Seattle, Wash. (September 14, 2024) – After going down two sets to one, Washington State volleyball won sets four and five to take down UC Davis 3-2 Saturday night.

The Cougars (4-3, 0-0 WCC) showed their resilience once again with their third 5-set win this season.

Katy Ryan led the way with 19.5 points on 17 kills and four blocks while Sage Brustad tallied 13 kills, two blocks and two service aces along with 12 digs.

Lucie Blažková hit at a .263 clip with seven kills to go with six total blocks

Emma Barbero led the defense with 25 digs, and also served up two aces.

Italia Bernal totaled 30 assists, 10 digs and two kills.

Taryn Vrieling added six kills and an ace, while Weronika Wojdyla finished with two kills and two aces.

A solo block by Ryan opened the scoring before the Cougs stormed out to an 8-3 lead in the first set behind a Barbero service ace and kills from Bernal and Brustad. A Vrieling kill aided a 5-1 spurt to extend the lead to 13-6, and then later, back-to-back kills by Ryan made it 18-11. In the final points of the set, another Barbero ace and kills from Brustad and Blažková put WSU up 1-0 in the match with a 25-16 set-one win.

After UC Davis evened the match at 1-1, they moved out to a 16-8 lead in set three. WSU fought back hard from there and made it a one-point game, 24-23, but UC Davis would win set three to go ahead 2-1 entering set four.

A kill from Ryan and a block by both Ryan and Blažková put WSU ahead 6-5 before a Brustad kill a few points later capped a 5-0 run to make it an 11-6 Cougar advantage. That lead stretched to 14-7 behind a Vrieling kill and Brustad ace, and then 17-9 on a Scheck kill. The Cougs would go on to win set four on a 6-0 run with a pair of Walz aces to end the set and force a fifth set.

Momentum seemed to carry into set five for WSU as three kills from Ryan and a Vrieling ace got WSU out to an early 4-2 lead. Kills from Brustad and Blažková kept the Cougar lead at two, 7-5, but UC Davis would tie things up at 7-all. Teams traded points from there, and after a 13-13 tie, another block, this time from Blažková and Wojdyla made it 14-13 before Blažková delivered the final blow with a kill to seal the set, and the match victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Katy Ryan

• Finished with 19.5 points to put career total at 1,076, 42.5 shy of entering the WSU all-time top-10 list.
• Ryan holds a career attack percentage of .277 (924-336-2122), good for sixth-best in program history.
• She has played in 106 career matches, 23 away from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list.
• Ryan is now at 389 career sets played, 79 from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list and 115 away from 500.

NOTES

• Sage Brustad recorded her second-straight double-double, and third of the season with 13 kills and 12 digs.
• Emma Barbero tallied her fifth match of the season with 20+ digs

UP NEXT
The Cougars continue on the road next weekend in California as they will play CSUN on Thursday, Sept. 19 and then Long Beach State on Friday, Sept. 20. First serve is set for 6 p.m. for both matches, and both will be available to watch live on ESPN+.

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