HARRISONBURG, Virginia – The No. 22 ranked Washington State Cougars suffered their first loss of the new season, in a neutral site contest against the Hawkeyes of Iowa.

Set scores from the match were: 19-25, 19-25, and 22-25 in favor of Iowa (2-0).

The Cougars (1-1) and Hawkeyes were deadlocked in battle throughout most of the opening set of play, with each creating small runs to counter each other. A small run from WSU gave the Cougars the 15-14 advantage after a kill from Alexcis Lusby, followed up with an ace from Alexis Dirige. Iowa built a 6-0 run to finish off set number one, winning it 25-19.

Iowa controlled the pace of set number two early one with an 8-2 run against WSU to hold the 10-4 lead. Washington State fought right back with a 7-1 run to knot up the score at 11-11 with plays being made by Magda Jehlarova and Lusby. Magda totaled a kill and a block assist during the run, with Alexcis adding a block assist and a kill as well. The Hawkeyes once again found a successful rhythm late in the set, generating a 5-1 run to take set two over the Cougars.

Set number three featured a back-and-forth clash between these programs with WSU taking multiple leads midway through with kills from Jocelyn Urias, and Jehlarova. The Cougars put together a 4-1 run with a kill from Ashley Brown and a service ace from Julia Norville to claim an 18-17 advantage. Iowa strung together enough small runs for the remainder of the set that the Cougars unfortunately could not counter, and the Hawkeyes took the set at 25-22.

STAT OF THE MATCH
Jocelyn Urias once again led the offensive attack for the Cougars with eight total kills on 18 attacks for a hitting percentage of .333 overall. She also added three digs and one block assist to her stat line as well.  

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INTO THE TWITTER-VERSE

Final | Cougs downed by the Hawkeyes in three at the JMU Invitational.#GoCougs | #CougsVsEverybody pic.twitter.com/vE9I4oh0S3

— Cougar Volleyball (@WSUCougarVB) August 31, 2019

  MATCH NOTES

• Ashley Brown totaled 26 assists in the contest, her second straight match with 25 over more assists.
• Magda Jehlarova finished second on the day for the Cougars in kills with seven.
• Alexis Dirige continued to anchor the defensive ground game for WSU with 19 assists.