Sept. 4, 2010
Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- Washington State junior Meagan Ganzer racked up a career-high 30 kills to lead the Cougar volleyball team to a 25-23, 25-20, 22-25, and 25-22 win over the University of San Francisco Saturday night at the USF PowerAde Asics Challenge tournament at War Memorial Gym in San Francisco.
Washington State moved to 3-3 on the season while USF remained winless in six matches.
Ganzer, the lone Cougar to be named to the all-tournament team, had 25 kills earlier in the day. In the late match, Ganzer hit .308, had three blocks and an ace. Brittany Tillman added eight kills while Marcelina Glab had four blocks. Rachel Todorovich and Jordan Levenseller each had two aces. Oceana Bush had 17 digs and Sara Biondi had a career-high 50 assists, five kills and three blocks. WSU hit .275 for the match and out-blocked USF 10 to 3.
San Francisco was led by Joan Caloiaro who had 16 kills and 18 assists. Jordan Irish had eight kills while Alaina Sully added 19 assists. Whitney Swain had 17 digs and Caiti Wenger contributed three aces. USF hit .187 for the match.
"I'm happy with the win but it is relative. We have a lot of work to do but we came out with a win," Cougar Head Coach Andrew Palileo said. "I always tell the team what they see and what I see are not the same. If I think we are doing well, then we should be good against whoever we play. Tonight we won because it was San Francisco but if we had played any team in our conference, we would have had a hard time winning tonight."
The Dons had the early lead in the first set but the Cougars took over mid-set and fought to keep the lead. The score was knotted at 20, 21 and 22 points before WSU took the lead at 23 on a USF attack error. A kill from Todorovich put the Cougs at set point but Irish countered to put the score at 24-23. After a WSU timeout, Ganzer landed her eighth kill of the set and the team's final kill. WSU took the 25-23 win.
WSU went on a seven-point run in the second set to take an 18-14 lead and extended to the final score of 25-20. The Cougars relinquished a six point lead in the third set with USF coming back to win 25-22.
The Cougars took charge in the fourth set, racing out to a 10-point lead but USF laced together a late run to tie the set at 21 points. Todorovich landed a big kill to stop the Dons' surge. Glab served an ace, and the Cougs put up a block to get to match point. A hitting error by WSU took away one match-point but Tillman's attack found the floor and gave WSU the 25-22 win.
Washington State returns back to the Palouse to host the Nike Cougar Challenge tournament next week. WSU plays Eastern Washington Sept. 9, Montana State Sept. 10 and Cal Poly Sept. 11, after the WSU vs. Montana State football game.
