PULLMAN, Wash. -- The talented but youthful Washington State volleyball team (11-2, 0-1) put up a good fight but fell in five sets to No. 6 Washington (11-0, 1-0) Thursday night before 1,458 fans in Bohler Gym. It was the Pac-12 Conference opening match for both schools.
In a match where six of the dozen WSU players seeing action on the court were freshmen, the set scores were 22-25, 25-15, 25-11, 20-25 and 15-4.
WSU was led by the 14 kills and 10 digs from junior Kyra Holt while freshman Taylor Mims had 11 kills, hit .409 on the night and had five blocks. Freshman McKenna Woodford had nine kills and freshman Claire Martin had four kills and five blocks. Freshman Haley DeSales added two aces, two blocks and seven digs. The lone senior on the squad, Kate Sommer, had 17 digs. Haley MacDonald tallied a double-double with 40 assists and 10 digs. The Cougars hit .083 for the match.
The Huskies were led by the 14 kills and match-high 20 digs from Courtney Schwan while Tia Scambray had 13 kills and 13 digs. Melanie Wade led the match with nine blocks and had eight kills. Lianna Sybeldon and Crissy Jones each had five blocks. Setters Bailey Tanner and Cassie Strickland combined for 51 assists and Strickland also had 12 digs.
WSU came out of the gate with a solid come-from-behind win in the first set, 25-22, handing UW its first opening set loss of the season. Holt had six of her 14 kills in this set. Cougars were flat offensively in the second set, held to 15 points and a .029 hitting percentage, and continued to struggle in the third set, losing 25-11. WSU rallied in the fourth set, behind the six kills and .667 hitting percentage of Mims, and took the 25-20 win. WSU could not maintain the momentum and the visitors took the fifth set 15-4.
“(I saw) some resiliency definitely. We were able to fight back and when the going got tough we didn't let down, we just kept going,” WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said. “I was really impressed with Taylor Mims and the way she played and Claire Martin and her blocking. I was also impressed with our defense and thought Haley MacDonald did a nice job of distributing the ball.”
“I think it was an eye opening experience (for our eight freshmen),” Greeny said. “You play a preseason schedule, but then to come in and play such a great team like Washington, ranked number six. I really think as the match went on they got more use to the pace and the intensity of it. Now they really know what we are talking about when we say this is the Pac 12.”
Mims said, “The match showed a lot of integrity from us. We can show how much tenacity we can get as a team. It was a good start for us but not the way we wanted it. It gives everyone a look at what WSU has to offer.”
WSU hosts Utah (7-5 overall, 1-0 Pac-12) Saturday, Sept. 26, in a 7 p.m. match in Bohler Gym.