PULLMAN, Wash. -- The Washington State volleyball team (15-13 overall, 4-12 Pac-12) lost to No. 6 Stanford (18-6, 12-4) Sunday afternoon in Bohler Gym with set scores of 25-18, 20-25, 25-16, and 25-18.
Freshman McKenna Woodford led WSU with 15 kills and had three blocks and six digs. Kyra Holt had a double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs and served the lone Cougar ace of the match. Casey Schoenlein led the match with eight blocks and had six kills. Ashley Vander Tuig added six kills and five blocks, while Claire Margin contributed four blocks. Haley MacDonald set up four assists and Kate Sommer, in her final match at Bohler Gym, had 11 digs.
The Cardinal were led by Merete Lutz' 16 kills (.464) and six blocks. Hayley Hodson had 15 kills, 11 digs and four blocks. Brittany Howard had 10 kills and 11 blocks. Ivana Vanjak contributed another six blocks. Madi Bugg had 45 assists and 13 digs while Halland McKenna added 11 more digs.
Stanford hit .292 for the match and WSU hit .169. The Cardinal had a narrow lead in blocks with 13 to the Cougars' 12.
“I think we let them go on too many runs,” WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said. “During that second set I thought our blocking was tremendous and we served really well. Offensively we have to be better at limiting our unforced errors. We have a tough road ahead of us, literally on the road for the next four matches, so we need to focus in and get some wins on the road.”
“They have a really good block all-around and they definitely overloaded me on the block and I struggled with that in this game,” MacDonald said. “We had a few really good things today. At times our defense was really good in the right spot and that was due to our block. Our blocking had some great streaks and that is something we have been working on.”
WSU takes plays at Oregon Wednesday, Nov. 18, and then at Oregon State Friday, Nov. 20. Both matches will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.