The WSU volleyball team will trek across the state to take on No. 4-ranked and Pac-10 Conference leader, the University of Washington, in Seattle at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

The Huskies (21-4 overall, 11-4 conference) will be hungry for revenge after the Cougars (17-10, 5-10) upset them in Pullman earlier this season, which was WSU’s first win in the series since 2002.

One week before the Apple Cup pits the Cougars against the Huskies on the football field, WSU will try to complete the season sweep of UW on the volleyball court.

“Because it is a rivalry match, I think naturally the players will be ready to go on both teams,” Head Coach Andrew Palileo said.

However, the setback suffered at the hands of WSU did not seem to slow the Huskies down much. The Huskies find themselves atop the conference standings, tied with the No. 6-ranked Stanford Cardinal. UW leads the Pac-10 in hitting percentage (.286), opponent hitting percentage (.158) and service aces (1.62/set).

UW sophomore Bianca Rowland leads the conference in hitting percentage, while senior teammate Jill Collymore ranks first in service aces.

But the Cougars are not intimidated, as they have been playing very efficiently in certain aspects of the game.

“For the most part, we have been passing pretty consistently,” Palileo said.

WSU will try to replicate their play that enabled them to knock off the Huskies in the first meeting, combining effective passing with an aggressive offensive attack.

“We attacked the ball pretty well where we wanted to attack them, and within our game plan,” Palileo said.

Palileo said that he feels good about WSU’s chances to perform competitively against the Huskies, even with UW being motivated by the first match’s outcome.

“I think we match up well with them, with what we do versus what they do,” Palileo said.

With the NCAA tournament looming in the near future, the Cougars realize the importance of each match to their chances of scoring a bid. In order to win matches, the team must stay competitive in each set.

“We are trying to put ourselves in a position where we have an opportunity to win at the later stages of each set,” Palileo said.

Fox Sports Net has selected the game as the Pac-10 Match of the Week, and it will be televised across the nation. The game will also be available on the radio at KQQQ 1150 AM.