SEATTLE – Washington Head Coach Keegan Cook has announced one of the most exciting and challenging nonconference schedules in recent Husky Volleyball history, capped off by a huge home match against perennial Big Ten power Wisconsin on Sept. 21.
 
The Huskies will have ten matches in nonconference play, with five of those against teams that finished the 2018 season ranked in the AVCA Top-25, three against Top-10 squads, and six matches against 2018 NCAA tournament teams.
 
"We were trying to think about December as we put this schedule together," says Cook. "The goal was to play some matches in difficult environments, some unfriendly venues with some passionate crowds, which hopefully will look what a regional final could potentially look like. We want to be playing some teams that we think will be late December contenders as early as possible."
 
Washington, which advanced to the NCAA Round of 16 last year and finished 18th in the final coaches poll, will put in a lot of miles in August and September, traveling to Hawaii for the opening weekend, then to Iowa for the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge, and a return trip to Creighton where the Huskies won their first and second round NCAA matches last year.
 
In the fourth week, the Huskies will do a rare home-and-home series against Wisconsin, playing in Madison first on Sept. 19 and then returning for the home opener against the Badgers on Sept. 21.
 
"The second Wisconsin match will be our fans' first chance to see us after four weeks of competing and it's going to be something special," says Cook. "Wisconsin is the type of team at the top of the Big Ten that we want to be playing against late in December. We know Wisconsin's going to have an outstanding crowd when we go play there and we want the city of Seattle to return the favor a little bit when they come over two days later."
 
The first weekend, the Huskies will head for Honolulu, where they will open on Aug. 30 against St. John's. The next day, Aug. 31, the Huskies meet San Diego for the second straight season. The Toreros made a run to the NCAA Round of 16 last year, and finished the season ranked 20th.
 
UW finishes the first week with a big road test against the Rainbow Wahine, an NCAA tourney selection last year for the 26th consecutive season and perennially among the NCAA leaders in home attendance. The Huskies last played at Hawaii in 2016, winning a tough five setter.
 
The Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge goes to Iowa City, Iowa this season where the Hawkeyes play host. On Sept. 6, the Huskies will take on Illinois for the third straight season, looking to break into the win column. The Fighting Illini made the Final Four a year ago, falling in a five set semifinal to finish the year ranked No. 3. On Sept. 7, the Huskies take on Iowa, which was a very tough squad in the Big Ten last year.
 
On Sept. 13-14, the Huskies head back to Omaha for a tournament hosted by Creighton. The Huskies upset the Bluejays in the NCAA second round last year and will try to back up that win on Sept. 14. Prior to that rematch, the Huskies take on Drake on Sept. 13 and Nebraska-Omaha in the morning of Sept. 14. Creighton finished the season ranked 13th last year.
 
The final test before Pac-12 play starts pits the Dawgs against Wisconsin twice in three days, in two different time zones. Wisconsin advanced to the Elite Eight last year and finished the season ranked eighth in the AVCA poll with a 25-7 record. The teams will be meeting for the first time since 2014, when the Huskies had a five-set win in Seattle. The Huskies have only been to Madison one time, back in 2003.
 
Conference matches and Pac-12 Network television selections will be announced soon.