Pullman, Wash. (September 28, 2024) – Washington State Volleyball took down San Diego for the first time since 1993 in a 3-1 victory Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars (7-4, 2-0 WCC) had four in double-figure kills and used a .264 hitting percentage as a team to down the Toreros.

Breccan Scheck had an outstanding game, hitting at a career-best .625 clip behind 12 kills while adding four blocks for 14.5 points.

Sage Brustad put together a team-high five service aces to go with 11 kills, 11 digs, and a block for 17 points.

Lucie Blažková finished with nine kills for a .375 hit percentage, along with three blocks.

Katy Ryan led with 13 kills and to go with three blocks, and Taryn Vrieling had 11 kills, six digs and a block.

Italia Bernal tallied 49 assists on the day along with 11 digs, and Emma Barbero had 14 digs, an ace, and three assists.

Kills from Scheck, Ryan and Blažková put WSU ahead 5-1 early in the first set before USD evened the score at 5-5 and teams started to go back-and-forth. A dual block from Blažková and Bernal kept the Cougs ahead 9-8, and then another Scheck kill made it 12-11. Later, a 6-2 Cougar run behind five kills and a Barbero ace made it an 18-15 lead, and a Blažková solo block and a pair of Vrieling kills sealed the 25-22 WSU win in set one.

After USD won set two and evened the match at 1-1, the Cougs opened set three with a pair of Brustad aces and Scheck kills to make it 4-4. After San Diego started to pull away, kills from Blažková and Vrieling helped keep the Cougs in striking distance, trailing 9-7, before kills from Brustad and Ryan drew WSU to within one, 11-10. A few points later, kills from Vrieling and Blažková tied the set at 17-all which led to the Cougs taking a 23-22 lead on a USD attack error, before a block from Vrieling and Blažková and a Ryan kill gave set three to WSU, 25-23.

Momentum carried into set four for the Cougs as they opened with a 6-0 run with kills from Ryan, Brustad and Scheck. San Diego wasn't done, though, putting up a 6-1 spurt to cut the Cougar lead to one, but kills from Blažková and Vrieling kept WSU in front 10-8. USD would take a 16-15 lead, but a trio of Brustad aces along with kills from Vrieling and Ryan made for a 7-0 run to make it 22-16 in favor of WSU until kills from Scheck and Vrieling down the stretch led to match point, where Wojdyla called set and match with an ace to seal the 3-1 win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Katy Ryan

• Finished with 14.5 points to put career total at 1,142, good for 10th all-time at WSU.
• Ryan tallied 13 kills to put her career total at 981, 19 away from 1,000 and 272 away from the WSU All-time top-10 list.
• Ryan holds a career attack percentage of .272 (981-366-2258), good for seventh-best in program history.
• She has played in 110 career matches, 19 away from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list.
• Ryan is now at 405 career sets played, 63 from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list and 95 away from 500.

NOTES

• Sage Brustad recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 11 kills and 11 digs.
• Italia Bernal had her sixth double-double of the year with her 49 assists and 11 digs.
• Breccan Scheck had a career high in kills (12), and matched career-bests in hitting percentage (.625) and solo blocks (1).

UP NEXT
The Cougars remain in Pullman next week to host Portland on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. and then Pepperdine on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. Thursday's match will be available to watch live on ESPN+, with Sunday's match broadcasting live on ESPNU.

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