PULLMAN, Wash. – (November 20, 2025) – Washington State came out swinging Thursday night inside Bohler Gym, but ultimately fell 3-1 to Portland (26-28, 25-12, 15-25, 18-25).

The Cougars (16-9, 10-5 WCC) raced ahead early in the first set behind a block wall led by Eliana Ti'a and Lucie Blažková, stacking up four straight points as the Cougars seized control. Washington State held multiple late leads and tied the frame at 24, 25, and 26 before Portland narrowly escaped in extras.

Rather than folding, the Cougars answered with their most dominant set of the night. Melina Christodoulou took over offensively, and WSU's serve pressure flipped momentum immediately. Italia Bernal delivered two aces in the frame, Livia Ward added another, and the Cougar block stifled the Pilots at every turn. WSU hit .379 in the set—its best mark of the match—while holding Portland to just 12 points as the Cougars roared back to even the match, 1–1.

Christodoulou powered the Cougar attack with 15 kills on .357 hitting, while Camryn Lingenbrink was a force at the net, finishing with eight kills and three blocks on a team-best .533 hitting night. Bernal and Ward combined for 42 assists, guiding a balanced WSU offense that saw five players record at least seven kills.

Defensively, Washington State's front line produced eight total blocks, with Ti'a, Blažková, and Lingenbrink each helping slow the Pilot attack during long stretches. Ward anchored the back row with 10 digs, while Maddy Joswick added two and handled the majority of serve-receive pressure.

Though Portland made key late pushes in sets three and four, WSU continued to generate momentum-swinging plays. Christodoulou struck for back-to-back kills to open the fourth, and Vrieling added timely swings to keep the Cougars in striking distance. Portland went on a late run in the fourth set, though, to take the set and the match.


NOTES

• With a .263 hitting percentage today, Lucie Blažková is at a .449 clip for the season and currently sits with the highest single-season hitting percentage in WSU history.
• With seven service aces in the match, the 2025 team currently sits second for the highest aces per set average in WSU history with 1.89.
• Blažková has 65 career solo blocks, seventh all-time at WSU.
• Blažková's seven kills puts her at 460 for her career, 40 away from 500.
• With her four total blocks today, Blažková has 247 career blocks, three away from 250.
• Taryn Vrieling registered two digs, putting her at 497 in her career, three from 500.
• With her 11.0 points today, Vrieling has 964.5 in her career, 35.5 from 1,000.
• Italia Bernal tallied 21 assists, putting her at 1,370 for her career, 130 from 1,500.
• Bernal also had eight digs to put her career total at 406, 94 from 500.
• Eliana Ti'a matched a career-high with 5 blocks.

UP NEXT
The Cougars head down to Saint Mary's to play on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 2 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN+.

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