WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE
BOULDER, Colo. -- The No. 19 ranked Washington State Cougars (17-5, 8-4 Pac-12) continued the hot streak by defeating the Buffs of Colorado (12-10, 4-7 Pac-12) on the road in four overall sets Friday evening.
Set scores from the match were: 26-24, 25-22, 23-25, and 25-22 in favor of the Cougars.
The Cougars shot out of the gate early on in this opening set with a 6-0 run to put WSU ahead of Colorado at 9-4 with kills from
Penny Tusa, and
Claire Martin, and an ace from
Abby Phillips. The Buffs began creating multiple small leads to close the scoring gap late in the set, eventually taking a lead over WSU at 20-18. Washington State powered through the final points of set number one as
Jocelyn Urias totaled multiple kills and a service ace to seal off the set win at 26-24.
Colorado built a small lead over the Cougars to begin set number two at 6-3, as this set certainly turned up the intensity between these two programs. The Cougars battled right back however with a 4-0 run after another Tusa kill, a block from
Ashley Brown and Urias, and back-to-back kills from
McKenna Woodford. WSU pulled away late in the set with a 5-0 run, fueled once again by back-to-back Woodford kills, and a pair of kills from Martin for the 25-22 victory.
Set number three saw a back-and-forth battle between the Buffs and Cougars early on with Colorado claiming a small 10-9 lead over WSU. Washington State found momentum once again as Woodford, Tusa, and Urias fueled the offensive attack forward, holding a 16-13 advantage midway through the set. The Buffs were able to generate a 4-1 run to ultimately take set number three at 25-23 to force a set four against the Cougars.
The Buffs continued to ride that momentum from winning set three into the fourth, after a 4-0 run forced a Cougar timeout at 11-7 overall. Colorado stayed in control for a majority of this set, until the Cougars began forcing multiple errors from the Buffs to pull even at 17-17 late in the set. These two squads traded points as the set progressed on, and Tusa helped guide the offense towards the win with multiple kills late in the set, and saw the winning streak stay alive at four with the 25-22 win over Colorado.
QUOTE OF THE MATCH
"It was a really hard fought match, back-and-forth, tons of digs, and I don't think it was real pretty offensively on either side," head coach
Jen Greeny said.
"Really proud of this team to come away with the win and especially on the road, and first time we've swept these two schools (Utah, Colorado) on the road."
THE MOMENTS THAT MADE THE MATCH
NOTES
- Penny Tusa totaled 19 kills in the contest, a career-high for the sophomore. Tusa also recorded 13 digs for third double-double this season.
- Olivia Coale provided a career-high 19 digs in the match, along with adding one ace to her stat-line.
- Ashley Brown recorded her 12th double-double of the year with 43 assists and 21 digs. This was Brown's third consecutive double-double as well.
- McKenna Woodford led the offensive attack overall on the night with a match-high 22 kills, and added a solo block to her stat sheet.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
The Cougars will return home next to face the Wildcats of Arizona inside Bohler Gym next Friday, November 2 with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m. PT.
