The final week begins on the road for Volleyball

MATCH PREVIEWS
In the penultimate match of the regular season the Cougs face another stiff test as they head to Salt Lake City to take on #17 Utah. The matchup is the first and only between the two teams due to the unbalanced schedule while pitting two teams fighting for position in the postseason. The Cougs have a one-match lead on the Utes in the standings for third place in the Pac-12 after Utah suffered a 3-1 loss at the hands of Stanford last time out which snapped its four-match winning streak.
All-time the Cougs hold the edge over the Utes at 16-13 overall while the Utes hold the recent advantage having won the prior two meetings including a 3-0 sweep in Salt Lake City last season. In the matchup in 2020 the Cougs were coming off of COVID-19 protocol that cost them four matches including what was supposed to be the first of two against the Utes. When the two teams finally met on the court the Cougs were without stars Pia Timmer and Magda Jehlarova. Without the two it was Argentina Ung who came up with a team-high 10 kills while Penny Tusa added 9 kills and 10 digs. On the other side, Dani Drew finished with a match-high 16 kills to go with 8 digs.

LAST TIME OUT
> The Cougs swept Oregon State for the second time on the year and the third-straight match extending their winning streak to 7-consecutive. WSU swept the Oregon Schools on the season for the second time in the last three seasons and have won 12 of the last 14 against the two Pacific Northwest rivals.
> The 14 team blocks tied a season-high for the Cougs in a three-set match (also vs Cal, Oct. 24) – the two tying for the most blocks in a sweep for the Cougs since 2017 and the most in a Pac-12 match since 2015. Leading the way as always was Jehlarova with 7.
> Defensively the Cougs held the Beavers to .125 hitting the 11th time the Cougs have held a Pac-12 opponent under .200 hitting – it is also the 7th time the Cougs have held a Pac-12 opponent to under .150 hitting.
> WSU posted 8 service aces, the 7th consecutive match with 5+ aces in a match.

QUICK NOTES
> Coach Jen Greeny enters the weekend 14th all-time in wins in the Pac-12 having won 184 matches at WSU.
> WSU entered the week ranked #21 in the AVCA poll, rising one spot in the rankings after sweeping the Oregon Schools.
> The Cougs have been on a tear from the service line with 62 aces in the last six matches. On the year the Cougs have a league-best 185 aces - the most in a season since 1992. The Cougs have the top two servers in the Pac-12 in Pia Timmer (0.40 SAps) and Penny Tusa (0.39 SAps).
> Penny Tusa, the all-time leader in career service aces at WSU bumped her career total to 148. Her 40 aces leads the Pac-12 and is tied for the 10th most in single season history.
> In Pac-12 play the Cougs have been stellar holding opponents to a league best .202 hitting - the block has been on point at 2.63 per set, 2nd in the conference.
> Magda Jehlarova leads the Pac-12 at 1.46 blocks per set, 3rd best in all DI volleyball. Her 150 blocks is 9 away from the Cougs' all-time top-10 single seasons.
> Pia Timmer is day-to-day after suffering an injury at Cal - she is 5th in the Pac-12 at 3.91 kills per game. In her sted Argentina Unghas posted 2.87 kps (a team-high 43 total kills) while adding 3 aces and 36 digs in four matches.
> WSU ranks 33rd in the RPI entering the weekend while sitting 18th in the Pablo Rankings.
> WSU continues its pursuit of a 16th overall and 6th-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. Washington State is one of only 17 programs (14 from Power 5 Schools) in the nation, out of 334 total schools, to qualify for the NCAA Championship Tournament in 5 consecutive seasons (2016-20). 
            - Others included are: Baylor, BYU, Creighton, Florida, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, San Diego, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin
 
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