THIS WEEK IN HUSKY VOLLEYBALL
SOUTHEASTERN SHOWDOWN
HAMMOND, LA. | PRIDE ROOFING UNIVERSITY CENTER
FRIDAY, AUG. 25
Washington vs. UTEP • 8:00 am PT | Live Stats
Washington at Southeastern Louisiana • 4:30 pm PT | Live Stats | Live streamed on ESPN+
SATURDAY, AUG. 26
Washington vs. Grambling State • 9:00 am PT | Live Stats
SEATTLE — Legendary player and assistant, and now Head Coach Leslie Gabriel leads Washington Volleyball into its 2023 season opener this week, as the Huskies travel down south for three matches hosted by Southeastern Louisiana. It’s not just the staff that has a new look this fall but the Husky roster also has six new faces, many of whom figure to be in Friday’s starting lineup or factor heavily in the rotation.
Situated in Hammond, Louisiana, the Huskies will open up Friday morning, Aug. 25, with a neutral site match against UTEP at 8 a.m. Pacific / 10 a.m. local time. UW won’t wait long for its second match of the season, coming back later Friday to take on the host Lady Lions of SLU at 4:30 p.m. Pacific. That match will be streamed live on ESPN+ but will be the only UW match available to stream this weekend. Washington finishes the opening weekend on Saturday morning against Grambling State at 9 a.m. Pacific.
Gabriel takes the reins as the ninth Head Coach in UW Volleyball history after spending the previous 22 years as an assistant coach and associate head coach, helping Washington to 552 wins over that span, including seven Pac-12 titles, five Final Four appearances, a 2005 NCAA Championship, and 21 consecutive NCAA tourney bids. She was the 2020 AVCA National Assistant Coach of the Year.
The Huskies are just outside the AVCA top-25 to start the year, in the receiving votes category. It’s the first time since 2003 that the Dawgs are not ranked to start the year. Washington was also picked just seventh in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll, so UW has plenty of doubters to prove wrong this fall.
UW’s first opponent, UTEP, was 17-13 in 2022 and 10-4 in conference play as part of Conference USA. The Miners were voted second in the preseason CUSA coaches poll this year, and had two players named Preseason All-CUSA: OH/MB Alianza Darley and OH Torrance Lovesee.
Southeastern Louisiana is the defending Southland Conference Champions, advancing to the NCAA tourney last year after going 25-8, falling to Minnesota in the first round of the postseason. SELA is led by SLC Tournament MVP Kailin Newsome.
The Tigers of Grambling State…
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