WSU Volleyball Upsets #8 USC In Four
October 16, 1998
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- This must be Hollywood, at least it seemed that was
Friday night as the decidedly underdogs Washington State Cougars upset the
8th-ranked USC Trojans 15-12, 15-10, 13-15, 15-9 at North Gym on the
Southern California campus. It was WSU's first win at USC since 1986 and
the first-ever win for Cougar coach Cindy Fredrick. Washington State is
now 5-3 in Pac-10, 8-6 overall. USC is 6-2 in conference, 11-4 overall.
USC's Jennifer Kessy led all players with 26 kills while teammate
Anotinette Polk had 24 kills. WSU was led by the 21 kills of Wendy Rouse.
Jennifer Stinson tallied 17 kills and Joy Sperry added 16 kills and a
match-high 15 digs. Stinson's 13 blocks were a career-best for the senior.
The Cougars jumped to a 6-2 lead in the first game before the Trojans came
back to tie and then went ahead 11-7. Strong blocking by Alicia Erickson,
Stinson, Colleen Smith and Samantha Spink brought the Cougs back to tie it
up at 11. Sperry and Smith each had two kills before USC scored again but
a kill by Kessy gave the home team a sideout at WSU's first game point.
Kashi Cormier tagged a Trojan kill followed by a Kessy service error and a
hitting error by Jasmina Marinkovic to give WSU a 15-12 win. WSU committed
only four errors with 25 kills in 53 attacks in the first game (.396).
USC ran up a quick 7-1 lead before WSU came back with six straight points
to tie the game and added three more for a 10-7 lead. The front row of the
Cougars proved to be the deciding factor as WSU's Sperry, Erickson, Rouse
and Spink had kills for a 13-10 lead. Back-to-back hitting errors by USC's
Kessy gave the Cougs a 15-12 second game win and a two-game lead. It
marked the first time the Trojans had lost the first two sets all season.
Again, the Cougars had only four hitting errors with a .378 hitting
accuracy and led in team blocking nine to four..
The third game was tightly contested with the score knotted at 3, 7, 8 and
9 points. WSU scored four straight points and took a 13-9 lead but USC
took charge behind the hitting of Kessy and Marinkovic for the last six
points and a 15-13 win.
Game four saw WSU take an 12-6 lead before USC reeled off three straight
points to close the gap 12-9. But WSU was not to be denied on this
historic night with Sperry tagging the final two kills for the 15-9 win and
the 3-1 match victory.
"I'm absolutely ecstatic - I have never left this gym feeling this good
before," Cougar coach Cindy Fredrick said. "Kim (Kleven) played super
defense, Wendy Rouse did a fabulous job hitting, and Stinson, gee didn't
she do a fabulous job. Colleen Smith had some super blocks and Sam played
a great match. Look at the way Sam distributed the ball very wisely
tonight and chose times to dump very well too. Overall, the seniors did a
marvelous job on the floor. Our blocking was fabulous: I'd told the team
they were an awesome blocking team and if they did that tonight they'd
win." WSU out-blocked USC 17.5 to 11.
Washington State meets UCLA in Westwood Sunday, Oct. 18.
Washington State (5-3, 8-6) d. #8 Southern California (6-2, 11-4) 3-1
Game Scores: 15-12, 15-10, 13-15, 15-9
STATISTICS:
KILLS: WSU - Rouse 21, Stinson 17; USC - Kessy 26, Polk 24
ASSISTS: WSU - Spink 66; USC - Mount 76
DIGS: WSU - Sperry 15, Spink 14; USC - Mounts 15, Cormier 14
BLOCKS: WSU - Stinson 13; USC - Marinkovic 8
SERVICE ACES: WSU - Sperry 2; USC - three with one each
Attendance: 702
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