PULLMAN, Wash. -- The Washington State volleyball team (12-2 overall, 1-1 Pac-12) held a block party Saturday night in Bohler Gym, tallying 15 team blocks in a 25-19, 25-20, 25-14 win over Utah (7-6, 1-1) before 750 Cougar fans.
Junior Kyra Holt led WSU with 13 kills, hit .379 and added eight digs and two blocks. Freshman McKenna Woodford added 11 kills, hit .320, and had two aces and two blocks. Freshman Taylor Mims had four kills but a match-high and career-high nine blocks with sophomore Casey Schoenlein contributing four kills and a career-high six blocks. Junior setter Haley MacDonald had 30 assists, two aces, eight digs and two blocks. Freshman Claire Martin contributed four kills and three blocks. Junior Tani Stephens led the match with nine digs.
Adora Anae was the only Utah player in double-digit kills with 10. Alyssa Koenig had three blocks and two kills while Tess Sutton added eight digs. Kendall Cygan and Jessie Jorgensen combined for 31 digs.
The Cougars' 15 team blocks overshadowed the Utes' five blocks, and WSU out-aced the visitors six to one. WSU hit .295 for the match and held Utah to a .102 hitting percentage. This was the 11th straight-sets win for the Cougars this season.
“I was really happy with the sweep tonight. I think we were just a little bit more consistent. We had great production from our outside hitters, both Kyra Holt and McKenna Woodford,” WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said. “I really think our blocking was pretty good tonight, probably as a result of tough serving.”
“I thought we had great moments on Thursday against Washington and we got some confidence from that, they're a really good team,” Greeny said. “We knew we weren't being as consistent as we can be, so we really focused on that and we were able to come out with a sweep.”
Schoenlein, who had been sidelined with a muscle pull, had not seen game action until Thursday night against the No. 6 Huskies, a five-set loss. She said, “Right now, I'm still kind of getting back into the swing of things so I'm really trying to give the team all my energy and enthusiasm because that's the most important thing that I can bring to the team right now. Eventually my game will pick back up to where it was and I can be even more productive. At one point (tonight), there's me, McKenna Woodford and Claire Martin all in the front row and we just laugh and smile like 'nothing is getting past us' because we are just determined to block everyone so it's a really fun part of our game.”
Next week WSU plays at No. 3 USC Friday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. and at No. 13 UCLA Sunday, Oct. 4, at 11 a.m. Both matches can be heard on KQQQ 1150-AM radio or online at wsucougars.com.