PULLMAN, Wash. – The No. 25 ranked Cougars of Washington State were defeated Tuesday evening by No. 3 Stanford in three sets on senior night, in the final regular season contest of 2019 inside Bohler Gym.
Set scores from the match were: 22-25, 22-25, and 22-25 in favor of Stanford (23-4, 17-2 Pac-12).
A top 25 matchup between these two Pac-12 programs featured an intense battle throughout the entirety with Washington State (22-9, 11-8 Pac-12) holding down the early 10-8 lead on back-to-back kills from
Kalyah Williams. The Cardinal began creating a bit of separation with a 3-0 scoring run to gain a 15-14 advantage. Stanford once again built a scoring run against the Cougs at 5-0 late in the set to hold a 23-19 lead. Washington State continued to fight back as kills from
Jocelyn Urias and Williams, along with a
Julia Norville ace cut the deficit to just one at 23-22. The visitors went on to record consecutive points to claim set one at 25-22 however.
The second set in this conference match began just as fierce as the first with these two squads knotted up at 6-6, with some help from an
Alexcis Lusby kill, along with a Lusby and Urias block. Stanford surged ahead of WSU at this point with a 6-0 scoring run to put the score at 13-7. The Cougars posted multiple 3-0 runs to continually cut into the Cardinal lead as kills from
Pia Timmer,
Magda Jehlářová, and Lusby eventually forced a Stanford timeout at 17-15. Washington State went on to tie up set number two on several occasions, with kills from Tusa, and
Hannah Pukis, leading to a 22-22 score. The Cardinal once again would post a small run at the end of the set to win it 25-22 overall.
A combination offensive attack of Lusby, Pukis, and Timmer kept the home squad in front early on in set number three, with the 7-5 advantage. Stanford went on to record a scoring run of 8-1 to gain control of the third period with a 14-10 advantage over WSU. The Cougs began making their move towards a comeback with a 4-1 run of their own, fueled by Tusa and Urias, trailing the Cardinal only 21-20. These two squads continued trading points down the stretch of set three, but a 4-2 Stanford run ultimately sealed the set victory at 25-22, and the match win at 3-0 as well.
INTO THE TWITTER-VERSE
MATCH NOTES
- Magda Jehlářová led the offensive attack of WSU on the night with nine kills and a hitting percentage of .500 overall.
- Hannah Pukis posted double-double number 13 this season with 27 assists and a team-high 13 digs.
- Kalyah Williams and Pia Timmer each aided the offensive effort with seven kills each as well.
- Washington State returns to action Saturday, Nov. 30 as the Cougars travel to Seattle to face rival Washington in the Boeing Apple Cup Series inside Alaska Airlines Arena. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m.
