Washington volleyball sweeps Hawaii in NCAA second round

How good was that?

After staggering 15th-seeded Hawaii with two overpowering early sets, the Washington volleyball team withstood a determined third-set rally to close out an impressive 3-0 sweep of the Rainbow Wahine Friday night and advance to the NCAA regional round on its home court next weekend.

After defeating seventh-ranked Hawaii 25-17, 25-11, 25-23, in front of 2,913 at Edmundson Pavilion, the challenges get no easier. Next up for the 11th-ranked Huskies: a Sweet 16 matchup against second-seeded Nebraska (29-2).

"We'll play anybody," said senior setter Jenna Hagglund, who was sensational with 37 assists and 11 digs. "Whoever is coming on our floor, whoever we see across the net, we're ready for them."

Unseeded Washington (23-8) was clearly ready for Hawaii (29-3), a historically strong program that reached last year's Final Four.

On a night of consistently good passing and floor-denting kills by senior hitters Kindra Carlson and Becky Perry, the sometimes-hot, sometimes-cold Huskies were on fire for nearly the entire match.

Seriously, how good was that?

"It felt pretty good," Hagglund said. "We got on a roll pretty quick, and we were in a good rhythm all night. Our hitters were taking some really great swings, we were playing really good defense.

"We came in with our heads straight. We were pretty focused, pretty tight."

Coach Jim McLaughlin, who has now guided Washington to the Sweet 16 in six of the past eight seasons, concurred.

"I liked the way we prepared," he said. "I liked the mind-set the whole day. The closer it got to game time, I could see a sharper focus in them, and they played like it. They did a really good job tonight."

The Huskies outhit Hawaii .328 to .170, and though the Rainbow Wahine outdug Washington 6-5, Hawaii had no consistent answer for the Huskies' relentless heavy artillery from Carlson (18 kills, .395 hitting), Perry (12 kills, .323) and middle blocker Bianca Rowland (10 kills, .562).

"We served really tough and our passing was nails," Hagglund said. "It made my job easy."

Added McLaughlin: "The vibe was right, the thoughts were right, the emotions were done right, and we just played right. It was a good thing to see. But they have more left in them."

Hawaii coach Dave Shoji, in his 36th season and owner of the most wins of any active Division I coach, was impressed.

"We knew what was coming," he said of Washington's offense. "We just couldn't stop it."

Notes

• Nebraska defeated Auburn 3-0 on its home floor to advance to the Seattle regional next weekend.

"It's going to be a war," Shoji said. "I wish I could be here to see it."

Said Hawaii libero Elizabeth Ka'aihue, who had a match-high 21 digs: "I really like Washington. I'm rooting for them to win the whole thing."

• Hawaii was the second seeded team to be eliminated from the NCAA tournament. Fifth-seeded Northern Iowa (30-3) lost on its home court to Missouri in a first-round match Friday. Four other Pac-10 teams remain alive.

• Unseeded Arizona, the Pac-10's sixth-place team, fell 3-1 to Northwestern in a first-round match.