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Cougs Sweep Away The Beach

by wsucougars.com
Sep 9, 2021

PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State volleyball began the 2021 Cougar Challenge on the right foot, defeating Long Beach State in straight sets in the Cougs' home opener.

Set scores from the match were: 25-20, 29-27 and 25-16 in favor of WSU (1-4, 0-0 Pac-12). 
 
The Cougs were off to a hot start over Long Beach State (3-4, 0-0 Big West), generating an 11-3 scoring run which saw incredible serving from Penny Tusa, Karly Basham, and Julia Norville, all who recorded service aces to open set number one. LBSU and Washington State would go on and trade points throughout the middle of the set, until a quick 3-1 run by the Cougars saw the home squad up 20-12 with help from back-to-back Pia Timmer kills. The Beach made this first set a bit interesting towards the end, posting a 6-1 scoring run over WSU to cut that lead to just 23-20 but the Cougs regrouped and finished off the set win fueled by a Kalyah Williams kills. 

Set number two saw Washington State riding the home momentum from the previous game, jumping out to a 14-8 lead after capitalizing on multiple Long Beach State errors. The offensive power of Magda Jehlářová  played a huge role in this lead, along with the blocking skill of Williams. Another late Long Beach State run would come around to haunt the Cougars, this time seeing the set tied up at 19-19 to force a WSU timeout. The Cougs found themselves trailing 24-21 but were not going down without a fight with the home crowd of Bohler Gym behind them. Jehlářová found another level late in this contest, sparking the Washington State run with a thunderous kill and ultimately tying the set at 24-24 with a service ace. The Cougs went on to take set two with back-to-back points as Hannah Pukis and Magda each recorded kills to see WSU up 2-0 overall on LBSU. 

Long Beach State came out swinging to begin set three, as multiple kills and a solo block saw The Beach up 5-3 on the Cougars. WSU immediately countered with a quick 5-1 scoring run of their own, led by the offensive effort of Tusa, and by the defensive front of Williams and Pukis. Washington State found success once again with another short run of 4-1 to push the home lead out to 16-12 as Tusa aced The Beach once again and the opposing squad needing a timeout. The Cougars caught fire to cap off the final set of this match with a 9-2 run to win at 25-16 and complete the sweep. During this final impressive run WSU saw three consecutive aces from Karly Basham and her serving essentially sealed the set win as the momentum the Cougs had was too much for LBSU. It was Timmer who shined next, recording two kills and an ace of her own to sweep The Beach at 3-0 overall. 
 

INTO THE TWITTER-VERSE

MATCH NOTES

  • Leading the Cougar offensive attack was Pia Timmer who posted a team-high 12 kills on 32 overall swings. Timmer finished the night with seven digs and on service ace as well. 
  • Katy Ryan turned in a solid performance in her first match inside Bohler Gym, totaling nine kills while hitting .304 overall and talling one block. 
  • Hannah Pukis guided WSU with 33 total assists and defensively Karly Basham led the Cougars with 12 overall digs.
  • The Cougars return to action tomorrow, Friday, Sept. 10 as the Cougar Challenge continues with a WSU doubleheader inside Bohler Gym first against Northern Iowa at 12:30 p.m. and then to conclude the tournament with an 8 p.m. contest against Gonzaga. 

     

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