PULLMAN, Wash. (November 8, 2024) – Washington State Volleyball defeated Saint Mary's 3-1 to move to 14-8 and 9-4 in WCC play Friday night in Bohler.
 
The Cougars had four different players with double-digit kills, led by Katy Ryan with 17 along with a .297 hitting percentage, two digs and two blocks.

Sage Brustad and Lucie Blažková each added 16 kills. Blažková hit at a .560 clip and served up three aces to go with three blocks and three digs. Brustad hit .368 and added nine digs.

Taryn Vrieling was the fourth Coug in double-figures with 13 kills while hitting .423 on the night.

Jaden Walz had a game-high 16 digs and 40 assists, while Emma Barbero recorded 12 digs and seven assists, and Italia Bernal five digs and 16 assists.

Washington State fell into an early deficit and trailed for most of the early going. Despite the Cougs' efforts late, which included a Brustad kill to tie it up at 23-23, the Gaels came out with a 26-24 set win.

In similar fashion to set one, Saint Mary's established an early lead with Washington State nearing striking distance. But, with Wazzu trailing 23-20, the Cougars came alive late in the second set. A service ace from Italia Bernal tied it up at 23-23 and then an ace from Blažková capped off a 7-2 run and sealed the 27-25 set two win for Wazzu.

With the first two sets coming down to the wire, the third set was all Washington State. Mid way in the set with Wazzu leading 10-9, a kill from Ryan got a 10-3 run going and helped Washington State cruise into a 25-19 set three win.

With Washington State's back against the wall in set four, trailing 24-22 the Cougs found a way to get it done in crunch time, scoring four straight to come out with the 26-24 set four win, and the 3-1 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Katy Ryan
•    Finished with 18.0 points to put career total at 1,303.5, good for 10th all-time at WSU.
•    Ryan tallied 17 kills to reach 1,124 for her career and is now 129 away from the WSU all-time top-10 list.
•    Ryan holds a career attack percentage of .278 (1124-407-2575), good for sixth in program history.
•    She has played in 121 career matches, eight away from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list.
•    Ryan is now at 447 career sets played, 21 from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list and 53 away from 500.
 
NOTES
•    Blažková has 30 solo blocks this season, two away from entering the single-season Top-10 at WSU.
•    Brustad has 34 service aces this season, eight away from the WSU single-season Top-10.
 
UP NEXT
The Cougars begin their final road stretch of the season next week at Gonzaga on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m., and then at Portland on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. Both matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
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