PULLMAN, Wash. (September 6, 2024) – Washington State volleyball celebrated Back in Bohler night in style, knocking off Eastern Washington 3-1 in Friday night's home opener.
The Cougars even their overall record at 2-2 with the four-set win (23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-19).
WSU bested EWU in kills, 52 to 39, and tallied nine service aces to their three.
Katy Ryan led the way with 13 kills for a .345 hitting percentage, while adding four blocks.
Lucie Blažková was everywhere on the court with 11 kills, four blocks, three digs, a service ace, and an assist.
Emma Barbero continued her strong defense, leading the team with 20 digs to go with three assists and an ace.
Italia Bernal paced the Cougs with 43 assists on top of 17 digs, a block and a service ace.
Sage Brustad totaled 12 kills to go with three aces and 13 digs.
Breccan Scheck added four blocks and
Taryn Vrieling checked in with eight kills.
After falling in set one, the Cougs came out to an 8-4 lead in set two behind kills from Blažková and Brustad, and a solo block from Ryan. Two kills from
Weronika Wojdyla helped WSU stretch to a 13-8 lead, and two more kills and a service ace by Brustad helped keep the advantage, 19-14. Five straight points from EWU locked the set at 19-all, before aces from Bernal and Vrieling eventually sealed the 25-21 set-two win.
Teams traded points in set three, and after a Vrieling kill started a 4-0 spurt that was capped by a Blažková ace, the Cougs took a 10-7 lead. A pair of points each from Ryan and Vrieling and a
Jaden Walz ace helped put the team in front 20-15 before kills from Vrieling, Scheck and Brustad down the stretch earned WSU the 25-21 win in set three to move ahead two sets to one.
More back-and-forth play continued into set four, but five unanswered points from the Cougs highlighted by a pair of Blažková blocks gave the team a 9-6 lead. Kills from Vrieling and Bernal kept the WSU lead growing, and then Ryan and Brustad kills helped the Cougars to a seven-point lead, 20-13.
Later up 22-14 in set four, a rally lasting one minute and eight seconds finally ended in a Blažková kill, making it 23-14. One more kill by Blažková led to match point before Vrieling put a cap on the night with the final point of the game as the Cougs won set four 25-19, and the match 3-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Katy Ryan
- Finished with 15.5 points to put career total at 1,022.5, 96 shy of entering the WSU all-time top-10 list.
- She has played in 103 career matches, 26 away from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list.
- Ryan is now at 375 career sets played, 93 from entering the WSU all-time top-10 list and 129 away from 500.
NOTES
- Emma Barbero's 20 digs gives her four-straight 20+ dig matches to start the season
- Sage Brustad's 63 total attacks was a single-match career-high
UP NEXT
The Cougars head north for a rematch with the Eagles in Cheney on Monday, Sept. 9. First serve at Reese Court will be at 6 p.m.
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