Sept. 2, 2000

Box Score

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State University needed five games but prevailed over 17th ranked Kansas State in the championship match of the 11th annual Les Schwab Cougar Challenge Volleyball Tournament Saturday at Beasley Coliseum on the WSU campus.

WSU, now 4-0, defeated Kansas State, now 3-1, 7-15, 15-9, 14-16, 15-13, 15-5. Earlier, WSU defeated Utah State 3-1, and Kansas State downed Rhode Island 3-0. The USU Aggies finished third after defeating Gonzaga 3-0, but the Bulldogs ended the tournament with a 3-0 win over the Rhode Island Rams.

In the championship match, tournament MVP LaToya Harris led the Cougars with 20 kills and 24 digs. Holly Harris contributed 13 kills, 14 digs and nine blocks. Trina Kightlinger added 10 kills and seven blocks. WSU out-blocked the Wildcats 17 to 7.5.

Liz Wegner led four Kansas State players in double-figure kills and digs with 19 kills and 18 digs. Cari Jensen led the match with 27 digs and Wildcat setter Disney Bronnenberg had 60 assists.

While neither team hit well - WSU .151, Kansas State .092 - they both played defense well with K State getting 98 digs and WSU 87 digs.

In the third game, WSU gave up a 10-3 lead as ineffective attacks by the Cougar outside hitters let Kansas State claim the 16-14 win. With the match on the line in game four, WSU again climbed to a 13-8 lead before K State tied it up. Kills by Holly Harris, Adrian Hankoff and Kali Surplus gave WSU the 15-13 win and opened the door.

The rally-scoring fifth game was Washington State's from the get-go as K State only had 1 kill in 16 attacks and Cougars won 15-5.

"We tried to spread our offense because we knew their block was inside and we needed to have all our players hitting. Unfortunately we struggled on the left side but fortunately they did a little bit too," Cougar coach Cindy Fredrick said. "Both teams played awesome defense but the key for us was tremendous blocking. That has not been one of our strengths so it was good to see that come out. It was also good to see as a couple players got in individual slumps, they pulled themselves out of it and really worked hard as a team."

"We have to take one game at a time," WSU sophomore and team captain LaToya Harris said. "We can come back if we take our time, take a deep breath and play our game. We did that tonight."

Against Utah State, Cougar senior Kightlinger pounded out six of her 13 kills and hit .556 in the 15-7 first game win. Game two was knotted up at 11, 12, and 13 before Utah State went up 14-13. WSU forced the Aggies to serve four times before USU's Melissa Schoepf and Denae Molman put up a block to stop Holly Harris and claimed the 15-13 win.

WSU won the pivotal game three 15-12 after coming from behind at 10-12. Once tied at 12 points with a Kightlinger block, each side claimed two sideouts. Chelsie Schafer's kill gave WSU a 13-12 advantage and again the teams double sideouts. Utah State was called with four hits and put the Cougs up 14-12. Melissa Boyle committed a service error but Schafer tagged a kill to have WSU serve for the game. Holly Harris' over the net stuff left no doubt as to the Cougar win.

The Cougars had four players with double-figure kills and six with double-digit digs. WSU hit .271 as a team while Utah State hit .206. The Aggies out-blocked the Cougs, 12 to 11.

Washington State heads to Fresno State for a tournament Sept. 8-9, where the Cougars will play UC Riverside, Cal State Fullerton, Northern Iowa and host Fresno State.

2000 LES SCHWAB COUGAR CHALLENGE VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
Champions: Washington State (4-0)
2nd: Kansas State (3-1)
3rd: Utah State (2-2)
4th: Gonzaga (1-3)
5th: Rhode Island (0-4)

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: 
 Melissa Schoepf (Utah State 
 Jenny Pollard (Kansas State)
 Cari Jensen (Kansas State)
 Disney Bronnenberg (Kansas State)
 Holly Harris (Washington State)
 Kali Surplus (Washington State)
  MVP:  LaToya Harris (Washington State).


Utah State (2-1) d. Gonzaga (0-3) 16-14, 15-6, 15-3
STATISTICS:  KILLS:  Schoepf (USU) 13, Osberg (GU) 10.
ASSISTS:  Neves (USU) 37, Heggli (GU) 16.
DIGS:  Olmstead (USU) 12, Shaw (GU) 11.
BLOCKS:  Molman (USU) 3, Whiting (GU) 3.
SERVICE ACES:  Crosbie (USU) 2, Osberg (GU) 3.
Attendance:  73.

Kansas State (3-0) d. Rhode Island (0-3) 15-2, 15-1, 15-2
STATISTICS:  KILLS:  Fulton(RI) 7, C. Jensen (KS) 14.
ASSISTS:  Reardon (RI) 12, Bronnenberg (KS) 25.
DIGS:  Melson (RI) 9, Pollard (KS) 6.
BLOCKS:  Kauppila (RI) 2, Reardon (RI) 2, Wegner (KS) 3, Christen (KS) 2.
SERVICE ACES:  Melson (RI) 1, Bronnenberg (KS) 2, Pollard (KS) 2.
Attendance:  84.

Washington State (3-0) d. Utah State (2-2) 15-7, 13-15, 15-12, 15-8
STATISTICS:  KILLS:  Crosby (USU) 24, Schafer (WSU) 17.
ASSISTS:  Neves (USU) 68, Surplus (WSU) 59.
DIGS:  Schoepf (USU) 16, Crosbie (USU) 16, Schafer (WSU) 24.
BLOCKS:  Molman (USU) 6, Kightlinger (WSU) 6.
SERVICE ACES:  Kennedy (USU) 2, L. Harris (WSU) 2.
Attendance:  768.

Gonzaga (1-3) d. Rhode Island (0-4) 15-9, 15-13, 15-13
STATISTICS:  KILLS:  Osberg (GU) 12, Kauppila (RI) 12.
ASSISTS:  Heggli (GU) 36, Reardon (RI) 29.
DIGS:  Jeggli (GU) 10, Kauppila (RI) 12.
BLOCKS:  Whiting (GU) 3, Cullen (GU) 3, Bogacz (RI) 4.
SERVICE ACES:  Osberg (GU) 2, Ezerins (GU) 2, Whiting (GU) 2, Reardon (RI) 1, Melson (RI) 1.
Attendance:  281.

Washington State (4-0) d. Kansas State (3-1)7-15, 15-9, 14-16, 15-13, 15-5
STATISTICS:  KILLS:  Wegner (KS) 19, L. Harris (WSU) 20.
ASSISTS:  Bronnenberg (KS) 60, Surplus (WSU) 49.
DIGS:  C. Jensen 27, L. Harris 24.
BLOCKS:  Branting (KS) 4, H. Harris (WSU) 9, Kightlinger (WSU) 7.
SERVICE ACES:  Thomas (KS) 2, Five (WSU) with 1 each.
Attendance:  893.