Cheney, Wash. (September 9, 2024) – Washington State volleyball won its third-straight match Monday night with a five-set victory over Eastern Washington.
The Cougars (3-2, 0-0 WCC) hit .320 as a team in the fifth set as they secured the back-to-back home-and-home sweep over the Eagles with the 3-2 win (25-18, 25-27, 26-24, 20-25, 15-9).
Katy Ryan and Sage Brustad led the offense as Ryan tallied 21.5 points on 20 kills and two blocks, and Brustad finished with 20.5 points on 17 kills, two blocks and two service aces.
Lucie Blažková also played a large role in the offensive attack, hitting at a .421 clip behind 12 kills, three aces, and two blocks for a total of 16 points.
Italia Bernal set season-highs with 55 assists, 20 digs and two aces, while Emma Barbero added 18 digs, nine assists and a service ace.
Taryn Vrieling recorded her second-straight match-clinching kill among her eight kills on the night.
Weronika Wojdyla finished with five kills and an ace, and Breccan Scheck added four kills and a block.
A block by Ryan and Scheck put the Cougs up 1-0 to open the match, and then four kills from Brustad helped WSU out to a 12-6 lead. Service aces from Blažková and Bernal, and a solo block from Ryan gave the Cougars their largest lead of the set, 16-7. Later, four straight points, including kills from Brustad, Wojdyla, and Blažková made it 23-14 before going on to win set one 25-18.
The second set went back-and-forth all the way to the end, seeing 18 ties and seven lead changes while neither team led by more than three points. EWU, though, would win the set 27-25 and even the match up at 1-1.
Teams traded points again in set three, leading to a 9-9 tie midway through the set. Five straight EWU points put them out front 14-9, but WSU began to inch back from there. Kills from Warren, Vrieling and Ryan drew the Cougs back to within one, 20-19, before a solo block from Brustad tied the set and then back-to-back kills from Blažková and Brustad put WSU over the hump to give the team its first lead of the set, 23-22. In the final plays of set three, Blažková set up match point with a kill, and then followed that up with an ace to secure the win, 26-24 and put the Cougs up two sets to one.
EWU won set four, and after set five opened in a 4-4 tie, the Cougs rattled off five straight points with kills from Brustad and Blažková, and then a solo block and a dump kill by Bernal put WSU up 9-4. A block by Vrieling and Blažková made it 11-6, and then a Bernal ace and Ryan kill put WSU up 14-7. One point away from victory, Vrieling finished it off with a kill for the 15-9 set win and the match victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Katy Ryan
NOTES
UP NEXT
The Cougars will travel west next weekend for the Husky Invitational where they will face Washington on Friday, September 13 at 7 p.m. and UC Davis on Saturday, September 14 at 6 p.m.
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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).
The Cougars (3-2, 0-0 WCC) hit .320 as a team in the fifth set as they secured the back-to-back home-and-home sweep over the Eagles with the 3-2 win (25-18, 25-27, 26-24, 20-25, 15-9).
Katy Ryan and Sage Brustad led the offense as Ryan tallied 21.5 points on 20 kills and two blocks, and Brustad finished with 20.5 points on 17 kills, two blocks and two service aces.
Lucie Blažková also played a large role in the offensive attack, hitting at a .421 clip behind 12 kills, three aces, and two blocks for a total of 16 points.
Italia Bernal set season-highs with 55 assists, 20 digs and two aces, while Emma Barbero added 18 digs, nine assists and a service ace.
Taryn Vrieling recorded her second-straight match-clinching kill among her eight kills on the night.
Weronika Wojdyla finished with five kills and an ace, and Breccan Scheck added four kills and a block.
A block by Ryan and Scheck put the Cougs up 1-0 to open the match, and then four kills from Brustad helped WSU out to a 12-6 lead. Service aces from Blažková and Bernal, and a solo block from Ryan gave the Cougars their largest lead of the set, 16-7. Later, four straight points, including kills from Brustad, Wojdyla, and Blažková made it 23-14 before going on to win set one 25-18.
The second set went back-and-forth all the way to the end, seeing 18 ties and seven lead changes while neither team led by more than three points. EWU, though, would win the set 27-25 and even the match up at 1-1.
Teams traded points again in set three, leading to a 9-9 tie midway through the set. Five straight EWU points put them out front 14-9, but WSU began to inch back from there. Kills from Warren, Vrieling and Ryan drew the Cougs back to within one, 20-19, before a solo block from Brustad tied the set and then back-to-back kills from Blažková and Brustad put WSU over the hump to give the team its first lead of the set, 23-22. In the final plays of set three, Blažková set up match point with a kill, and then followed that up with an ace to secure the win, 26-24 and put the Cougs up two sets to one.
EWU won set four, and after set five opened in a 4-4 tie, the Cougs rattled off five straight points with kills from Brustad and Blažková, and then a solo block and a dump kill by Bernal put WSU up 9-4. A block by Vrieling and Blažková made it 11-6, and then a Bernal ace and Ryan kill put WSU up 14-7. One point away from victory, Vrieling finished it off with a kill for the 15-9 set win and the match victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Katy Ryan
- Finished with 21.5 points to put career total at 1,044, 74.5 shy of entering the WSU all-time top-10 list.
- Ryan holds a career attack percentage of .280 (897-323-2052), good for sixth-best in program history.
- She has played in 104 career matches, 25 away from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list.
- Ryan is now at 380 career sets played, 88 from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list and 124 away from 500.
NOTES
- Italia Bernal records a 20+ double-double with 20 digs and 55 assists
- Katy Ryan put up a career-high 20 kills and 48 attacks in the match
UP NEXT
The Cougars will travel west next weekend for the Husky Invitational where they will face Washington on Friday, September 13 at 7 p.m. and UC Davis on Saturday, September 14 at 6 p.m.
FOLLOW US
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).