Washington Huskies2023 Record: 16-15
Conference Record: 7-13 (8th) [Pac-12]
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Leslie Gabriel (2nd year at Washington)
Record at Washington: 16-15
| Returning Starters | Departures
* - 2023 Starter
() - Transfer Destination | New Additions
() - Transfer Origin |
Kierstyn Barton - SO - 6'1 OH
Lauren Bays - SR - 5'8 DS/L
Madi Endsley - SR - 6'2 OH
Elise Hani - R-SO - 6'4 MB
Katy Wessels - SO - 6'2 MB
Audra Wilmes - JR - 6'1 OH/RS
Molly Wilson - JR - 5'11 S | Maeve Griffin - JR - 5'8 DS/L (Utah) [Beach]
Kayce Litzau - 5'10 S
May Pertofsky* - 6'1 MB/RS
Grace Zilbert* - 5'8 DS/L | Addy Benefield - FR - 6'1 OH/RS
Kiune Fletcher - SR+ - 6'1 RS (South Carolina)
Alexis Haury - FR - 5'10 S
Zoria Heard - JR - 5'6 DS/L (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)
Julia Hunt - FR - 6'1 MB
Sophia Tulino - SR+ - 6'0 OH (Santa Clara)
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Washington was ousted from the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, but this was just the start of late-season tumult for the history-rich Husky program.
UW Head Coach Keegan Cook announced his departure to future conference rival Minnesota on Dec. 12. Cook had been Washington's leader for the past eight years and was an assistant for two more. His final record as the Husky head coach was 198-56 in a tenure that included a national semifinal appearance in 2021.
Washington stayed close to its roots in naming Cook's replacement. The program's next leader was Leslie Gabriel (formerly Tuiasosopo), a UW alum and an assistant coach for the team since 2001. She played for Washington from 1995-98 and was part of 618 Husky victories as an athlete or coach before taking over.
The new era got off to a rocky start with a five-set neutral-site loss to UTEP. Gabriel got her first win as head coach against Southeastern Louisiana and followed it up with a quick victory over Grambling.
The Huskies got back on track with two significant wins against Long Beach State and Indiana in the Walter Pyramid. Washington continued this momentum in its home debut by pushing past Memphis, UNLV, and Florida International.
Washington had one more trip to California in its non-conference slate. The weekend started with a wild five-set win at Cal Poly. A straight-set loss to Pepperdine quelled any good feelings from this match.
Conference play beckoned, and Washington faced an unforgiving slate early in Pac-12 play. The Huskies dropped four of their first five Pac-12 contests with only Oregon State providing momentary relief. All four losses came against eventual NCAA Tournament regional participants: Washington State, Arizona State, Oregon, and Stanford.
The schedule lightened somewhat, allowing Washington to build a three-match winning streak against Cal, Colorado, and Utah. However, the Huskies slumped again and piled up seven losses in the next eight matches. Washington pushed USC to five sets on its home floor but fell in four sets or fewer in each of the other six defeats.
Washington went 2-2 in its final four contests to conclude a historically poor conference slate. The Huskies finished eighth in the conference with a 7-13 mark.
Most notably, the Huskies failed to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001--Gabriel's first year as an assistant coach under new head coach Jim McLaughlin.
2023 Lineup:Washington fielded a small roster in 2023, and a lot of those players saw considerable court time.
The team didn't have many returning starters, either. Washington's most seasoned returner last year was junior libero Lauren Bays. The California native stepped into a prominent role in 2021 and was named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. She was briefly out of the lineup with an injury in mid-October but was otherwise Washington's leading backcourt player with 3.41 digs per set.
Junior outside hitter Madi Endsley could technically be tabbed as a returning starter. Endsley's 2022 campaign was cut short due to injury before the calendar turned to October. She returned in 2023 and led the Huskies in kills despite almost exclusively playing across the front row. Endsley tabbed just over three kills per set and spent some time at either left-side hitter spot.
Speaking of injuries, unforeseen absences played a significant role in which pins played last year. The first domino fell before the season started, as multi-year starting outside hitter Emoni Bush was ruled out for 2023 after an offseason shoulder surgery. This was the prelude to a volatile, unpredictable year for Washington at the pin positions.
In-season injuries also plagued one of Washington's most promising pin additions. Fifth-year senior May Pertofsky joined the Huskies after four years at Michigan and made an immediate impression in the starting lineup. Pertofsky kicked off 2023 as Washington's go-to opposite and even got reps in the back row--an opportunity she didn't have with the Wolverines.
Pertofsky was a middle-opposite hybrid throughout her career, and she saw brief stints as a middle for UW. Still, her best moments were on the right. Pertofsky's health and place in the lineup also helped dictate what Washington decided to do with its other pins besides Endsley.
