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Thursday, December 15, 2005

UW volleyball team refuses to look ahead
Huskies focus on Tennessee at Final Four

By TED MILLER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

SAN ANTONIO -- Santa Clara sophomore Caroline Walters was briefly stumped as she assessed her team's chances in the Women's Volleyball Final Four.

"What's that word?" she asked.

Underdog?

"Yeah, we've always been the underdog," she said.

Tennessee coach Rob Patrick can identify. He sat down in front of reporters with a big smile on his face.

"I'm going to ask a question first: Who thought you'd be seeing the University of Tennessee here, with all their orange?" he said.

Washington and Nebraska? All business. They are most certainly not just glad to be here.

That's the story of the Final Four at the Alamodome, which begins today and wraps up with the championship match Saturday.

Santa Clara and Tennessee are the Cinderellas.

And No. 1 Nebraska and No. 3 Washington, glaring at each other from opposite sides of the draw, are the powerful queens expected to pitch the ultimate battle for the Division I castle.

The Huskies take on 15th-seeded Tennessee today at 4 p.m. in the first semifinal.

The Cornhuskers square off with Santa Clara in the nightcap. The Broncos are the first unseeded team to reach the Final Four.

Meanwhile, Washington is playing in its second consecutive Final Four, while Nebraska has won two national titles (1995 and 2000) and has played in nine Final Fours.

Neither Nebraska nor Washington has dropped a game in four tournament matches, and -- if it's not abundantly clear by now -- they are heavy favorites to meet in Saturday's final.

Tennessee middle blocker Kristen Andre, a native of Kelseyville, Calif., wasn't recruited by any Pac-10 schools out of high school.

So what has she heard about the Huskies?

"That they are going to beat us?" she deadpanned, provoking giggles from her teammates. "That's obviously what everyone is thinking."

But Andre, named a second-team All-American on Wednesday, then delivers the kicker: "They thought the same thing about Penn State. They thought the same thing about Missouri."

Ah, No. 2 Penn State. One Vol noted the Nittany Lions looked "smug" throughout their match. Perhaps up to the point when they were eliminated 3-1 in front of their home fans.

"I think (the Nittany Lions) really don't know what happened ... still," Vols outside hitter Amy Morris said.

Washington is a former underdog. Just five years ago, the Huskies finished last in the Pac-10. Now they are the two-time defending champions from the nation's toughest conference.

Yet the Huskies aren't national royalty just yet. They arrive with unfinished business. In last year's semifinal, they lost to Stanford in four games. The players all remember being too keyed up before the match and falling flat during it.

They also may have been just a little wide-eyed at the hoopla that surrounds the event.

"I think last year we learned a big lesson, and I definitely know it's not happening this year because the team is not acting that way," UW outside hitter Sanja Tomasevic said.

Coach Jim McLaughlin isn't big on dwelling in the past or looking toward the future. He prefers "present tense." He said the Stanford match was a long time ago and doesn't really remember what happened.

His obsessive focus has trickled down to his players, who have been here since winning their regional at Texas A&M last weekend.

"I don't hear anything about Nebraska," he said. "Or Santa Clara."

Tennessee, just the fourth school hailing from the Eastern time zone to reach the Final Four, was ranked 17th in the final poll. The Vols finished second in the Southeastern Conference behind Florida and are 5-3 against the top 25.

They also know they will have to be at their best against the Huskies.

"(Washington) has a very potent offense, but if we can side-out enough against them, then I think we can steal a point or two defensively," Patrick said.

"(We need to) take some chances on some blocking schemes, or defensive schemes or serving."

That's what Cinderellas do. They stay loose and go out, take chances and see if they can make something happen.

But McLaughlin and his Huskies don't want to star in any fairytale other than their own.

"We understand that if we don't take care of all the little things, we could get beat," McLaughlin said.

THE FINAL FOUR

ANALYSIS: By Ray Dise of "Collegiate Volleyball Update"

UW vs. Tennessee

"Washington has an edge because it has been here before. It will be interesting to see what (outside hitter Sanja Tomasevic) does. I think the way Tomasevic goes, Washington goes. She's really good. She really controls things. She can take over a match and make it hard on an opponent. Tennessee has to contain her and see if someone else steps up for the Huskies. Tennessee has set plays it runs that Washington will see in film. But what will Tennessee try to do to keep UW off balance? Tennessee has some really good hitters. And if Tennessee can just hang around, they might get into the mind of Washington." Pick: Washington

Nebraska vs. Santa Clara

"Santa Clara has a long, tough road because Nebraska is so big and physical. They need to serve effectively and take out some of Nebraska's offense. (Nebraska middle blocker) Melissa Elmer is so good defensively, it will be interesting to see if Santa Clara can generate points. It would be a humongous upset" Pick: Nebraska

A UW-Nebraska final?

"I think Washington is going to win. While Nebraska has been very, very good, they are not invincible. That loss to Texas showed that. Not to say Nebraska is not good -- they are awesome -- but Washington just has it. They are not intimidated by a Nebraska. They were here last year and know what they want to do. It will be a good match, but I think Washington has the intangibles."

-- Ted Miller

P-I reporter Ted Miller can be reached at 206-448-8017 or tedmiller@seattlepi.com.