WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE
LOS ANGELES – The No. 19 ranked Washington State Cougars (19-7, 10-6 Pac-12) were defeated Sunday afternoon by the No. 13 ranked USC Trojans on the road inside the Galen Center in four sets.Â
Set scores from the match were: 18-25, 18-25, 25-22, and 22-25 in favor of the Trojans of USC (19-8, 11-5 Pac-12).Â
The opening set of this contest featured an intense battle right from the start with eight total ties between these two Pac-12 programs, with the score set at 10-10 overall. The Trojans generated a 5-0 run to jump ahead at 15-10 over WSU, and Southern California would hold that lead until the end of set number one unfortunately.
McKenna Woodford helped lead the offensive attack however with five total kills, and a hitting percentage of .385 in set number one.Â
Washington State answered right back against the Trojans in set number two with a 4-1 run fueled by kills from
Taylor Mims, and
Claire Martin, along with a service ace by
Abby Phillips. USC countered with multiple scoring runs of their own to build the 19-15 advantage over WSU late in the second round of play. Martin and Mims aided in the late comeback with a block from Claire, and another kill from Taylor, but Southern California went on to claim set two at 25-18.
USC started off set three with a 5-1 run over the Cougars, but WSU was prepped for a comeback in this one, as a 5-0 Washington State scoring run followed with some offensive help from
Ashley Brown and Woodford. This set became a game of runs as Southern California countered with a run of their own to reclaim the lead, and the Cougars returned the favor with another scoring run of 5-0 to give WSU the 14-13 advantage. These two squads went on to trade the lead once again until a kill from
Jocelyn Urias, and a block from Brown positioned WSU at 23-21 over USC. The Cougars sealed off the set three win with a kill from
Ella Lajos at 25-22 overall.Â
The Cougars began set number four in control with an early 4-2 lead after a block from Urias, and a kill from Lajos. The Trojans answered back however with an 8-0 run to overtake the lead at 13-7 against WSU. Washington State continued to battled late into this set, coming within just one point of tying up the Trojans on three different occasions. Southern California however held off the Cougars to win set four at 25-22, and take the match at 3-1 overall.Â
STAT OF THE MATCH
Claire Martin helped anchor the defensive front today as she tallied six total blocks against the Trojans, five of which were block assists, and one a solo block.Â
THE MOMENTS THAT MADE THE MATCH
NOTESÂ
- The Cougars currently hold a 10-6 record in the Pac-12, and are now tied with Oregon for third place overall.Â
- Â Woodford led WSU in total kills with 15 in the contest, along with adding one block of her own.
-  Taylor Mims, and Jocelyn Urias each added some offensive fire power as well with 10 kills and 9 kills respectively.
- Â Alexis Dirige posted 18 digs in the match, and added six assists to her stat sheet as well.Â
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
The Cougars will hit the court next, Friday, November 16, as WSU will host the No. 2 ranked Stanford Cardinal inside Bohler Gym with first serve slated for 7 p.m. PT.
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