Sept. 9, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. -- Washington State University's volleyball squad defeated host team Fresno State, 17-15, 15-4, 15-4, Saturday night to win the championship trophy of the 14th Annual Fresno State Invitational Volleyball Tournament at North Gym on the Fresno State University campus.
The Cougars are now 8-0, the best start since the 1997 season when WSU went 16-0 and finished in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Volleyball Championship Tournament.
Fresno State falls to 6-2. This was the first time WSU has beaten FSU in six tries.
WSU's LaToya Harris had 15 kills, hitting .406 and 16 digs to lead the Cougs in the championship match. Teammates Adrian Hankoff had 15 kills while both Holly Harris and Trina Kightlinger had 10 kills each. Kali Surplus added 49 assists. Kightlinger led the Cougars at the net with four blocks.
Kara Verwey was the only Fresno State player in double-figure kills with 12. She also had 10 digs while Malia had 11 digs and Shauna McQuaid had six blocks.
Both LaToya and Holly Harris, and Surplus were named to the All-Tournament Team - the second consecutive weekend honors for all three. FSU's McQuaid and Christy Burnett also made the team. In a strange circumstance, Northern Iowa's Kim McCaffrey was named the tournament MVP. In an afternoon match, WSU swept Northern Iowa, 15-10, 16-14, 15-11.
WSU roared out to a 10-2 lead only to let it disappear as the Bulldogs outscored the Cougs 7 to 1. The visiting Cougars went up 14-12 and missed on three attempts at game point, giving up a point to Fresno State along the way. After trading sideouts, FSU's Verwey's kill knotted the game at 14. McQuaid followed a WSU timeout with a kill to put the Bulldogs up 15-14 but Verwey served into the net. A McQuaid block of Holly Harris gave FSU back the serve but Holly Harris returned the favor and blocked McQuaid for Cougar possession. WSU tied the game at 15 all when Burnett hit long but McQuaid's kill gave FSU the sideout. WSU's Zanda Bautre, subbed in for a sturggling Chelsie Schafer, tagged a kill and then served as Holly Harris and Hankoff combined for a block and WSU's 16th point. Cougar Kortney Jamtaas did not wasted WSU's fourth attempt at game serve and leveled an ace for the 17-15 win.
Game two was longer than it was interesting as Washington State ran up a 12-2 lead only to stall. Fresno State scored back-to-back points on a hitting error by WSU and a kill by Chelsey Duley, but their offense stalled and the Bulldogs could only achieve sideouts after that. LaToya Harris' kill gave WSU 13, but there were eight sideouts before a hitting error by Verwey put WSU at 14. Lindsay Closs (Spokane, West Valley High) was called in the net to end the game, a Cougar 15-4 win. WSU hit .500 as a team in game two.
The Cougars dominated the third game, having drained the Bulldogs of momentum in game two. WSU won the game 15-4, the match, 3-0, and the tournament 4-0.
"Overall, I was pleased with the way we played," Cougar coach Cindy Fredrick said. "Fresno State was very scrappy defensively as well. Overall, this was one of our best hitting games (.316). Kali does such a wonderful job of moving that ball around. On slides and blocking tonight, Holly and Trina did a wonderful job. LaToya had one of her better games of the tournament. And Chelsie played great this afternoon, but struggled tonight. Zanda came in and played very well. Zanda is like our secret international weapon. We'll just keep her hidden for a while and then throw her in when we need to and she just comes through. It was a great team effort."
In other matches at the tournament Saturday, UC Riverside scored its first Div. I win with a 3-1 win over Cal State Fullerton, Fresno State defeated Cal State Fullerton 3-1, and Northern Iowa defeated UC Riverside 3-0.
Washington State begins Pacific-10 Conference action in Los Angeles next week, playing at USC Thursday, Sept. 14, and at UCLA Friday, Sept. 15.
14th Annual Fresno State Volleyball Tournament Champions: Washington State (4-0) 2nd: Northern Iowa (3-1) 3rd: Fresno State (2-2) 4th: UC Riverside (1-3) 5th: Cal State Fullerton (0-4)All-Tournament Team MVP - Kim McCaffrey, Northern Iowa Shauna McQuaid, Fresno State Christy Burnett, Fresno State Kali Surplus, Washington State LaToya Harris, Washington State Holly Harris, Washington State
Washington State (8-0) def. Fresno State (6-2) 17-15, 15-4, 15-4 STATISTICS: KILLS: Hankoff (WSU) 15, L. Harris (WSU) 15, Verwey (FSU) 12. ASSISTS: Surplus (WSU) 49, Duley (FSU) 29. DIGS: L. Harris (WSU) 16, Malu (FSU) 11. BLOCKS: Kightlinger (WSU) 4, McQuaid (FSU) 6. SERVICE ACES: L. Harris (WSU) 3, Duley (FSU) 1. Attendance: 567.