SAN DIEGO, Calif. – (October 25, 2025) – Washington State showed its resiliency Saturday afternoon at the Jenny Craig Pavilion, taking San Diego to a full five sets before narrowly falling 3-2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-10, 15-8).

The Cougars (12-7, 6-3 WCC) came out firing, dominating the first two sets behind sharp serving and balanced attacking. Lucie Blažková led the charge with 17 kills on an impressive .483 hitting percentage, while Taryn Vrieling chipped in 10 kills and three aces. Washington State's composure early on silenced the home crowd as they raced out to a 2-0 match lead.

Setter Italia Bernal kept the offense humming with 22 assists, distributing the ball evenly among a front line that saw contributions from Mary Healy (seven kills) and Camryn Lingenbrink (six kills, four blocks). On the defensive end, Tinons Munar Galmés anchored the back row with 24 digs as WSU frustrated the Toreros' attackers throughout the opening frames.

San Diego clawed back in the third and fourth sets to even the match before they sealed the match in the fifth. The Cougars finished with nine aces and matched San Diego nearly point-for-point at the net, holding the league-leaders to a .249 hitting mark.


NOTES

• With a .483 hitting percentage today, Blažková is at a .435 clip for the season and currently sits with the highest single-season hitting percentage in WSU history.
• With two service aces in the match, the 2025 team currently sits with the second-highest aces per set average in WSU history with 1.81.
• Livia Ward had a career-high 12 digs, and Tinons Munar Galmés had a season-high 24 digs, the most by a Cougar since Nov. 27, 2024.
• Blažková remains at 61 career solo blocks, eighth all-time at WSU.

UP NEXT
The Cougars begin next week at home to host Pacific on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. before hitting the road again to play at Oregon State on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 1 p.m. Both matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

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