WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE…
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Behind a nearly impenetrable block, the Washington State volleyball team upset No. 17 Northern Iowa, 3-1, Friday night on the road in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The win for the Cougars (3-0) was their third-straight to start the 2018 season while the Panthers (2-3) dropped their second-consecutive contest at home at the McLeod Center.Â
Set scores for the match were: 25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 25-19.
For much of the night, the Cougars jumped out ahead of the Panthers to establish early leads that allowed them to use their stellar defense to put the sets away. In the opening set, the Cougars jumped on the Panthers 6-0 to start the match and establish a cushion they would not relinquish. Despite the offense struggling to find its rhythm the Cougars never were in danger of giving up their early lead as
Claire Martin, teamed with her frontline mates, stifled the Panthers' attack with five blocks including back-to-back blocks that put WSU up late by seven. After a small rally by UNI closed the gap to just one,
Taylor Mims put the set away with her fifth kills of the frame to put WSU up one set.
After running out to a quick four point lead in the second set, the Cougars were unable to hold their lead against the host Panthers pushed the pace to beat to get by the WSU block before it could establish itself at the net. Using a faster set, the Panthers hit a match-best .333 in the second set as the Cougars came up with just two blocks in the frame. With the UNI attack finding holes, the Cougars could not stop a 7-2 run by the Panthers to close the set, evening the match at 1-1.
Despite the loss and seeing the match equalize at one set a piece, the Cougars did not change their game plan as WSU continued to press the net on the defensive end, speeding up their reads to once again come up with five blocks in the set. In addition to reestablishing their block, the Cougars fell back on old reliable as Mims caught fire once again to lead a late charge. Down two at 18-16, Mims went to work as junior setter
Ashley Brown fed her all-american early and often. With the ball in her hands, Mims rattled off four kills in an 8-0 run as WSU flipped the set and with it the match.
With the match victory in sight, the Cougars jumped out to a big early lead at 12-6 and never looked back. The closest the Panthers would come would be two points late at 19-17, however a kill by
McKenna Woodford stopped the mini-run by UNI before a pair of blocks essentially put the set away. As she had done throughout the night, Mims finished the match off for the Cougars with the final two kills of the night to finish the match with a season-best 19 overall.
STAT OF THE MATCH
The Cougars came up with 17.0 combined blocks on the night, the most since posting 19.0 against Arizona State, Nov 11, 2016.
THE MOMENTS THAT MADE THE MATCH
NOTES…
- WSU improved to 3-0 on the season for the second-straight season.
- The win over No. 17 UNI was the Cougars' first win over a ranked opponent in 2018, they had three last season.
- The Cougars took the match victory despite hitting .190 as a team as they held UNI to .186 hitting.
- Senior Taylor Mims led the Cougars for the third-straight match with 19 kills (.300 hitting)Â while posting her second-straight double-double after adding 11 digs.
- Senior Claire Martin posted 10 blocks in the match. She moved into No. 2 all-time in career block assists with 403.Â
- The Cougars record 11 service aces on the night. Ashley Brown tied her career-high with four while Penny Tusa posted a career-best five aces to lead the way.
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR…
Washington State (3-0) looks for the weekend sweep of UNI (2-3) Saturday, Sept. 1 in Cedar Falls, Iowa with the finale set for 9:30 a.m. PT.
