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Regular season ends in Seattle

by wsucougars.com
Nov 27, 2021

SEATTLE – Closing out play in the 2021 regular season, No. 21 Washington State (19-11, 13-7) fell to rival No. 12 Washington (24-4, 17-3), 3-1, in the second leg of the Boeing Apple Cup Series. The two teams split the rivalry series on the year with each side winning on their home court. However, with the win, Washington claimed its second-consecutive Pac-12 title.
 
Set scores from the match were: 25-22, 18-25, 25-18, 25-16 in favor of the Huskies.
 
In a match full of big runs it was the Huskies who tallied more on the day as Washington's firepower outmatched the shorthanded Cougs to take the win. In the first set it was a late challenge by the Huskies that turned the advantage in a close set when UW changed what would have been a 22-22 contest into a 23-21 advantage as a ball originally ruled in was called out upon replay. That little shift was enough for UW to claim the opening set despite the play of freshman Katy Ryan who kept the Cougs close with her attack at the pins.

Down one, the Cougs would fight back to even the match at one set all using a massive run early to put the Huskies in a deep hole. The Cougs would roll off 13 of the first 14 points in the set including a 10-0 spurt on the serve of Julie Norville as the Cougs' defensive specialist served the Huskies out of system and into a slew of mistakes. Even when UW regained its form late, the Cougs' lead proved to be too big as WSU held off a late charge before closing out the set victory with kills from Kalyah Williams and Hannah Pukis. Just like the set before it was a well timed challenge that helped halt the momentum in the set as head coach Jen Greeny's late challenge turned a miss from Ryan into a kill that kept the Cougs' lead at eight in the waning moments of the frame.

The tables would completely turn on the Cougs in set three when the Huskies jumped out to a 5-0 lead to begin while never letting WSU to comeback. The Cougs would claw back to within five at 12-7 but that would be as close as WSU would get despite the block beginning to round into shape only to see the Huskies maintain their lead and finish off the set victory.

With the title on the line the Huskies put the finishing touches on the match victory in set four behind a 12-1 run that turned a 4-1 lead for the Cougs into a 13-5 deficit. The big move by the Huskies came at the service line as the Cougs' passing fell short while UW came up with four aces to create the separation. Despite their best efforts, the Cougs would never recover from the early blow as the Huskies finished off the set and the match to claim the win in Seattle.
 
PLAYER OF THE MATCH
Katy Ryan continued her excellent weekend posting 15 kills on .333 hitting in leading the Coug attack.

INTO THE TWITTER-VERSE

MATCH NOTES

  • The Cougs fell for the first time in five matches to the Huskies, snapping a four-match winning streak and splitting the Boeing Apple Cup Series for 2021.
    • WSU finished the season 4th in the Pac-12 with a 13-7 conference record.
  • WSU played shorthanded for the fifth-consecutive match with star outside Pia Timmer still sidelined. Timmer had 31 kills against the Huskies in the first match but was ruled out prior to the start of the match as day-to-day.
  • Penny Tusa became the Cougs' all-time leader in sets played during the match. She passed Alexis Dirige (505 sets) in the third set of the match, finishing the day having appeared in 507 career sets.
    • Tusa is already the program's all-time leader in career aces with 148. She finished the day with 1,110 career digs, one shy of pushing into WSU's top-10.
  • Hannah Pukis moved into sole possession of 7th all-time in career assists with 2,812, passing Beth Welch.
  • Magda Jehlarova moved into 6th place all-time with 415 total blocks, jumping two spots in the match.
  • Offensively the Cougs were held under .200 hitting for the second-straight contests - just the fifth time in Pac-12 play WSU hit under .200 in a match.
  • The Cougs await their postseason fate with the NCAA Tournament selection show going live at 5:30 pm PT, Sunday, Nov. 28 on ESPNU.

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