Alexis Dirige
3
Winner Washington State WSU 2-0
1
Howard HOWARD 1-3
Winner
Washington State WSU
2-0
3
Final
1
Howard HOWARD
1-3
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Washington State WSU 25 18 25 25 (3)
Howard HOWARD 22 25 16 21 (1)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | Washington State Athletic Communications

Volleyball Remains Undefeated with 3-1 Win at Howard

WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE…
WASHINGTON D.C. -- Sophomore Alexis Dirige had a career-high 36 digs as the Washington State volleyball team (2-0) defeated Howard University (1-3) in four sets Monday night at Burr Gymnasium in Washington D.C., with set scores of 25-22, 18-25, 25-16, and 25-21.
 
Dirige's 36 digs ties Kate Sommer for the second-highest digs total in a match in school history. Dirige's 36 digs is a school record for most digs in four sets while Sommer's 2013 tally came in a five-set match against California.
 
Junior McKenna Woodford had a double-double, leading the match with 18 kills and tied her career-high of 17 digs. Junior Ella Lajos had a career-high 11 kills, hit .435 and had five blocks. Junior Taylor Mims had 10 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Redshirt sophomore Jocelyn Urias had a career-high six kills (.400), six blocks and the lone Cougar ace. Sophomore transfer Ashley Brown had 26 assists.
 
The Cougars hit .252 on the night and held Howard to a .134 hitting percentage.  
WHY & HOW...
WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said, "We have a lot to improve on which is what you want to see in these preseason tournaments against a very good Howard team that is very used to winning, especially in this gym. I'm proud of this team that we came away with two wins on this tough road trip. It's going to be a quick turnaround back in Pullman.
 
"I thought we fought hard. I like these tight situations where we either have to fight back or close out a tight set like we did. It was a great trip and definitely gets us on the right track of things we need to work on and things that we're doing pretty well.
 
"McKenna Woodford started slow but really kept at it and did a really nice job of turning those numbers around to have a great night with a double-double and hitting .286. That's what we're going to need out of her. And back-to-back nights of our middles doing a nice job and our setters did a nice job of getting them the ball a bit more.
 
"Alexis had close to 30 digs going into the fourth set and she was all over the place and that's what we need out of her. I think she is doing a great job of reading around the block. We had 11 blocks but it wasn't one of our best blocking nights so I thought Lex did a fantastic job of keeping us in match defensively."
 
Sophomore Libero Alexis Dirige said, "Our goal as a team going into this match was to just be aggressive. I felt like my defense was very aggressive this game. I went after every ball and was ready to dig anything that came to me no matter how hard it was being hit. Howard was also a very good digging team so I knew I had to just get that one extra dig to give my team the opportunity to win the rally. We won this match because we were aggressive and went after ever ball."
 
NOTES…
  • Freshman setter Penny Tusa saw action in two sets and had 10 assists.
  • Junior transfer Abby Phillips (Iowa State) saw her first action in a Cougar uniform, playing in all four sets and contributing five digs as a defensive specialist.
  • Howard won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in 2016 and are predicted to win again in 2017.
  • Attendance: 236
  • WSU will return to the East Coast in a week to play in the Fairfield (Connecticut) tournament Sept. 8-9.
 
MARK YOUR CALENDAR…
The Cougars return to Pullman to host the Cougar Challenge Tournament Thursday, Aug. 31 through Saturday, Sept. 2, in Bohler Gym, with teams from Baylor, College of Charleston, University of Incarnate Word, and Quinnipiac competing.
 
 
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