Jehlarova ties blocking record, Timmer surpasses career milestone in sweep at Cal
BERKELEY, Calif. - Magda Jehlarova tied a match record with 11 total blocks, Pia Timmer surpassed 1,000 career kills, and the pair tied for the team lead in the match with 13 kills apiece to help Washington State volleyball (10-4, 2-1 Pac-12) cruise past Cal, 3-0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-12), for its second-consecutive road Pac-12 win.
Jehlarova moved into third all-time in WSU history in total blocks (493) and Timmer surpassed Head Coach Jen Greeny (Stinson) in career kills (1,011) during the match and Washington State finished with 44 kills as a team (44-9-95, .368) while holding the Golden Bears to just .035 hitting. The win was the Cougars' fifth-consecutive sweep over Cal and the sixth sweep of the season for WSU through the first month of its schedule.
"Our first contacts and second contacts were really good tonight," said Head Coach Jen Greeny. "I think we were really good in the transition game and had some great digs. I thought [outside hitter] Laura (Jansen), [libero] Karly (Basham), and [defensive specialist] Julia (Norville) all did a really nice job in the back row and our hitters did a great job of just being aggressive," said Greeny.
WSU improved to 9-0 when winning the opening set and cruised to a first set win with the help of a 13-3 run that was sparked by back-to-back Jehlarova kills and back-to-back blocks from the senior middle blocker. Karly Basham (6) and Laura Jansen (5) combined for double digit digs in the opening set from the back row and WSU took the early lead with 13 kills and three aces as a team in the first.
"I think we responded after a slow start and were really able to take it to (Cal)," said Head Coach Jen Greeny. "We just really got into ar rhythm. Our hitters did a really nice job of moving the ball around and running different sets and [setter] Argentina (Ung) really did a nice job of finding our open hitters. That third set, especially, was really impressive."
The Cougs tallied 14 kills as a team in the second set in which they hit .355 as a team (14-3-31) while holding the Golden Bears to negative hitting (-.071) with seven errors as a team. Jehlarova had six block assists in the second set and Timmer tallied half of a dozen kills with only one error to help WSU jump in front by two sets.
Washington State kept its foot on the gas in the third, improving once again to .533 hitting as a team (17-1-30) while holding Cal to .071. Jehlarova reached a double double for the night with seven kills on only eight swings (7-0-8, .875) and the Cougs finished off the sweep on a 9-1 run to close the match.
Closing out a four-week road stretch, Washington State will stay in the Bay Area for Sunday's matchup against ninth-ranked Stanford (7-4, 2-1 Pac-12) who defeated Washington, 3-1, on Friday night in Stanford, Calif. Sunday's match at Stanford will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Bay Area starting at 12 p.m.
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