PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State volleyball was tripped up by the Sun Devils of Arizona State Sunday afternoon, as ASU defeated the Cougars 3-2 inside Bohler Gym.
Set scores from the match were: 25-19, 25-17, 20-25, 22-25, and 12-15 in favor of ASU (11-8, 3-4 Pac-12).
This opening set continued the trend of intense play within the Pac-12 as Washington State (16-4, 5-3 Pac-12) and the Sun Devils combined for eight overall ties just within an 11-11 score. The Cougars were able to break this first period of action open with a 7-2 scoring run, composed of multiple
Pia Timmer, and
Jocelyn Urias kills, along with an additional kill from setter
Hannah Pukis. WSU and ASU traded points throughout the remainder of this set, until an ace from Timmer, and a kill from
Penny Tusa sealed off the victory at 25-19.
Washington State was in full control on their home court inside of Bohler Gym in the second set, jumping out to a large 6-2 lead early against Arizona State. An ace from
Alexis Dirige, and back-to-back combined blocks from
Alexcis Lusby and Urias set the tone for this set. The Sun Devils began to battle back midway through the action, however the Cougars never surrendered the advantage, leading to a 20-17 score. Washington State generated five consecutive points to cap off this set win, with Pukis recording a service ace to see the home squad up 2-0 overall.
A set that would see the most ties of this match, the third period of action between these programs was an intense one. WSU saw an early lead with a 4-1 run fueled by a
Magda Jehlářová and Lusby block for the 12-10 advantage. The Sun Devils however found their rhythm within set three, as an 11-3 run from ASU closed out the set in favor of the visiting team at 25-20.
The Cougars regrouped for set number four, surging ahead of the Sun Devils with a 5-1 run anchored by kills from Jehlářová, and Tusa, along with another Dirige ace for the 13-7 lead. WSU continued to dominate with back-to-back kills from Urias and Timmer to see the Cougars in control at 18-12. Arizona State would not go away unfortunately, creating an overall late run of 9-2 and taking set four at 25-22 over WSU.
Set number five in this Pac-12 thriller was what would be expected from these two programs, as six ties led up to a 6-6 overall score. The Sun Devils posted a 4-0 scoring run to gain the 9-6 advantage, which would prove to be the difference maker in this final set. Despite kills from Timmer and Lusby, Arizona State maintained a led over the Cougars throughout the remainder of the contest and claimed the victory at 15-12 overall.
STAT OF THE MATCH
Freshman
Alexcis Lusby provided scoring for the Cougars both offensively and defensively in this five-set contest. Lusby totaled 11 total kills while hitting .286 on 28 total attacks, and posted eight block assists to help anchor WSU.
INTO THE TWITTER-VERSE
MATCH NOTES
- Alexis Dirige posted 22 digs in the match today, making her just eight digs away from becoming the new WSU all-time leader in the stat category.
- Pia Timmer led the Cougars with 14 kills on the day, along with hitting .303 overall on 33 attacks. Timmer added 14 digs to her stat sheet for her second double-double of the year.
- Penny Tusa (13), Alexcis Lusby (11), Magda Jehlářová (11), and Jocelyn Urias (10) each finished the contest in double digit kills against ASU.
- Washington State is back in action next, on the road to Boulder to face Colorado, Thursday, Oct. 24 with first serve set for 6 p.m.
