Box Score PULLMAN, Wash. -- The No. 25 Washington State volleyball team needed five sets but achieved its 21st win of the season and its 11th win in Pac12 action to move ahead of USC (18-12, 10-9) in conference standings Wednesday night in Bohler Gym. WSU (21-10 overall, 11-8 Pac-12) won with set scores of 17-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-25, 15-8.
 
The 21 wins ties the 1993 team for sixth-most wins in WSU history. The 11 conference wins is the most for a Cougar team since 2002 when WSU ended the season at 11-7, tied for third in the Pac-10.
 
Kyra Holt led the Cougs with 18 kills and 12 digs for the 49th double-double of her career, and had five blocks. McKenna Woodford had 14 kills and four blocks. Taylor Mims and Claire Martin, currently first and third in the Pac-12 in blocks per set, each had seven blocks. Mims also contributed eight kills and three aces. Hailey Bethune added seven kills, hitting .385 on the night. Alexis Dirige had 19 digs and Tani Stephens served two aces. Haley MacDonald had a double-double with 17 assists and 10 digs while Nicole Rigoni had 23 assists and nine digs.
 
USC's leaders were Khalia Lanier with 27 kills and 12 digs, Niki Withers with 12 kills, Elise Ruddins with nine kills and six blocks, and Jordan Dunn with five blocks. Reni Meyer-Whalley and Alice Pizzasegola combined for 43 assists and Taylor Whittingham had 19 digs.
 
The visitors tallied 57 kills to WSU's 53, had 70 digs to WSU's 62, and hit .203 on the night while WSU hit .167 for the match. The Cougars, the national leaders in total blocks and blocks per set, tallied 15 blocks to USC's 12 and WSU served eight aces to USC's four.
 
"I'm very proud of this team for getting the win against a very, very tough USC team," WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said. "We were able to grind it out in five. It was a little inconsistent at times but I was glad we were a little more consistent in the fifth set. We needed to settle down and get our defensive going more. Our serve wasn't great until the end of the match and that definitely helped us. I thought Taylor Mims, especially, had some great blocks and shifted the momentum."
 
"We really try not to put more emphasis on one match or another. Just to come out and prepare every single time," Greeny said. "But it is late in the season and we're trying to get to playoffs so we have to treat every match as that."
 
When asked what the senior tri-captain Holt said to the team before the match, she replied, "Every game is important. Just take it one point at a time. Go out there and be confident and just kill it."
 
WSU takes on conference leader No. 7 Washington (25-4, 15-4) Sat., Nov. 26 at 2 p.m. at Bohler Gym in a match to be televised by the Pac-12 Network. It is also WSU's senior celebration and the Cougars will honor Hailey Bethune, Kyra Holt, Haley MacDonald and Tani Stephens before the match.