Huskies ram Colorado State

After not losing a single game during a run of six postseason sweeps to win the national championship last year, the Washington women's volleyball squad dropped the first game of its 2006 playoff run, losing a game to Colorado State 30-26. Washington came back to win the next three games in a row and beat the Rams 3-1 to end their season.

The Husky volleyball players knew Colorado State would be good, but the Rams had a good first game and the UW lost its composure, said freshman Tamari Miyashiro.

"After game one, we took a step back and told each other 'We can do this, we just need to focus on our side of the net,'" she said. "They got hot and we let it get to us, but we finally told each other to relax and play our game. So that's what we did, and we beat them."

The Huskies (26-4) jumped to a quick 7-0 lead in game two, but the Rams (20-10) fought back and closed it to within two points at 21-19. Then Washington regained its momentum and eventually won 30-26.

In game three, both squads stayed close and switched the lead several times. The match featured eight ties and eight lead changes, and Colorado State held onto a lead as late as 20-19. The Rams trailed by just one at 23-22, and then the Huskies opened up the lead and continued to the 30-24 win.

Washington finally looked a little bit more like its usual self in game four. It trailed at 17-16, but once the team earned the lead, the Huskies ran with it and again won 30-22.

"[Colorado State] stayed close by us the whole time," Miyashiro said. "They played great the whole night. As it went on our serving got tougher and we were able to put pressure on them. Slowly, we picked up on their tendencies and we finally got them."

Junior Stevie Mussie led the team and recorded a double-double with a team-leading 22 kills and 13 digs. She hit .306 on the night.

"She was just going for it," Miyashiro said. "A couple of games this year our hitters would be tentative, but she just went for it the whole night, and was just being very aggressive all night. So it helped her and it helped everybody."

The only other Husky hitter to break double figures was junior Christal Morrison, who had 19 kills on 71 attempts for a .085 hitting percentage. She also contributed 10 digs.

All-American setter Courtney Thompson continued to help her hitters get all those kills with 47 assists in the game. Those assists moved her into seventh on the NCAA all-time career list with 6,380 assists. She is just 28 away from moving up to sixth in the record book.

Sophomore Jessica Swarbrick and senior Janine Sandell each had six kills. Sandell helped out on eight blocks while Swarbrick had seven.

Playing on the road in Boulder, Colo. did not seem to phase Miyashiro much, who added 34 digs as the libero.

"It's not as hard as playing in the Pac-10 schools, because the fans aren't on you nearly as much, but it is freezing outside," Miyashiro said.

Tomorrow night, the Huskies will face Colorado (17-11). The Buffaloes had a solid season to finish fifth in the Big 12 conference. They were the only team to beat No. 1 Nebraska this year.

"They're good, they're physical, and we [have] to be ready for them," said coach Jim McLaughlin. "They're very good at home, but we've been good on the road, especially on the second night on the road, so we want to put a good match together [today]."

Reporter James Schleicher: jamesschleicher@thedaily.washington.edu