Cougs Roll Through Golden Bears

Match Highlights | Full Match Replay | Jen Greeny Postmatch | Box Score (PDF) | Boxscore

PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State Volleyball began the weekend on the right foot as the Cougars downed the Golden Bears of California in straight sets Friday evening inside Bohler Gym.  

Set scores from the match were: 25-14, 25-16, and 25-19 in favor of No. 17 WSU (7-2, 7-2 Pac-12).

The Cougars jumped on the Bears of California (1-10, 1-10 Pac-12) early in this contest, with a 6-2 scoring run. WSU saw big offensive numbers in this opening set from Alexcis Lusby, Pia Timmer and Kalyah Williams who all continued WSU's dominate attack at 17-9 overall. Washington State finished off the opening set with a 3-0 run with back-to-back kills from Julianna Dalton for the 25-14 win. The Cougs also went on to hit an incredible .720 overall as a team in the first set as well. 

The second set of this Pac-12 match brought more of the same dominance from the home squad, beginning the game with a 12-6 lead. The Cougars found separation from Cal after a 5-0 scoring run game WSU the 17-9 advantage after an ace from Penny Tusa, and kills from Timmer and Lusby. The Bears and Cougs went on to trade points down the stretch of this set, but Washington State's lead was well out of reach, and a block from Madga Jehlářová and Hannah Pukis sealed the set victory at 25-16. 
 
Set number three saw the Cougars still in the driver's seat of this conference match, but the Bears were determined to turn up the pressure in the final set of play. Washington State finally found from breathing room from the Golden Bears after three consecutive points from Cal errors and a Jehlářová block for the 11-8 lead. The Cougs remained out in front throughout the remainder of the set, and finally swept away California with a 4-0 scoring run to cap off the win. Timmer recorded three kills in that scoring run, with the other point coming from a service ace by Julia Norville. 

STAT OF THE MATCH
WSU ended the evening against the Golden Bears hitting .506 overall as a team, the second best all-time hitting percentage in Washington State Volleyball history. The Cougars also saw six total players with a hitting percentage of .300 or better in today's 3-0 victory. 
 

INTO THE TWITTER-VERSE

So many dominate offensive performances tonight, it's @xkalele who earns the Player of the Match!! #GoCougs | #BeUncommon pic.twitter.com/BKABW4f4Lu

— Cougar Volleyball (@WSUCougarVB) February 27, 2021

MATCH NOTES

• Hannah Pukis helped guide the offensive during this dominate performance as the sophomore totaled 37 assists, two kills, nine digs and four total blocks.
• Kalyah Williams posted a dominate offensive match with 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .688 on the night. Williams added one ace, and one block to her stat line as well. 
• Pia Timmer turned in an impressive performance as well with a match-high 16 kills, to got along with a hitting percentage of .577 as well. 
• Alexcis Lusby went on to record nine kills on 13 attacks, and ultimately hit .692 in the contest, along with added two blocks to her stat sheet.