Sophomore pin attacker Audra Wilmes started 2023 on the left but made a long-term move to the right. Her kill total ranked second on the team. Wilmes's most notable contribution was her considerable serve-receive volume, as she remained in the passing pattern whether she was on the left or the right.
While Wilmes was on the right, Washington leaned on true freshman Kierstyn Barton at the left-side hitter spot across from Endsley. She was closer to the L2 mold and passed the most serves on the Husky roster. Barton tallied 279 kills while hitting just shy of 0.200.
The middle blockers stayed firm for most of the year with a pair of freshmen leading the operation. Redshirt freshman Elise Hani got the most work as the M1 but finished short of a kill per set in her first on-court season. The M2 spot was even less productive with true freshman Katy Wessels notching only 91 kills in 118 sets. UW finished 11th in the Pac-12 in blocks per set, just ahead of Arizona.
Washington's typical lineup featured Portland transfer Grace Zilbert as the DS for Endsley. Barton and Wilmes played all the way around in the 5-1.
The 6-2 feels like a footnote in UW's 2023 season, but it definitely happened. This two-setter offense made appearances at the beginning of the year, the end of the year, and not much in between. Wichita State transfer Kayce Litzau was Washington's "second setter" for most of the 2023 campaign. When the 5-1 prevailed, the team's signal-caller was sophomore Molly Wilson. Wilson had the unenviable task of taking over after the graduation of perennial all-conference selection Ella May Powell.
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2024 Projected Lineup:Can we pencil in a bunch of returning starters?
Washington returns almost its entire 2023 lineup. It's welcomed news for a program trotting out a small, inexperienced roster with a first-year head coach last year.
We're largely left to surmise whether any new additions can shake up the status quo. Some starters are certainly entrenched in their spots. Bays is certainly one of these players at the libero position.
Endsley will likely retain her role as a leading scorer for the Huskies. As long as she stays healthy, the fourth-year outside hitter will probably be the L1 and have her familiar frontcourt presence.
Is Bush back to full strength? That's one of the biggest questions looming around Washington's pin positions. The two-year starter could transform the picture at outside hitter if she's good to go.
Otherwise, Barton is back and could play six rotations again. But we also have to consider how the hierarchy at opposite could cause ripple effects on the outside.
Graduate transfer Kiune Fletcher is a fascinating addition to the right pin. She had several breakout moments for South Carolina last year in what was easily the best season of her career. Fletcher tallied 245 kills for the Gamecocks in 2023, which included a 26-kill performance in three sets against Mississippi State.
Wilmes is the incumbent on the right side, but will Washington make a renewed push to bring her back to the left side? The Huskies could be inclined to make that move based on how well Fletcher acclimates. Wilmes is also an experienced passer, so she could theoretically slide into the L2 spot that would otherwise be occupied by Barton.
Or is the 6-2 back in play? Wilson returns at setter and is backed up by highly touted freshman recruit Alexis Haury. Washington's late-season experimentation in the 6-2 could have been a last-gasp attempt to find something effective, or perhaps it's a reflection of the roster's strengths. A 6-2 would likely keep Wilmes on the right alongside Fletcher.
Another fifth-year transfer adds further depth on the outside. Sophia Tulino joins the Huskies after a team-leading 261 kills with the Broncos in 2023.
Hani and Wessels are the returning duo at middle blocker. Another big freshman signee occupies this position with NKYVC standout Julia Hunt joining the team.
Washington needs a DS to fill Zilbert's 2023 role. This will precipitate a competition between redshirt freshman Brooke Huard and TAMU-CC transfer Zoria Heard.
2024 Schedule:The 2024 season starts in Bozeman with matches against Montana State and Middle Tennessee State. Don't overlook the Bobcats this time.
Washington visits its first of three old conference foes in Week 2. Colorado hosts the Buffs Classic, which also puts Fresno State and Georgia on the docket.
Washington State is the next acquaintance on the schedule, and it's a perfect way to ring in the new season at Alaska Airlines Arena. UC Davis also visits.
A nostalgic trip to Corvallis is next. After a date with the Beavers, Washington has rematches with Long Beach State and Pepperdine.
Oregon State's new conference:
2024 Outlook:Washington will have more depth, stability, and experience in 2024. That's worth quite a bit.
2023 was a historic low for the program after multiple decades of 21st-century prosperity. It's easy to see who, though, as Washington simply didn't have many healthy contributors to churn through the Pac-12 grind. The Huskies were also really, really young.
If you subscribe to the notion that continuity yields improvement, Washington might be your team. Coaches picked the Huskies to finish 13th in their inaugural Big Ten season, which is probably underselling what Washington's ceiling actually could be. A steady uptick in production from experienced pins, a seasoned libero, and an incumbent setter would yield a team better than what's shown in preseason polling--or better than last year, at least.
But that's the conundrum of preseason prognostication. We don't know how much this experience upgrade will pay off until we see it live.
