Sept. 30, 2000

Box Score

SEATTLE, Wash. -- Washington will not forget the name LaToya Harris very soon. Harris, a WSU sophomore from Portland, Ore., levied a season-high 21 kills and hit .704 to lead the Cougars to a 15-2, 15-7, 15-13, win Friday night before 833 fans at a very warm and humid Pavilion Addition.

Washington State is now 10-4 overall, 1-4 in Pacific-10 Conference play, while Washington drops to 4-8 overall and 0-5 in conference play. It was UW's sixth consecutive loss.

Besides LaToya Harris on the offensive end, the Cougars grabbed their first Pac-10 win with 16 kills from Chelsie Schafer, 12 from Zandra Bautre and 11 from Holly Harris. LaToya Harris had 10 digs and Bautre dug up 11. Harris also had three service aces. Trina Kightlinger had five blocks. WSU hit .422 for the match.

Washington was led by the 17 kills of Lisa Underhill. Only Allison Richardson reached double-figure digs with 10. The Huskies were playing without starting junior swing hitter Malena Thompson, who sat out the game due to disciplinary actions.

The Cougars came out roaring in game one, never losing control of the tempo, winning 15-2. LaToya Harris had six kills in eight attacks with no errors (.750) while WSU hit .500 and kept the Huskies to a mere .057.

Game two was a see-saw battle for the first half, with the game knotted at seven points. Schafer's kill put WSU up 8-7 and then the teams traded 10 sideouts before the Cougs went on a scoring tear. WSU closed out the 15-7 win with eight unanswered points, giving up only three sideouts. LaToya Harris again led the Cougs with eight more kills and hit .765 after two. WSU hit .488 as a team while UW improved dramatically to .361.

The third game was tied at seven when WSU went on a scoring run with five unanswered points for a 12-7 lead. LaToya Harris committed only her second hitting error of the night and the Huskies reached eight. Underhill gave UW point number nine while the WSU offense stalled. Schafer rallied with two kills and put WSU up 13-9 but Washington advanced twice on Cougar hitting errors. Allison Richardson tied it up at 13 when Holly Harris slammed one in the corner for the sideout. Underhill returned the favor but a Richardson hit in the net gave WSU the serve. Underhill hit long and WSU served for game. A block by Zanda Baute and Holly Harris put the game away 15-13.

"There's no better feeling in the world than to be able to sing the Cougar Fight song in the Husky gymnasium when you finish with probably just as many fans there as they did," Cougar coach Cindy Fredrick said. "The kids came out to take care of business tonight and that's exactly what they did."

"I had to keep a clear mind and just play like I know how," WSU captain LaToya Harris said. "We needed to play as a team. Everything would come together once I listened to my teammates tell me where to hit and everything came together well. Since it was Washington-Washington State, it pumped me up a little more than usual. Now that we have our win and our momentum is up, we'll be ready to take on Stanford and Cal."

Washington State travels to Stanford and California next weekend.

Washington State (10-4, 1-4) def. Washington (4-8, 0-5) 15-2, 15-7, 15-13 STATISTICS:
KILLS: T. Harris (WSU) 21, Underhill (UW) 17.
ASSISTS: Surplus (WSU) 58, Maurer (UW) 30.
SERVICE ACES: T. Harris (WSU) 3, Three (UW) 1 each.
DIGS: Bautre (WSU) 11, Richardson (UW) 10.
BLOCKS: Kightlinger (WSU) 5, Benjamin (UW) 2.
Attendance: 833.