WHO WHAT WHEN WHEREā¦
EUGENE, Ore.Ā Ā --Ā The No. 22 ranked Washington State (9-3, 0-2 Pac-12) volleyball program went five sets against a ranked opponent for the second straight match-up, as the Cougars battled the No. 12 Oregon Ducks inside Matthew Knight Arena Sunday afternoon.
Set scores for the match were: 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 23-25, and 12-15 in favor of the Ducks.Ā
The opening set between these ranked conference opponents saw the Ducks jump out to a 6-2 lead after a 5-0 run against the Cougars. Washington State powered back into the match with a 4-0 run of their own, aided by kills from
McKenna Woodford, and
Jocelyn Urias. Multiple 3-0 runs throughout this set fueled the CougsĀ to hold onto the lead against Oregon, as the set victory was clinched with a
Claire Martin, and
Ella Lajos block at 25-22.Ā
Set number two featured the same intensity as the first, as several lead changes and ties saw this contest knotted up at 7-7 early between these Pac-12 foes. The Cougars generated a quick 3-0 run after errors from the Ducks and a huge kill from
Taylor Mims to hold the slim advantage. Oregon however went on to create runs of 4-0 and 3-0 to surge ahead of WSU, and claim set two over the Cougars at 25-22 by the final set point.Ā
Washington State shot out of the gate in set three with a 5-0 run over Oregon to hold down the 8-6 advantage. The Cougars continued to fend off the Duck comeback in the third set of play, never falling behind throughout the set for the remainder, and only allowing three ties as well. Woodford continued to see the offense run through her as she totaled 13 kills after three sets and lead WSU to a 25-22 set win.Ā
The Cougars jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in set four, with kills from
Ashley Brown, and Lajos. This fourth set of play would continue with same the high intensity of the match, as both the Ducks and the CougsĀ saw leads throughout competition. A 5-0 run from WSU led by Woodford saw the CougarsĀ hold down a 15-13 advantage. Oregon once again went on to generate multiple small runs to narrowly get out in front of Washington State, before tying up the match at 2-2 overall, with back-to-back kills at the end of set four.Ā
WSU for the second straight match went into a set five against a ranked opponent, and against the Ducks went on a 5-1 run to open the set with multiple kills from Woodford. The Cougars held a lead at 9-7 until Oregon went on a run of their own at 4-0 and claimed the 11-9 advantage. Washington State cut the deficit down to just one point at three different occurrencesĀ during this final set, however the Ducks were able to counter and ultimately take set five at 15-12, and the match at 3-2.Ā
QUOTE OF THE MATCH
"...A really hard fought match, and Oregon is a great, great team, but just proud of our fight, just unfortunate we couldn't come out on the top side of it today," head coach
Jen Greeny discussed.
"We did exactly what we wanted to do in limiting their hitting percentage...but it comes down to those couple points here or there."
THE MOMENTS THAT MADE THE MATCH
Ā
Ā
Ā
Ā
NOTESā¦
- Brown recorded a career-highĀ 55 total assists in the contest, along with posting 10 digs for her sixth double-double this season.Ā
- Taylor Mims tallied 21 digs in the match, a career-high for the senior.Ā
- MimsĀ finished the match with 17 kills as well, her fifth straight match-up with 10 or more kills.
- Alexis DirigeĀ went on to record 27 total digs against Oregon, a season-high for the junior libero.Ā
- Woodford posted 20 overall kills, a season-high in the stat category during her 2018 campaign.Ā
Ā
MARK YOUR CALENDARā¦
The Cougars return to action next, Friday, Sept. 28 as Washington State will host Utah inside Bohler Gym, with first serve slated for 7 p.m. PT.
Ā
