Volleyball headed to Bay Area for final leg of road stretch

PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State volleyball (9-4) will look to build on its first conference win of the season -- a five-setter this past weekend at USC -- with a Friday night matchup this week at Cal (7-5) which is slated for a 7:04 p.m. first serve at the Haas Pavilion.  Friday's match will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Bay Area.

Washington State has won four-consecutive matches against Cal, having not dropped a set to the Golden Bears since a five-set loss in Berkeley back in 2019.

The Cougs are in the midst of a nine-match stretch of away contests with their first two weeks of conference play sending them on the road.  WSU will benefit from back-to-back home weekends to close both October and November, respectively, and will host its first home Pac-12 match next week on Fri., Oct. 7, against Oregon.

Match Info:
>> at California (9-4)  |  Pac-12 Bay Area
>> Friday, Sept. 30 // First serve - 7:04  p.m.// Berkeley, Calif. - Haas Pavilion
>> Live Stats // wsucougars.com/sports/womens-volleyball
>> Listen Live // KQQQ - 1150 AM/102.1 FM (wsucougars.com)
>> Full notes PDF

Quick Notes:
>> WSU is a perfect 9-0 against unranked teams this season heading into Friday's match against unranked Cal.  The Cougs have won 20-straight matches against unranked opponents dating back to October of last season.
>> Washington State ranks first in the Pac-12 in aces/set (1.94) and first in total aces (91).
>> The Cougars are 13th in the nation and second in the Pac-12 in hitting (.287).  WSU is 9-0 in matches with a higher hitting percentage than its opponents.
>> After the first week of conference play, Karly Basham ranks third in the Pac-12 with 21 aces, Argentina Ung is third with 449 assists, and Magda Jehlarova is third with 58 total blocks.
>> Pia Timmer averaged a team-high 3.63 kills/set last week including a season-best 24 kills in Saturday's win at USC.  At 998 career kills heading into Friday's match, she is on the cusp of joining the 1,000 career kills club this week.
>> The Cougars' season averages of .287 hitting and 1.94 aces/set would both rank as the best single-season averages all-time.
>> Magda Jehlarova had a career-high four aces against USC and finished last weekend with a team-leading .359 hitting percentage (17-3-39). Jehlarova is top-10 in all major career blocking categories at WSU including her 1.40 blocks/set which ranks second all-time.
>> Setter Argentina Ung had another pair of strong all-around performances, finishing the week with 1.75 kills/set, 2.13 digs/set, five block assists and 8.25 assists/set.
>> Laura Jansen had a season-high 14 digs in Saturday's win at USC while Julia Norville added a team-high 15 and libero Karly Basham added 14 to help the Cougs finish with a season-high 70 digs as a team.
Cal Notes
>> The Golden Bears opened the season with a 7-3 mark in non-conference play, dropping a five-setter to UC San Diego before also falling in four sets against both Utah Valley and Nevada.
>> Cal dropped its conference-opener in three sets to cross-town rival Stanford before losing a five-setter against Oregon State on Friday.
>> Cal ranks third in the Pac-12 in opponent hitting (.162) and are second in the conference in blocks/set (2.72).
>> Tara DaSa is first in the Pac-12 with 4.50 (d/s) while the Golden Bears are also fourth in the conference as a team at 15.13 digs/set.
>> Washington State has won four-straight over Cal without dropping a single set since a five-set loss back in 2019.
>> The Cougs' first top-25 win on the road under head coach Jen Greeny was a 3-2 (21-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-10) win in 23rd-ranked Cal back in November of 2013.
>> WSU is 29-44 all-time against Cal.

Up Next:
Washington State will finish up its nine-match road stretch on Sunday as it takes on ninth-ranked Stanford on Sunday starting at noon before returning home to host its first Pac-12 match of the season next Friday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m.

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