Week 11's Coaches Poll stayed very much the same this week. No major moves anywhere in the top 25 even though previously undefeated #2 Texas lost to #8 Iowa State in five sets, both teams remain in the same spots as last week.

Washington beat Stanford in three to remain #1 in the Pac-10 while Stanford fell from #5 to #7.

Two top teams will be tested this week. #4 Washington takes on #6 UCLA, now in second place in the Pac-10 and only one game behind the Huskies. #1 Penn State will take on #5 Illinois.

Here's the latest dilemma from the high school ranks. A coach asked me what I thought of this situation: the coach's best player always does well when she's in the game, but for some reason the team doesn't. Apparently she gets great stats, but the team loses.

When they put her on the bench and a less skilled player is in her spot, the team wins. The coach thinks it is ridiculous not to play her best player and so do the player's parents. What's a coach to do?

This is an unusual situation to be sure. But I would have to say that you must go with the line up that wins games. Your best starting six on paper is not always the best starting six in reality. Don't underestimate chemistry and other 'x' factors that may make the difference between winning and losing.

As a coach, your job is to win games as much as you possibly can. If you don't, you could soon be relieved of your duties. You should do what it takes to get the W, even if that means benching your best player.

There's a lesson in this for the player as well. Volleyball is a team sport. If you're the team's best player, it is not enough for you to just concern yourself with your own stats. Your job is to bring your team up to your level and make everyone around you better. Until this player can do that, she should remain on the bench.

As the talk of NCAA women's sand volleyball gets more serious, the debate over what the consequences will be continues.

My concerns when I first heard the news were two-fold: that it could have a negative effect on indoor volleyball and whether it was really necessary considering that U.S. beach teams continue to win in its absence. Both those concerns were adequately put to the test in Ali Wood Lamberson's recent analysis.

Lamberson took note of the differences between the games and the players that she based on statistics from top indoor players and top beach players. Turns out there are some major differences. According to the stats, successful beach players are shorter, have different skills and are less likely to have been indoor All-Americans.

The point being that the majority of players who will switch to sand will not take away from the elite indoor pool. Her stats are compelling. On height - 58% of top FIVB and 40% of top AVP beach players are under 6 feet tall while only 25% of AVCA D-I All Americans were under 6 feet and 40% were over 6'2" tall.

I can't believe I missed this story from a couple of weeks ago, but it seems the national champion UCI men's volleyball team got the shaft recently in what appears to be an appalling show of partisan politics.

It looks like the resolution to honor UCI's championship was pulled from consideration by a California senator as payback in a Republican vs. Democrat/SoCal vs. NorCal water dispute.

The reporting on this story is questionable because it is based on hearsay and an uncorroborated conversation. But if this is true, this Democrat has really crossed the line and an innocent volleyball team is paying for something that has absolutely nothing to do with them.

If this is just an exaggeration or a half truth disguised as news that the Republican propaganda machine put forward to make Democrats look bad, then shame on them for that blatant misuse of power.

The disturbing part is that either way this story is totally believable. Has it really come to this? Have we devolved so far into partisan politics that our innocent collegiate sports teams need to pay the price?

This kind of ridiculousness is becoming much too commonplace on both sides. The idea that our politicians lack the maturity to make even the most benign of gestures due to spite is frightening. So too is the rhetoric that currently passes for "news." Frightening, yet all too credible.