at Arizona State (7-7, 0-3) | Thursday, Oct. 7 | 7 p.m. > Live Stats | StatBroadcast > Watch | Pac-12 Insider

at Arizona (11-3, 3-0) | Sunday, Oct. 10 | Noon > Live Stats | StatBroadcast > Watch | Pac-12 Insider

 

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MATCH PREVIEW
The Cougs hit the road as they head to the state of Arizona to take on the Sun Devils and the Wildcats to kick off a four-match road trip. WSU is looking for its first Arizona road trip sweep since 2018 when the Cougs took down the Wildcats, 3-2, and the Sun Devils, 3-0. 
In the opener, the Cougs have dominated the series against ASU winning 7 of the last 10 including sweeping the series in Tempe last season. In the two matches last spring the Cougs picked up 24 combined kills from Pia Timmer while Magda Jehlarova added 22 kills and 14 blocks.
Against the Wildcats, the Cougs split their home series in the spring winning 3-1 in the first match before falling 3-0 to close the weekend. In the last 10 meetings the Cougs are 6-4 including a 3-2 record at the McKale Center. Last year, it all came down to the blocking as WSU outblocked Arizona 14-5 in the opening match to win while the Wildcats flipped the script in the season final with a 12-5 edge to grab the victory.

LAST TIME OUT
> The Cougs dropped a pair of matches to USC, 3-1, and #15 UCLA, 3-2, falling just shy of another top-25 win at home at Bohler Gym.
> Freshman Katy Ryan was the Cougs' best over the weekend with 28 total kills on an impressive .415 hitting. She posted a career-best 19 kills against the Bruins Sunday.
> WSU struggled in the service game, typically a strength for the Cougs, with 21 errors while picking up just 11 aces. The Trojans and Bruins combined for 14 aces in the two matches.
> Despite blocking well, led by Magda Jehlarova's 12 blocks, the Cougs saw the LA schools hit a combined .259, the first 2021 opponents to break the .200 barrier in Bohler.

QUICK NOTES
> The Cougs fell for the first times in Pac-12 play dropping two matches to the LA schools to close out their four-match homestand to begin conference play.
> WSU is 3-4 away from Pullman on the year (2-2 in true road contests), but have won its last three when the team won the Thunderdome Classic at UC Santa Barbara.
> Pia Timmer enters the weekend 6th in the Pac-12 and 58th in the nation at 3.86 kills per set. 
> Magda Jehlarova ranks 2nd in the Pac-12 with 64 total blocks while her 1.23 blocks per set ranks 3rd in the Pac-12 and 60th nationally.
> Setter Hannah Pukis moved into the 9th all-time for assists with 2,236. She ranks 2nd in the Pac-12 and 25th in the nation at 10.67 assists per set (she ranks 1st in total assists with 555)
> Penny Tusa continues to serve her way up the top-10 aces list moved into a tie with Kyra Holt for 6th all-time with 123 aces. (Next up is 5th - 125 by Cindy Baker, 1985-88)
> WSU ranks 37th in the RPI entering the weekend while sitting 27th in the Pablo Rankings.
> WSU continues its pursuit of a 16th overall and 6th-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Washington State is one of only 17 programs (14 from Power 5 Schools) in the nation, out of 334 total schools, to qualify for the NCAA Championship Tournament in 5 consecutive seasons (2016-20). 
            - Others included are: Baylor, BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, San Diego, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin
 

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