PULLMAN, Wash. (November 27, 2024) – Washington State Volleyball fought until the very end Wednesday night before falling to San Francisco 3-2.
 
The Cougars (16-10, 11-6 WCC) hit .417 in the opening set, and finished the match with 12 aces and 15 blocks.

Katy Ryan led on offense with 21 kills to go with five blocks.

Lucie Blažková had a career game, recording a double-double with 10 kills and 12 total blocks, including six solos and six block assists. She also had an ace and seven digs.

Sage Brustad tallied 15 kills, two service aces and 14 digs on the night, while Taryn Vrieling had 11 kills, three blocks and an ace.

Jaden Walz paced the team with 39 assists along with two aces and nine digs, and Emma Barbero finished with a team-best six service aces and 24 digs.

Jade Warren added five kills and a block, and Breccan Scheck totaled two kills and two blocks.

After jumping ahead 3-0 early, a pair of Blažková solo blocks, a couple of Ryan kills and four Barbero aces propelled the Cougs to a 13-0 scoring run later in the set to bring up match point, before one more kill from Ryan sealed the 25-12 set-one win.

USF evened things at a set apiece in set two, and then teams went back-and-forth to open set three. Early kills from Scheck, Blažková and Ryan, kept things even, but a 7-1 spurt from USF put them ahead 13-6. Later down 20-13, a Warren kill jumpstarted a 5-0 run as a Ryan kill and Walz ace drew the Cougs to within two, 20-18. The Dons would hang on to win, though, 25-20 and move ahead 2-1.

Kills from Ryan, Warren and Blažková put WSU up 5-2 to start set four, and a block assist from Blažková and Vrieling helped extend the lead to 8-3. USF stormed back to take a 9-8 lead, but the Cougs rallied for a 6-2 spurt behind kills from Brustad and Blažková to move back on top 14-11. Teams traded points from there, and kills from Ryan, Brustad and Vrieling kept WSU in the lead before Warren sent the match to a fifth set with a kill for the 25-21 set four win.

A trio of solo blocks from Blažková and a Brustad kill kept the Cougs even with USF, 7-7 midway through the fifth set. The Dons moved to an 11-9 advantage, but back-to-back kills from Ryan tied things back up at 11-all and a block from Ryan and Blažková gave WSU a 12-11 lead. From there, though, USF went on a 4-1 run to win the set 15-13 and the match, 3-2.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Katy Ryan
•    Finished with 23.5 points to put career total at 1,362.5, good for seventh all-time at WSU.
•    Ryan tallied 21 kills to reach 1,177 for her career, 76 away from the WSU all-time top-10 list.
•    Ryan holds a career attack percentage of .283 (1177-419-2683), good for sixth in program history.
•    She has played in 125 career matches, four away from the WSU all-time top-10 list.
•    Ryan is now at 462 career sets played, six from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list and 38 away from 500.
 
NOTES
•    Blažková has 40 solo blocks this season, sixth most in a single-season at WSU.
•    Brustad has 40 service aces this season, two away from the WSU single-season Top-10 list.
•    Barbero's six aces were a career-best, and with 24 digs, has reached 20+ digs in nine matches this season.

UP NEXT
The Cougars are back on the court on Friday, Nov. 29 at 1 p.m. for Senior Day against LMU. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
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