WSU volleyball beats Marquette in the first round of NCAA tournament

The Washington State volleyball team won its first NCAA tournament game since 2002, as they dispatched of Marquette in four sets. The 25th ranked Cougars now face a much harder task, as they'll play no. 3 overall seed Wisconsin, on the Badger's home floor.

WSU came out against the Golden Eagles with as good of a set that Head Coach Jen Greeny could ask for. The Cougs won it 25-21, and hit .577 percent, with just one error. They couldn't stay perfect in the second set, which they dropped 25-22 while hitting an ice cold .182 percent. Behind the strong play of Kyra Holt and Hailey Bethune the Cougs were able to recover and close out Marquette in the third and fourth sets.

Holt finished with a match-high 22 kills and contributed eight digs and three aces. Bethune had 15 kills of her own while hitting .538 percent. The Cougs hitting hadn't been as efficient in the second half of conference play as it had been earlier in the year, but this performance was a reversal of that trend. The team's hitting percentage of .331 was its highest in their last 17 matches.

If the Cougs are going to give no. 3 Wisconsin a scare in the second round a similar hitting performance may be necessary. The Badgers swept Howard in the first round and have been excellent at home this season. UW's only loss in Madison this year was in October to the tournament's no. 2 seed, Minnesota.

The Cougs and Badgers will play at 4 p.m. Friday, and you'll be able to stream it on ncaa.com.

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Volleyball:

No. 25 WSU Volleyball Claims 3-1 NCAA First Round Win over Marquette - WSUCougars.com | Washington State University Athletics
Season-high kills by Kyra Holt and career-high kills by Hailey Bethune propelled the No. 25 Washington State University volleyball team to a 25-21, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20 win over Marquette in the NCAA First Round at the Wisconsin Field House in Madison Thursday evening

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Football:

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