Volleyball | Huskies pound Penn State, advance to Final Four

Using teamwork and determination, Washington's Janine Sandell (17) and Alesha Deesing (2) block a shot attempt by Penn State's Nicole Fawcett in the NCAA tournament regional final at Edmundson Pavilion. (MARK HARRISON / THE SEATTLE TIMES)

Giant slayers.

Facing an opponent with taller lineup and a higher tournament seeding — the same scenario it faced when it won the 2005 national championship — the Washington volleyball team again beat the odds by topping favored Penn State 3-1 Saturday night in front of 6,549 at Edmundson Pavilion.

By wining their 31st consecutive home match, a streak that dates to 2004, the Huskies (29-4) advance to their third consecutive NCAA Final Four next Thursday in Omaha, Neb.

The Huskies won the first two games, taking a close first game 30-27, then rallying to take the second game 30-24. Penn State captured the third game, 30-28, but Washington earned its Final Four trip with a 30-26 victory in Game 4.

Stevie Mussie led the Huskies with 20 kills, Christal Morrison added 15 and Alesha Deesing had 13.

Deesing helped the Huskies get off to a good start in the first game, with five kills. Mussie added four kills, including the game-winner. Courtney Thompson, the Huskies' All-American setter, had 16 assists. She finished with 60 for the match.

Penn State led the second game 9-2, before the Huskies rallied to win.

Game 3 was close all the way, with the Nittany Lions winning to force a fourth game.

Nebraska and Stanford also advanced to the Final Four on Saturday. Nebraska trailed Minnesota 2-0, but rallied to win the last three games at Gainesville, Fla. Stanford beat Texas 3-1 on the Longhorns' home floor.

The other regional final matched UCLA and Hawaii late Saturday night.

Penn State's last visit to Edmundson Pavilion for regional play was in 2004, as the nation's third-ranked team. Penn State, however, was upset by UCLA in the Sweet 16 round. Washington defeated UCLA in the regional final to advance to its first Final Four.

The Huskies lost to eventual national champion Stanford in the national semifinals that year, in Long Beach, Calif.

Last year the Huskies capped a remarkable turnaround for the program, engineered by coach Jim McLaughlin, when they swept top-seeded Nebraska 3-0 in the NCAA title match at the Alamodome last December.

Washington swept all six opponents during last year's tournament, making the Huskies the first team to blank six straight opponents 3-0 in a 64-team format. (Texas swept five opponents en route to the 1988 NCAA title.)

UW volleyball thus joined football, women's crew and men's crew as the only programs at UW to achieve a national title. Volleyball is the only program to win a crown in a 64-team tournament.

McLaughlin, who won the 1990 NCAA men's title while coaching at USC, last year became the first coach to win both a men's and women's championship.

When McLaughlin arrived at Washington in 2001, hired by former athletic director Barbara Hedges, the Huskies were coming off an 8-19 overall record and a tie for last place (2-16) in the Pac-10. UW had won fewer than 10 matches in each of the previous three seasons.

McLaughlin boosted Washington to an 11-16 record in his first year, then 20-11 in 2002 when UW returned to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1996.

Notes

• Penn State entered regional play with the nation's best hitting percentage (.323). Washington started the weekend ranked eighth (.286). The Huskies ranked third nationally in kills per game (17.19) while Penn State was No. 13 (16.71).

• UW and Penn State had been ranked among the nation's top five teams all season in the American Coaches Volleyball Association poll. Washington began the weekend ranked No. 3, Penn State No. 5.

• Seedings for the tournament (Penn State No. 3, Washington No. 6) were determined by the NCAA tournament selection committee, which consists of 10 university administrators from across the country.