WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE…
PULLMAN, Wash. -- The Washington State volleyball team moved to 5-1 on the season with a 25-21, 25-22, 25-12 win over College of Charleston (5-2) Friday night in the eighth of nine contests of the Cougar Challenge Tournament at Bohler Gym.
Junior
Taylor Mims led the Crimson and Gray Cougars with 11 kills, hit .321, five blocks and had one ace. Senior
Casey Schoenlein tallied nine kills, hit .375 and had three blocks. Junior
McKenna Woodford had six kills and two blocks. Redshirt sophomore
Jocelyn Urias had six kills, hit .400 and led the match with seven blocks.
Alexis Dirige, sophomore libero, tallied 16 digs and
Ashley Brown, sophomore setter led WSU with 20 assists. Freshman
Penny Tusa had eight assists and two aces, bringing her ace total for the day to five.
It was another outstanding hitting night for the Cougs with a .329 for the match and held Charleston to a .082 hitting percentage.
Mims and Woodford were named to the All-Tournament team.
WHY & HOW...
WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said, "I thought offensively we performed really well tonight, especially our pins.
McKenna Woodford,
Taylor Mims,
Casey Schoenlein and
Claire Martin really did a nice job of just putting the ball away and that's what we've really been looking forward to seeing."
Regarding the team's performance in the blocking and digs categories Greeny said, "(We did well) against a very good College of Charleston team. We struggled a little bit in that second set but we were able to pull it together and performed really well after the game break. I'm really proud of this team: six matches in six days was really tough but we were running on fumes a little bit but we said just get through this. I'm happy to be done and able to enjoy the weekend."
WSU Redshirt Sophomore Jocelyn Urias when asked about earning a starting role after a redshirt season said, "I'm still improving in a lot of things. I've been getting better in my serve and blocking. Before I was feeling nervous but now I'm feeling confident. We've improved a lot (as a team) being united not just on the court but off the court and it shows on the court."
NOTES…
- WSU hit an outstanding .346 and held Charleston to a .132 hpct. in the first set.
- After see-saw battles in sets 1 and 2, Cougars jumped out to an 8-1 lead in set 3 and never looked back. Ahead by as much as 13 late in the set.
- WSU and College of Charleston played last year at the Baylor tournament with WSU winning 3-0.
- Cougar Challenge All-Tournament Team: Madelynn Miller, UIW; Kennedy Madison, Charleston; Shelly Fanning, Baylor; Taylor Mims, WSU; Natalie Alechko, Quinnipiac; Katie Staiger, Baylor; and McKenna Woodford, WSU
- Attendance: 583
MARK YOUR CALENDAR…
The remaining match of the Cougar Challenge is Baylor versus College of Charleston, Sat., Sept. 2 at 10 a.m. in Bohler Gym. For the second time in two weeks, Washington State travels across the country to the Fairfield (Conn.) Invitational to play New Hampshire and Fairfield University twice Sept. 8-9.
