TUCSON, Ariz. – No. 22 Washington State volleyball was defeated on the road by the Wildcats of Arizona Sunday afternoon, by a final score of 3-1.
Set scores from the match were: 22-25, 25-20, 15-25 and 23-25 in favor of Arizona (15-15, 5-13 Pac-12).
The opening set between Washington State (22-8, 11-7 Pac-12) and the Arizona Wildcats featured an intense battle right from the start, as nine total ties occurred leading up to the midway point of the contest at 11-11. Washington State began getting into a solid rhythm with a 6-1 run anchored by two
Penny Tusa aces, and kills from
Pia Timmer, and
Alexcis Lusby. The Wildcats countered with a scoring run of their own however, as an 8-2 advantage propelled Arizona into a 22-19 overall lead. UA ultimately sealed the set one victory over the Cougars with back-to-back points for the match lead.
Arizona jumped out to an early lead in set number two after the 4-0 scoring run to hold down the 6-3 advantage. The serving of the Cougs was key in this second period, as
Alexis Dirige posted back-to-back service aces to see WSU generate a 4-0 run of their own. The scoring run was capped off by a
Jocelyn Urias and
Kalyah Williams block to give Washington State the early momentum. The Wildcats were ready with a counter run of 5-1 to reclaim the lead from the Cougars at 12-10 midway through this contest. The Cougars got rolling late in the second set as a 7-0 run put the Crimson and Gray in total control.
Hannah Pukis posted a solo block along with a kill, and additional kills from
Magda Jehlářová and Timmer saw WSU in sync offensively. The Cougs went on to take set number two, as Lusby, Timmer and Jehlářová all recorded kills for the 25-20 win.
Set three opened with a scoring run from Arizona at 5-1 overall, which would then force the early Washington State timeout to regroup. The Wildcats continued to increase the advantage in this set as a 10-2 run put the home squad out in front even further. The Cougs were able to create a 5-1 scoring run of their own late in this set, fueled by a Williams kill and block, but Arizona ultimately took the set victory at 25-15.
The Cougars and the Wildcats were deadlocked in the early stages of set number four, until Arizona once again was able to generate a scoring run to begin the set, holding the 10-6 advantage overall. Urias began leading the comeback for WSU with multiple kills, and multiple block assists to close the scoring gap to just 18-16. Washington State posted four consecutive points with some help from kills by Pukis, Jehlářová and Williams to tie up the set at 23-23. The Wildcats countered the WSU run with two straight points to claim the set at 25-23, and the match overall at 3-1.
INTO THE TWITTER-VERSE
MATCH NOTES
- Pia Timmer tied her career-high today in kills with 17 total, along with hitting .227 overall.
- Hannah Pukis posted her 12th double-double of the season with 34 assists, and 12 digs.
- Jocelyn Urias turned in a solid performance as she led the Cougars with six total blocks, and added five kills to her stat line as well.
- The Cougars return home to defend Bohler Gym against Stanford, Tuesday, Nov. 26 with first serve slated for 7 p.m. Tuesday's match will also be senior night, as we will recognize seniors Ashley Brown, Alexis Dirige, and Jocelyn Urias before first serve.
