Collymore has boosted her career hitting percentage by 17 percent. Redshirt freshman Becky Perry (6-2) and freshman Kindra Carlson (6-0) were hitting rockets during an intrasquad scrimmage last Saturday.

On defense, senior Ashley Aratani and sophomore Megan McAfee will battle for playing time as defensive specialist. "Megan McAfee is ripping it up," McLaughlin said. "She has made a lot of progress."

McLaughlin says he never knows who will be in his starting lineup, instead allowing statistics gleaned from practice to determine which players get the call. No one is guaranteed playing time unless their practice stats put them in the lineup.

That applies to everyone, including Morrison.

"That's how our system works — the player with the best number plays," she said. "That's how it should be everywhere."

Notes

• UW's roster also includes 6-foot junior outside hitter Airial Salvo, the 2006 Mountain West Conference player of the year who will redshirt this season after transferring from Utah. McLaughlin calls Salvo "one of the most complete players I've ever coached."

• Morrison and Mussie each have had knee surgeries since last season. In June, Morrison had her fourth arthroscopic procedure in four years at UW. The operation removed a loose suture from a previous surgery to eliminate irritation in her right knee.

In March, Mussie had cartilage placed in her right knee to buffer discomfort in the joint. She had arthroscopic surgery in September 2005, causing her to redshirt that season after transferring from Pacific. Mussie estimates the knee has 80 to 85 percent of its customary strength.