Cougars kickoff tourney run with sweep of UNLV
SAN DIEGO -- Pia Timmer had a match-high 14 kills and Weronika Wojdyla finished with a career-best eight total blocks as Washington State volleyball (23-9, 14-6 Pac-12) swept UNLV (26-5, 17-1 MW), 26-24, 25-19, 25-18, Thursday night at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
The win gives Washington State back-to-back sweeps in the NCAA Tournament first round after a 3-0 win over Northern Colorado last season in Waco, Texas.
The Cougars hit .330 (45-22-122) as a team including a match-high .424 (16-2-33) in the third set to finish off their 15th sweep of the year. Timmer's 14 kills moved her past McKenna Woodford (1,257) for eighth all-time at WSU in career kills (1,262). Timmer also moved within two aces from eighth all-time at WSU for her career (113).
Magda Jehlarova finished the night with seven kills on only 12 swings (7-1-12) and moved only 18 blocks shy of becoming the all-time leader at Washington State.
Set 1 Recap
WSU quickly grabbed momentum to begin its seventh-straight NCAA Tournament appearance with a 6-0 run to go ahead, 7-2, early in the first set. Pia Timmer collected her first of three aces on the match which was followed up by the first of five blocks from Magda Jehlarova to give the Cougs the early five-point cushion.
UNLV answered the early Cougars' run and led, 23-21, when back-to-back ball handling errors from the Rebels evened the set at 23-23. Washington State then held off one Rebels' set point at 24-23 and won three-straight to go ahead in the match with a 26-24 opening set win.
Set 2 Recap
After 11 ties and five lead changes in the first, Washington State never trailed in the second set. Laura Jansen and Pia Timmer each had four kills and Julia Norville had a team-high five digs in the second as the Cougs jumped in front with a 4-0 to start the set.
UNLV closed the gap with a 4-0 gap to get back within two at 17-15, but WSU responded by winning three of the next four to push its lead back up to four at 20-16. WSU again finished strong by winning the final four points and went ahead by two in the match with a 25-19 second-set win.
Set 3 Recap
The Cougars had their most efficient set of the match in the third as Pia Timmer led the team with five kills while Magda Jehlarova tallied four on only five swings (4-0-5, .800).
With the first-round win, the Cougs advance through the San Diego quarter of the bracket to play the winner of No. 3 San Diego and Northern Colorado in tomorrow's NCAA Tournament second round. That second-round match is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m. (PST) and will be televised live on ESPN+.
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