OMAHA, Neb. (August 31, 2024) – Washington State volleyball continued its 2024 campaign with a Saturday match against Houston, winning set three but ultimately losing the match, 3-1.

The Cougars (0-2, 0-0 WCC) collectively hit at a .121 clip, with 48 kills to 31 errors on 140 total attacks.

Katy Ryan led the offense with 15 kills and added two blocks. Sage Brustad tallied 10 kills while Weronika Wojdyla finished with nine.

Lucie Blazkova hit at a .429 clip with eight kills to go along with two blocks.

Italia Bernal racked up 35 assists and 11 digs, while Emma Barbero totaled 20 digs and seven assists.

Breccan Scheck checked in with five kills, two blocks and two digs.

Down by a set, WSU took a 6-5 lead in set two on a service ace from Brustad before kills from Wojdyla, Scheck and Ryan extended the lead to 12-9 midway through the set. Later up 16-15, the Cougs rattled off a 9-3 run the rest of the way to take set two and even the match at 1-1.

WSU started set three well with kills from Ryan, Blazkova and Brustad before a Brustad ace put WSU up 7-5, but Houston would go on to take the set 25-16. The Cougs again got out to an early lead in set four with a 5-2 advantage behind kills from Scheck, Brustad and Blazkova, although Houston made up ground again to go on and win the set and the match.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Katy Ryan

• Finished with 16 points to put career total at 93.5, 6.5 away from 1,000 for her career
• She has played in 101 career matches, 28 away from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list.
• Ryan is now at 366 career sets played, 102 from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list and 138 away from 500.

NOTES

• Emma Barbero tallied 20 digs, starting the season with back-to-back 20+ dig matches
• Katy Ryan's 39 total attacks was a career high, surpassing the previous high of 36 on Friday
• Weronika Wojdyla's nine digs set a career high for most in a match

UP NEXT
The Cougars will wrap up play at the Omaha Invite on Sunday against host school Omaha at 10 a.m. before returning home for their season opener in Bohler Gym when they will host Eastern Washington on Friday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.

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