Ryan and Jansen post season-high kill numbers; Cougars fall in four at No. 6 Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Katy Ryan (15) and Laura Jansen (16) each had season-high totals in kills to lead Washington State (8-3) volleyball offensively, but the Cougars fell, 3-1 (25-16, 25-13, 24-26, 25-20), at Minnesota (5-3) on Saturday night at the Maturi Pavilion.
After a slow start, Ryan helped the Cougars break out of their ealry slump with six kills (6-1-12, .417) in a third set that saw Washington State hit .324 with 16 kills and only five errors. Argentina Ung dished out 12 of her 44 assists in the third set, tallied four block assists, four digs and also added one kill on her only attempt to help WSU win the third.
"[Katy Ryan] started to get some confidence, really turned it on and really started to get aggressive in the second half of that match," said head coach Jen Greeny.
Ryan put away four-straight points for the Cougs as WSU went on a 6-2 read to go ahead, 20-16, late in the third set. The Gophers fought back late to even the set at 24-24, but Ryan finished off the set for WSU with her 11th kill of the match.
The Golden Gophers jumped back in front early in the fourth and led 19-10, but Washington State answered yet again with an 8-2 run to get back within three. Jansen had her best set of the match in the fourth with seven kills on only 10 swings (7-2-10, .500), but the Cougs were held to just .222 hitting as a team while Minnesota had only two fourth-set errors and closed out the match by winning four of the final six points.
"Minnesota is a great team and runs such a fast offense to the outside," said head coach Jen Greeny. "It was a tough weekend but our eyes are now on the Pac-12 and I think these two matches have really helped get us ready for that."
WSU will be back on the road next week as it opens conference play on Wednesday night, at No. 18 Washington (8-2), beginning at 6 p.m. (PST) on the Pac-12 Network.
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