11th-ranked Cougars travel into Waco for midweek battle at No. 18 Baylor

Wednesday, September 13

Waco, TX

5:00 PM

Washington State University

Baylor

Photo by: Shelly Hanks/WSU Photo Services

11th-ranked Cougars travel into Waco for midweek battle at No. 18 Baylor

September 11, 2023 | Volleyball

WSU Match Notes Live Stats Listen Live Watch Live

No. 11 Washington State will play No. 18 Baylor on Wednesday at 5 p.m. (PST) on ESPN+.

PULLMAN, Wash. — Coming off of its first ranked win of the season and its first top-10 win since 2021, 11^th-ranked Washington State volleyball (8-1) now travels south to take on No. 18 Baylor (4-3) on Wednesday night at 5 p.m. (PST) from the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas. The Cougars will be looking for their first win on the road in Waco in a rematch of a 2021 NCAA Second Round matchup that saw the Bears win 3-0 to advance in the tournament on its home court.

Washington State went 6-0 over the past two weeks as it hosted back-to-back home tournaments in Bohler Gym, culminating in last Friday's four-set win over an eighth-ranked BYU (8-1) team. Wednesday's match at Baylor will be streamed live on Big XII Now (ESPN +).

Full Match Notes (PDF)
MATCH INFO
>> at No. 18 Baylor (4-3, 0-0 Big XII)
>> DATE: Wed., Sept. 13 // First serve: 7 p.m. (CST)/ 5 p.m. (PST)
>> LOCATION: Waco, Texas // Ferrell Center
>> OPP NICKNAME: Bears
>> OPP STREAK: Won 3
>> OPP LAST THREE: 3-0 at Colo. St. // 3-1 vs Bowling Green // 3-0 vs Pacific

SERIES HISTORY: WSU VS BAYLOR
>> Overall: Baylor leads 3-1
>> In Waco: Baylor leads 2-0
>> In Pullman: Baylor leads 1-0
>> Neutral: WSU leads 1-0
>> No. 6 Baylor defeated No. 22 Washington State, 3-0, in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Pia Timmer, the team's leader for the season in kills/set (3.79), played two sets in the match, but in a limited capacity due to injury.
>> WSU won the first meeting between the two programs back in 1993 when the Cougars, led by head coach Cindy Fredrick, defeated Baylor, 3-1 at the Nevada Turkey Day Tournament in Reno, Nev.
>> Baylor is 3-0 on its home court in Waco, winning 3-2 in the 2016 Baylor Invite.
>> Baylor was the last team to beat WSU at the Cougar Challenge with a five-set win in Bohler Gym in 2017. WSU has since won the last 15 matches at its annual home tournament, defeating No. 8 BYU in four sets last Friday to cap the 2023 edition.

COUGAR VOLLEYBALL QUICK NOTES
>> Washington State jumped two more spots to No. 11 in the fourth AVCA Division I Top-25 Coaches' Poll of the season, the highest national ranking for the Cougars since reaching No. 10 in 2016.
>> Washington State has appeared in 180 AVCA Top-25 polls, finishing 13 seasons in the final top-25 poll.
>> WSU has cracked the top-10 in 31 polls with its highest all-time ranking coming in Oct. of 1995 when the Cougars reached No. 5 in the nation.
>> The Cougars rank 24th in the nation and fourth in the Pac-12 with 13.10 assists/set as a team and are third in the NCAA with a .345 attack percentage as a team, the second-best of any team in the Pac-12 through three weeks.
>> Wednesday's match in Waco is the second of three consecutive top-25 matches for WSU as it gets set to take on defending national champion, sixth-ranked Texas on Friday night at 5 p.m.
>> Magda Jehlářová was nominated for Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row after averaging 2.80 kills/set and 1.20 blocks/set last week, moving into second all-time in WSU history in career block solos (124) while the Cougars improved to 6-0 at home.
>> Jehlářová is Washington State's all-time leader and the Pac-12's active leader in career blocks (632). She is also first all-time at WSU and eighth all-time in the Pac-12 with a .380 career attack percentage (1024-243-2057).
>> Last week vs. UC Irvine, Jehlářová became the 16th player in WSU history to reach 1,000 career kills. She is also Washington State's all-time leader and the Pac-12's active leader in career blocks (632). She is also first all-time at WSU and seventh all-time in the Pac-12 with a .380 career attack percentage (1024-243-2057).
>> Iman Isanovic was nominated for Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year after averaging a team-leading 4.00 kills/set at a .395 clip. Isanovic, a grad transfer from Arizona State, is the Pac-12's active leader in career kills (1,498).
>> WSU closed out a six-match home stand with a four-set win over No. 8 BYU last Friday, the first win over BYU since the 2002 Cougar Challenge.
>> Libero Karly Basham is averaging a career-best 3.97 digs/set so far this season while true freshman Emma Barbero had a breakout week last week with three aces and 1.29 digs/set in last week's Cougar Challenge.
>> Pia Timmer is averaging a career-best .301 attack percentage (96-25-236) and a career-high 2.48 digs/set through the first three weeks of the season. Timmer is second behind Isanovic among active leaders in the Pac-12 in career kills with 1,379 (3.33 kills/set) in her WSU career.
>> Timmer (121, eighth all-time) and defensive specialist Julia Norville (105, 10th all-time) each rank in the top-10 all-time at WSU in career aces.
>> Opposite hitter Katy Ryan is averaging a career-high 2.62 kills/set and has 15 total blocks so far this season.

Up Next:
Washington State will make the trip south down I-35 later this week as it gets set to play at sixth-ranked Texas (3-2) on Friday night in Gregory Gymnasium beginning at 5 p.m. (PST).

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