Team Celebrates After Point Against Portland
Ashley Davis
2
Portland UP 8-5,1-2 WCC
3
Winner Washington St. WSU 8-4,3-0 WCC
Portland UP
8-5,1-2 WCC
2
Final
3
Washington St. WSU
8-4,3-0 WCC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Portland UP 17 24 25 25 13 (2)
Washington St. WSU 25 26 17 23 15 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | Washington State Athletic Communications

Cougs Win Thursday Night 5-Set Thriller

Pullman, Wash. (October 3, 2024) – Washington State Volleyball put its resiliency on full display Thursday night, taking Portland down to the final point before winning 3-2.

The Cougars (8-4, 3-0 WCC) had four players reach double-digit kills, and three record double-doubles as the team improves to 5-1 in 5-set matches this season.

Sage Brustad continued her offensive tear, putting up 20 kills, three blocks, two solos, and two aces for 24.5 points while hitting at a .259 clip and tallying 11 digs.

Taryn Vrieling had 13 kills and an ace, while Katy Ryan finished with 11 kills and two blocks.

Breccan Scheck had 10 kills while hitting .217 and adding three blocks.

Italia Bernal tallied 46 assists, 11 digs, an ace, and a block while adding a career-high five kills.

Emma Barbero had 25 digs, and matched career-highs with 10 assists and three aces.

Lucie Blažková added five kills and three blocks, two of which were solo blocks.

Kills from Brustad and Vrieling, followed by a Ryan solo block, helped the Cougs roll out to a 7-2 lead in the opening set. A pair of block assists stretched the lead to 11-5 before kills from Brustad and Vrieling opened up another 7-2 run for the Cougs, extending the lead to 18-8. Vrieling and Blažková kills kept the WSU lead at 10 before Ryan connected for her fourth kill in set one to win 25-17.

Portland went out front to open set two, but two kills from Scheck helped WSU stay in striking distance, 9-7, early in the set. After a 4-0 spurt from Portland, two more kills from Scheck and a Brustad ace cut their lead to 13-10. The Cougs continued to chip away at the Pilot lead as a Bernal ace and kills from Vrieling and Ryan made it 22-20, making way for kills from Blažková and Ryan to even the set at 22-all. Vrieling followed with another kill to give WSU its first lead of the set, 23-22, before going on to seal the set two comeback win, 26-24.

After Portland won set three, they started ahead again in set four, but the Cougs fought to keep close as kills from Vrieling and Brustad, and then a pair of Scheck kills made it a 4-point deficit, 13-9. Later, three straight kills from Vrieling cut the Portland lead to 16-13, and back-to-back Brustad kills drew WSU to within one, 18-17. The Cougars would tie things up at 18-18 and then again at 20-20, but Portland held on for the 25-23 win to force a fifth set.

Two kills from Ryan and a Barbero ace put WSU ahead 3-2 to start the final set, but Portland answered with five unanswered to take a 7-3 lead. A Blažková kill helped bring the Cougs back to within three, and then three kills and a solo block from Brustad evened the score up at 9-9. Two more Brustad kills kept the set tied at 12-12 before her second service ace of the game put the Cougs on top 13-12. A kill from Ryan brought the game to its match point before a resounding solo block from Blažková clinched the 15-13 set win, and the match.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Katy Ryan
  • Finished with 12.5 points to put career total at 1,155, good for 10th all-time at WSU.
  • Ryan tallied 11 kills to put her career total at 992, eight away from 1,000 and 261 away from the WSU All-time top-10 list.
  • Ryan holds a career attack percentage of .271 (992-370-2291), tied for eighth-best in program history.
  • She has played in 111 career matches, 18 away from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list.
  • Ryan is now at 410 career sets played, 53 from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list and 85 away from 500.

NOTES
  • Sage Brustad recorded her second-straight double-double, and sixth of the season with 20 kills and 11 digs.
  • Italia Bernal had her team-leading seventh double-double of the year with her 46 assists and 11 digs.
  • Emma Barbero recorded her seventh game of the season with 20+ digs, and had her second double-double of the year.

UP NEXT
The Cougars are back in Bohler on Sunday, Oct. 6 to host Pepperdine. The match broadcasting live on ESPNU at 1 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).
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