Kyra Holt

Volleyball Washington State Athletic Communications

Holt’s Double-Double Leads No. 18 WSU Volleyball to 3-0 Win at Arizona

Box Score
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Senior Kyra Holt had 14 kills and 14 digs to lead the No. 18 Washington State volleyball team (17-5 overall, 7-3 Pac-12) to a 27-25, 25-23, and 25-16 win over Arizona (13-8, 5-4) Friday night at the McKale Center in Tucson.
 
The last time the Cougars won in Tucson was in 2006, and the last time the Cougars swept the Wildcats in Tucson was in 1995. WSU also swept Arizona State Wednesday night and the last time WSU defeated both ASU and Arizona back-to-back on their home courts was in 1995.
 
The Cougars dealt Arizona only its second home loss of the 2016 season (No. 21 Oregon defeated Arizona 3-1, Oct. 1).
 
Holt's 14 kills led the Cougs while her 14 digs led the match and moved her to No. 9 on the WSU career digs all-time list with 1,075 digs. She hit .300 for the match and also served two aces and had three blocks. McKenna Woodford added nine kills, nine digs and an ace. Taylor Mims had four kills, two aces, and led the match with six blocks, followed by Casey Schoenlein's five kills and five blocks. Claire Martin also had five blocks as the Cougs out-blocked the Wildcats 11.5 to four. Haley MacDonald and Nicole Rigoni combined for 31 assists.
 
Arizona was led by Kalei Mau's 14 kills followed by Kendra Dahlke's 10 kills. Laura Larson had 13 digs with Penina Snuka adding 11 digs in addition to her 36 assists. McKenzie Jacobson led the Wildcats with three blocks.
 
WSU hit .222 for the match and held Arizona to a .153 hitting percentage. Arizona had 44 kills and 50 digs while WSU had 38 kills and 44 digs. There were 20 ties and 11 lead changes in the first set with WSU prevailing 27-25. The Cougars had one block in the first set, four in the second set and 6.5 in the third set.
 
"Arizona is a tough, tough team, especially at home, and to come in here and play really well and win in three is pretty spectacular from this team. I'm very proud of them and the way we battled the entire night," WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said. "Winning the first set was huge. We've been talking about starting a little faster, being aggressive in the first set and coming out strong. I think we did that. It always sets the tone for the other team to have to dig out after losing the first set. We were in some tight situations and we really came through."
 
"Our blocking started out a little bit slow but against some really great Arizona pin hitters. We adjusted as the night went on," Greeny said. "I was very proud of the way we made those adjustments and we need to continue to do that. We asked everybody to do something just a little bit better. Nobody has to be perfect. Nobody has to play out of their minds. But everybody has to play a little bit more consistent and I think we did that this week."
 
"Kyra is unbelievable. And she has been unbelievable in the past but it hasn't been this consistent," Greeny said. "She is mentally really strong right now; working hard, leading the team and keeping everybody focused so it's not just on the court but off the court that she's leading as well."
 
When asked about the team achieving the wins in sweeps on the road, Holt said, "The difference was that we come out strong in the first set. Being aggressive from the beginning and in the middle and the end."
 
WSU stays on the road another week with a Fri., Oct. 28 match at No. 14 Stanford and a Sat., Oct. 29 match at California. The WSU versus Stanford match will be at 6 p.m. and televised live on the Pac-12 Network.
 

 
 
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Players Mentioned

Kyra Holt

#22 Kyra Holt

OH
6' 1"
Senior
Haley MacDonald

#14 Haley MacDonald

S
6' 0"
Senior
Claire Martin

#12 Claire Martin

MB
6' 4"
Sophomore
Taylor Mims

#10 Taylor Mims

MB
6' 3"
Sophomore
Casey Schoenlein

#21 Casey Schoenlein

OH
6' 5"
Junior
McKenna Woodford

#5 McKenna Woodford

OH
6' 4"
Sophomore
Nicole Rigoni

#3 Nicole Rigoni

S
5' 8"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Kyra Holt

#22 Kyra Holt

6' 1"
Senior
OH
Haley MacDonald

#14 Haley MacDonald

6' 0"
Senior
S
Claire Martin

#12 Claire Martin

6' 4"
Sophomore
MB
Taylor Mims

#10 Taylor Mims

6' 3"
Sophomore
MB
Casey Schoenlein

#21 Casey Schoenlein

6' 5"
Junior
OH
McKenna Woodford

#5 McKenna Woodford

6' 4"
Sophomore
OH
Nicole Rigoni

#3 Nicole Rigoni

5' 8"
Junior
S