Cougs sweep Howard to open Fairfield Invitational

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Pia Timmer led Washington State volleyball (6-1) with nine kills and the Cougars held Howard (2-4) to .151 hitting (32-19-86) in a 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-22) win to open the three-match Fairfield Invitational Friday at the Fairfield University RecPlex.

After leading the Cougars in kills the past three matches, Laura Jansen finished with another seven kills on 17 attempts (.294) in Friday's sweep over Howard.  Magda Jehlarova and Katy Ryan also finished with seven kills apiece and the Cougars finished the match with 35 kills and a .338 hitting percentage as a team.

"I was happy with how Pia (Timmer) and Laura (Jansen) hit," said head coach Jen Greeny.  "Having Laura playing effectively allows us to spread that distribution and takes some of that pressure off of both Pia (Timmer) and Katy (Ryan) as well."

Howard suffered from 19 attack errors and 13 service errors in the match while the Cougs tallied six aces in the match.  WSU cruised to first and second-set wins before falling behind for the first time in the match in the third.  Molly Kipp came in off of the bench at setter and tallied eight assists as she helped push the Cougars' offense past the finish line in the third.

"It's not easy to come in off of the bench, especially in a tighter set and particularly as a setter," said Greeny.  "(Molly Kipp) did a great job and was able to make some adjustments to help us get the win," said Greeny.

Starting setter Argentina Ung finished with 16 assists of her own running the WSU offense and Karly Basham tallied eight digs to lead Washington State defensively.

WSU will be back at the Fairfield University RecPlex tonight as it takes on tournament hosts Fairfield beginning at 5 p.m. (PST).

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