Washington volleyball starts NCAA tournament with a sweep of Portland State

After seeing the fifth-seed Washington volleyball team sweep his squad 3-0 in just 66 minutes Friday, Portland State coach Michael Seemann conceded that the Huskies are a different team than the one he observed three months ago.

The meetings resulted in identical outcomes. But it was how Washington won on Friday — 25-11, 25-15, 25-14 in a first-round match of the NCAA tournament in front of 1,635 at Edmundson Pavilion — that got his attention.

The young Washington team he saw on Sept. 5 just five matches into the season is now playing better defense, is more capable in the middle and is scoring points from all directions.

"When we saw them earlier in the year, I said that this is not the usual Washington team that I'm used to seeing," Seemann said.

He added, "I thought they were going to have a little bit of a down year. I did not expect them to be where they are right now."

Where the fifth-seeded Huskies (25-4) will be today is at home in a 2 p.m. second-round match against Santa Clara (18-9), the West Coast Conference's fourth-place team. Santa Clara pulled off a mild upset early Friday by defeating Kansas State (24-8), the Big 12's third-place finisher, 25-22, 25-20, 19-25, 16-25, 15-13.

Today's winner advances to the Sweet 16 regional round, to be played at Hec Ed next Friday and Saturday.

Seemann, a former Oregon State assistant coach (2002-04), noted considerable improvement in Washington's defense and the play of freshman middle blocker Bianca Rowland, a King's High School grad.

Rowland "is probably their weakest point offensively and defensively, and she played very solid," Seemann said.

Seemann also noted that Washington was without "that absolute ace," Sanja Tomasevic, an All-American on UW's 2005 national-title team.

"They would have to be more balanced for them to have success," he said.

The Huskies were all about balance Friday, with sophomore setter Jenna Hagglund dishing her 35 assists in almost equal measure throughout UW's offense.

Kindra Carlson and Jill Collymore each recorded eight kills; Airial Salvo and middle blockers Jessica Swarbrick and Rowland had six apiece.

"Overall, it was a good match," said UW coach Jim McLaughlin, who is trying to take Washington to the Final Four for the fourth time in five seasons. "The first match [in the tournament] is a tough match. You've got to get your bearings, and I thought these guys did a good job of that."

Notes

• Washington outhit Portland State (20-9), the Big Sky champion, .284 to .020, led in kills 38-24 and did not have one of its attacks blocked. UW posted 6.5 blocks and never mishandled a serve.

• Salvo recorded three aces for the Huskies and Hagglund scored five, four of them in a five-point span in the second set while targeting PSU's Marija Vojnovic.

"Just playing a little cat-and-mouse with her," said Hagglund, who began the tournament ranked second nationally in assists per set (12.38). "Got her to move back a little bit, so I had a huge hole in the middle. She gave it to me, so I just kept it on her."

• Was playing Portland State something of a breather after a Pac-10 schedule that includes five opponents in the top 12?

"We're never going to overlook any opponent," Hagglund said.

• The tournament's top eight seeds won Friday. St. Louis (29-4), the No. 13 seed and part of the Seattle regional bracket, lost to Michigan 3-2 in Lexington, Ky.