EUGENE, Ore. — No. 7 Washington State (14-1, 4-0 Pac-12) had 13 blocks and nine aces as a team in a back-and-forth, 3-1 (25-14, 20-25, 29-17, 25-23), win on the road to snap a seven-match winning streak for sixth-ranked Oregon (13-2, 3-1 Pac-12) Sunday at Matthew Knight Arena.
Iman Isanovic had a team-high 14 kills with nine digs, and Magda Jehlarova finished with a team-leading seven blocks to go along with 13 kills.
Julia Norville and
Karly Basham combined for seven set assists, 33 digs, and four aces on the afternoon from the back row, but it was
Pia Timmer who provided the late-match heroics as she finished with 14 kills and eight digs before closing out the match from the service line with her first ace of the match on the Cougars' first look at match point.
"At the end, I honestly thought we were going five. It was getting rugged out there, it was like pulling teeth," said Associate Head Coach/ Recruiting Coordinator
Burdette Greeny. "I think when both teams see each other this much, as the match goes on you're just trying to probe and trying to find things, and I don't think we were fully clicking all day," said Greeny.
Washington State held off three Oregon Set points late in the third set, eventually prevailing 29-27 with a late 4-1 run to steal the set. The Cougars later climbed out of a 17-12 hole in the fourth set, before winning the final six points down the stretch thanks to the serving of Timmer to capture their second top-10 win on the road this season.
"We saw it down in Texas at Gregory Gymnasium, coming back in the second set when we were down," said Greeny, alluding to another
3-1 road win from Washington State earlier this season at No. 6 Texas.
"This team has that in them and I love that," said Greeny. I'm really proud of the girls for not giving in. That is what we're going to really be talking about — not giving in like we did at the end."
Up Next:
WSU will return home this weekend as they get set to host a pair of network matches starting with California on Friday at 7 p.m., on Pac-12 Washington, before hosting Stanford on next Sunday, Oct. 8, beginning at noon on Pac-12 Network.
For all the latest WSU volleyball news, photos and videos, like the team on Facebook (facebook.com/WSUCougarVB), or follow on Twitter (@WSUCougarVB) and Instagram (@wsucougarvb).
WSU Match Notes:
- The win keeps Washington State's now 13-match winning streak alive, matching the longest under Head Coach
Jen Greeny— WSU also won 13-consecutive to begin the 2013 season.
- WSU improves to 4-1 on the season against the AVCA Top-25, including 3-1 against the AVCA's top-10.
- Two of Washington State's three top-10 wins have come on the road, having taken out both No. 6 Texas (Sept. 15) and No. 6 Oregon in four sets.
- The Cougars are also now a perfect 10-0 when winning the first set and a perfect 5-0 in four-set matches this season.
- Oregon became only the fourth team on the season to finish with more blocks than the Cougars, finishing with a slim 14-13 edge. WSU is now 2-1 when finishing with fewer blocks.
- With her ace on the final point of the match,
Pia Timmer moved into a tie with Carrie Couturier for fourth all-time in WSU history with 128 career aces.