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Block party in Bohler as the Cougs sweep the Bears

by wsucougars.com
Oct 24, 2021

PULLMAN, Wash. – Battling back after a tough loss two-nights prior, No. 22 Washington State (13-7, 7-3) came up with yet another sweep, this time downing Cal (7-14, 0-10), 3-0, Sunday at Bohler Gym.

Set scores from the match were: 25-17, 25-17, 25-20.

Behind a dominating block and a balanced effort the Cougs found their rhythm early and cruised to the win to close out their weekend of action against the Bay Area schools at home on the Palouse. Establishing their presence at the net right out of the gate, the Cougs forced the Bears into negative hitting (-.032) in the first set of the day to set the tone for what was in store. It was middle Kalyah Williams who came up with back-to-back blocks, alongside of Penny Tusa and Hannah Pukis) that broke the set open late turning an 17-13 lead into a 19-13 advantage put the set out of reach for the Bears.
 
It was more of the same for WSU in set two as the Cougs ran out to an 11-3 lead and never looked back, making wholesale changes to their rotation midway through the set to mix in some of their younger players. Again it was Williams who clamped down on the Bears as the third-year middle registered three of her four blocks in the set as the Cougs turned the screws on the Bears to lead 19-9. While Williams was leading the defensive efforts it was Tusa leading the offensive play as the super senior was nearly perfect in the set recording four kills on seven swings as WSU hit a match-high .321 to close out the set.
 
The third set played out slightly different but still came out with the same result as the two teams played even for much of the way before WSU put the match away with a 7-2 run to close things out. The Cougs were able to grab control of the final frame thanks in part to their service game led by libero Karly Basham who picked up a pair of aces during the run to solidify the victory.

PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Middle blocker Kalyah Williams led the Cougs defensive efforts with a career-best eight blocks to go along with seven kills. The Cougs finished the day outblocking the Bears 14.0-to-4.0.

INTO THE TWITTER-VERSE
 

MATCH NOTES

  • The Cougs picked up their 11th sweep of the season and 6th in Pac-12 play (2nd at home).
  • The win marked the third-straight against Cal, all by sweep at Bohler Gym.
  • WSU held Cal to just .105 hitting the 6th Pac-12 opponent to hit under .200.
    • The .105 marked the second lowest hitting percentage for a Coug opponent in Pac-12 play.
  • The 14 team blocks was the second-best blocking performance of the season for the Cougs.
    • It was the most blocks in a three-setter for the Cougs since sweeping Fairfield, Sept. 9, 2017 and the most in a three-setter in Pac-12 play since sweeping Utah, Sept. 16, 2015.
  • Freshman Katy Ryan recorded 10 kills on an impressive .421 hitting percentage. The 10 kills was her third double-digit kill performance of Pac-12 play.
  • Karly Basham led the way with three service aces, her second-best overall performance of the season and best in Pac-12 play.
  • Penny Tusa became the third Coug in program history to record 130+ aces in her career as she tallied two in the match to push her total to 131.
    • She moved into sole possession of 7th place all-time with 469 total sets played in her career.

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