Cougars take on second-seeded Toreros Friday on ESPN+

PULLMAN, Wash. -- 24th-ranked Washington State volleyball (23-9, 14-6 Pac-12) will look to book its fifth all-time trip to the NCAA Tournament sweet 16 as it takes on weekend hosts, second-seeded San Diego (28-1, 18-0 WCC) Friday night.  Friday's second-round matchup between the Cougars and the Toreros will be televised live on ESPN+ with first serve slated for 7:30 p.m. (PST) from Jenny Craig Pavilion.

Pia Timmer had a match-high 14 kills and Weronika Wojdyla finished with a career-best eight total blocks as Washington State swept UNLV (26-5, 17-1 MW), 26-24, 25-19, 25-18, in Thursday night's opening round.  The Toreros won the first two but dropped the third set against Northern Colorado in Thursday's first round before a resounding 25-11 fourth-set win to punch their ticket into Friday's second round on their home court.

Match Info:
>> vs #3 San Diego (28-1, 18-0 WCC)  |  ESPN +
>> Friday, Dec. 2 // First serve: 7:30 p.m. (PST)
>> San Diego, Calif.  // Jenny Craig Pavilion
>> Listen Live // Pullman Radio KQQQ, 1150 AM (Steve Grubbs pXp)
>> Live Stats //wsucougars.com/sports/womens-volleyball
>> Full match notes (PDF)

Cougar Quick Notes:
>> A win on Friday for Washington State would be:
    >> Its fifth all-time win in the NCAA Tournament second round and fourth trip to the Sweet 16.
    >> Its second all-time win in the NCAA Tournament second round on the road away from Bohler Gym.
    >> The 24th win of the season which would be the most in a single season under Head Coach Jen Greeny.
>> WSU had four players named all-conference as Magda Jehlarova (first team), Pia Timmer (first team), Laura Jansen (honorable mention), and Katy Ryan (honorable mention) each received postseason accolades from the Pac-12 Monday.
>> Jehlarova is eighth in the nation and the Pac-12 leader with 1.50 blocks/set this season.  She is also seventh in the NCAA and second in the Pac-12 with 168 total blocks.
>> Jehlárová (597) passed Claire Martin (577) for second all-time at WSU in career total blocks and including this season, has three of the four highest single-season attack percentages in Cougar volleyball history.
>> Timmer averaged 4.53 kills/set over the final nine matches of the season and finished Thursday's first-round match with a match-high 14 kills.
>> The Cougs are 15-16 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and improved to 5-2 under Head Coach Jen Greeny in first-round matches after Thursday's win over UNLV.
>> Washington State has twice reached the NCAA Elite Eight, first in 1996 and again in 2002, its two best finishes all-time in the tournament.
>> WSU is 19-1 on the season when winning the opening set and a perfect 16-0 when winning the first two.
>> Washington State's 14 conference wins were the most under Head Coach Jen Greeny and tied for the most in program history.
>> The Cougars' .282 hitting percentage is the second-highest in WSU volleyball history for a single season while their 1.68 aces/set would rank as the sixth-most all-time.
>> WSU combined for 55 total blocks over the last four matches and have 15  matches with 10 or more blocks as a team.  The Cougs had a season-high 15 blocks as a team vs. Duke (8/26) in their season opener.
>> The Cougars are 18-1 when hitting .300 or better and set a program record in the first week of the season with a .554 hitting percentage against Rider (8/26).
San Diego Notes
>> Series: Tied 1-1
>> Both all-time matches between the two teams were NCAA Tournament matches.
>> WSU won the first match, 3-1, in the 1993 NCAA Tournament first round.  San Diego won the most recent match back in 2019, also in the opening round of the tournament.
>> San Diego defeated Northern Colorado, 3-1, in Thursday's first round.
>> The Toreros went unbeaten, a perfect 18-0, en route to a West Coast Conference Championship and head into Friday's match riding a 24-match winning streak.
>> San Diego is a perfect 15-0 at home so far this season including Thursday's first round win over Northern Colorado.
>> The Toreros are 5-1 against the AVCA Top-25 this season with two top-10 wins.  USD defeated sixth-ranked Pitt on opening day of the 2022 season and beat No. 8 Ohio State the following week.
>> USD has reached an NCAA Regional Semifinal (Sweet 16) on four occasions: 2004, 2006, 2013, and 2018.

Up Next:
The winner of Friday's match will advance beyond the San Diego quarter of the bracket to play the winner of third-seeded Kentucky and sixth-seeded Western Kentucky in the first round of next weekend's NCAA regionals.  The NCAA regionals will be hosted by the highest advancing seed out of each region following this weekend's first and second round matches.

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