Sept. 1, 2000

Box Score

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State University claimed two wins in the first day of the two-day, five-team Les Schwab Cougar Challenge Volleyball Tournament at Beasley Coliseum Friday.

WSU swept Gonzaga and Rhode Island in three games. Kansas State, ranked 17th in the AVCA pre-season Top 25 poll, also won two matches with a 3-2 squeaker over Utah State and a 3-0 sweep of Gonzaga. In the other match Friday, Utah State defeated Rhode Island, 3-0.

Cougar sophomores LaToya Harris and Holly Harris (no relation) were dominant factors in the WSU wins. LaToya tallied 22 kills, hit. 341, 15 digs and 3 blocks. Holly contributed 17 kills, hit .536, 9 blocks and 7 digs.

WSU downed Gonzaga 17-15, 15-10, and 15-3, and clobbered a very young Rhode Island team 15-0, 15-5, 15-0. In their second match, WSU hit an outstanding .426 and kept Rhode Island to -.149.

"If they (WSU) can hit like this (all season), we're going to be in fine shape," Cougar head coach Cindy Fredrick said after the Rhode Island victory. "The reason they hit like that is that they passed so well. There were very few errors on the passing."

In the WSU-Gonzaga match, the Bulldogs took an early 6-1 lead before the sluggish Cougars came to life. Tied at 10, Gonzaga pulled ahead and served at game point but were denied at 14. Cougar middles Trina Kighlinger and Holly Harris led the charge as WSU tied it up and went ahead 15-14. A series of service errors led to four sideouts when GU's Britt Whiting served an ace to knot the game at 15. Kightlinger and Holly Harris again took control, regaining serve, scoring point 16, and Chelsie Schafer knocked down a kill for the 17-15 WSU win.

In game two, WSU freshman Zanda Bautre served the Cougars from a deficit at 4-10 to a lead of 12-10. Cougars went on to a 15-10 win. Finally moving at competitive speed, WSU took game three 15-3, and the first win of the year.

"The first game, they (WSU) were just so excited to be out there playing that they just couldn't get a grip on it," Fredrick said after the Gonzaga match. "I thought they were calmed down and then in the second game they did the same thing. It's a good time to see that they can come back and are not going to lay down and die for anybody."

Saturday's action begins at with Gonzaga playing Utah State at 9 a.m., followed by Kansas State versus Rhode Island at 11 a.m. Washington State plays Utah State at 1 p.m., Gonzaga meets Rhode Island at 3 p.m. and the nightcap of WSU versus Kansas State is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.

Fans coming to Pullman for the WSU-Stanford football game (7:15 p.m., Martin Stadium) can attend the volleyball matches for only $2 by showing a Cougar football ticket.

Kansas State (1-0)      11      15      15      15      15
Utah State (0-1)        15      11      4       17      7

STATISTICS: KILLS: Pollard (KS) 28, Schoepf (USU) 18, Crosbie (USU) 18. ASSISTS: Bronnenberg (KS) 61, Neves (USU) 56. DIGS: Pollard (KS) 17, Crosbie (USU) 14. BLOCKS: Wegner (KS) 3, MacKay (USU) 8, Schoepf (USU) 6. SERVICE ACES: Pollard, Jensen, Thomas (KS) 1 each, Schoepf (USU) 3. Attendance: 81.

Gonzaga (0-1)             15      10      3
Washington State (1-0)    17      15      15

STATISTICS: KILLS: Osberg (GU) 9, L. Harris (WSU) 16. ASSISTS: Hegglis (GU) 24, Surplus (WSU) 29, Schafer (WSU) 18. DIGS: Osberg (GU) 9, Signor (GU) 9, Schafer 13. BLOCKS: Four (GU) 1 each, H. Harris (WSU) 4. SERVICE ACES: Ezerins (GU) 3, Jamtaas, Schafer, Bautre (WSU) 1 each. Attendance: 138.

Rhode Island (0-1)      8       4       1
Utah State (1-1)        15      15      15

STATISTICS: KILLS: Kauppila (RI) 7, Bogacz (RI) 7, Crosbie (USU) 11. ASSISTS: Reardon (RI) 20, Neves (USU) 30. DIGS: Melson (RI) 6, Watty (RI) 6, Neves (USU) 6. BLOCKS: Bogacz (RI) 2, Neves (USU) 3, Matheson (USU) 3. SERVICE ACES: Lassen (RI) 2, Olmstead (USU) 2, Schoepf (USU) 2. Attendance: 55.

Gonzaga (0-2)            6       5       4
Kansas State (2-0)      15      15      15

STATISTICS: KILLS: Osberg (GU) 9, Whiting (GU) 9, Wegner (KS) 13. ASSISTS: Heggli (GU) 28, Bronnenberg (KS) 37. DIGS: Signor (GU) 13, Jensen (KS) 13. BLOCKS: Heggli (GU) 2, Christen (KS) 3. SERVICE ACES: O'Connor (GU) 1, Branting (KS) 2. Attendance: 87.

Rhode Island (0-2)      0       5       0
Washington State (2-0)  15      15      15

STATISTICS: KILLS: Fulton (RI) 4, H. Harris (WSU) 7. ASSISTS: Reardon (RI) 11, Surplus (WSU) 12, Schafer (WSU) 8. DIGS: Lassen (RI) 8, Schafer 7. BLOCKS: Reardon (RI) 1, Melson (RI) 1, H. Harris (WSU) 5. SERVICE ACES: Reardon (RI) 1, Schafer (WSU) 2. Attendance: 952.