Huskies face Nebraska in loaded NCAA volleyball regional

It's not the Final Four, but considering the heavy hitters assigned to this bracket of the NCAA volleyball tournament's Sweet 16, the Seattle regional kind of feels that way.

"It's not going to be easy for anybody," said Washington coach Jim McLaughlin, whose unseeded Huskies (23-8) are theoretically the weakest squad in a talent-heavy, four-team cage fight set for Edmundson Pavilion starting at 5 p.m. Friday.

In the undercard, Pac-10 champ California (27-3), the No. 7 seed, meets 10th-seeded Minnesota (26-8). Washington, unseeded yet ranked 11th in the coaches poll, will slug it out with tall, powerful, second-seeded Nebraska (29-2) at 7 p.m.

Nebraska is a three-time national champion; UW is in its sixth Sweet 16 in eight years. "It's exciting when our teams meet," McLaughlin said. "It's good for volleyball."

The brass ring for surviving the weekend? A ticket to the Final Four next week in Kansas City, Mo. Whoever makes the trip will earn it. More than any other regional, the Seattle bracket is pushover-free.

Consider:

• All four teams advanced with 3-0 wins in the first and second rounds. Only two other Sweet 16 contenders also notched back-to-back sweeps: third-seeded Stanford and No. 4 Penn State.

• Washington convincingly swept 15th-seeded Hawaii, a Final Four team a year ago, at Hec Ed on Saturday.

• Nebraska has not lost a set in its past 10 matches.

• Cal held its first- and second-round opponents to 18 points or less in all but one set.

• Minnesota, winner of nine straight, finished its regular season with wins over three Sweet 16 teams — Illinois, Ohio State and defending national champ Penn State.

Not much of this matters to McLaughlin.

"We're pretty internally focused right now," he said. "We know Nebraska is big. They're physical, they've got two good setters ... and they're going to be very good.

"What really matters is what we do, how well we execute. I'm not planning any tricks. At this point of the season, it's not what I say, it's what they (UW's players) do. If they do it with great regularity, we've got a chance to win against anyone we play."

Notes

• McLaughlin is hoping for a big turnout at Hec Ed. One fan rooting in absentia is UW men's basketball coach Lorenzo Romar, whose team plays at Texas A&M on Saturday. "I think they're hitting their stride," said Romar, who often attends volleyball matches with his wife, Leona. "They're starting to peak here late. They've got multiple hitters out there. Just powerful. They seem now to be really jelling as a team. They're playing so well together."

• One of McLaughlin's favorite stats: UW's 12-2 postseason record when playing at home. "I love playing in front of our crowd," he said.