Oct. 16, 1999

Box Score

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State University freshman LaToya Harris opened the evening by surprising her teammates with a solo performance of the national anthem. Then she made the Huskies sing the blues as her Cougar team rallied to win only its third Pac-10 match of the year Saturday night before 1,392 fans at Beasley Coliseum. The game scores were 11-15, 15-10, 15-11, 13-15, 15-9.

WSU moves to 9-8 overall, 3-6 in conference play while Washington drops to 6-11 overall, 2-7 in Pac-10 contests. Washington has lost five consecutive Pac-10 matches.

LaToya Harris tied her career-high of 22 kills and had career-high of 25 digs and seven blocks. Holly Harris also had a career-high with 20 kills. Five Cougars tallied double-figure kills and four had double-digit digs. Freshman setter Melissa Wright had 80 assists.

Washington was led by the 25 kills and 23 digs of senior Kristina Laffling who just missed a triple-double with her match-high nine blocks. Lisa Underhill had 21 kills and hit a match-high .429.

In a match marked by long rallys and teams that hit only .222 (WSU) and .216 (UW), Washington out-blocked the Cougars 21 to 13 but it was the timing of the WSU weapons that made the difference.

Freshman right-side hitter Chelsie Schafer provided a big offensive lift in game three and tallied five kills in the fifth game. Her 15 kills and .387 hitting percentage gave the Cougs the momentum in the front row.

"We worked real hard on closing this week and played a lot of (practice) matches that I started them out at 12-13 and we don't have the serve," Cougar coach Cindy Fredrick said. "The non-starters kicked the starters on Thursday big time. I made them stay and practice until they could win three come-from-behind games. Then Friday we had an awesome practice and the learning curve just went Whew!"

WSU is home again next week, hosting Oregon Friday, Oct. 22, and Oregon State Saturday, Oct. 23.

Washington State (9-8, 3-6 Pac-10) d. Washington (6-11, 2-7 Pac-10) 3-2

Game scores: 11-15, 15-10, 15-11, 13-15, 15-9

STATISTICS: KILLS: L. Harris (WSU) 22, H. Harris (WSU) 20, Laffling (UW) 25. ASSISTS: Wright (WSU) 80, Churnside (UW) 51. DIGS: L. Harris (WSU) 25, Laffling (UW) 23. BLOCKS: Johnson (WSU) 8, Laffling (UW) 9, Underhill (UW) 9. SERVICE ACES: H. Harris (WSU) 1, L. Harris (WSU) 1, Jamtaas (WSU) 1, Six with one each (UW). Attendance: 1,392.