WSU volleyball takes Apple Cup Series match vs. No. 8 UW

The WSU volleyball team gave us just what we all needed coming off the heels of last weekend’s football game: A decisive 3-1 victory over No. 8 UW.

The win is technically an upset, given that the Huskies (9-2) are ranked in the top 10 and the Cougars (12-1) are not ranked at all, but it hardly looked like an upset given the 22-25, 25-22, 25-20 and 25-20 scoreline. It’s also the second consecutive victory by the Cougars in the series.

WSU dropped the first set with some ill-timed errors at the end, and the critical second set was a back-and-forth affair that worked its way all the way up to 22-22. That’s when Magda Jehlarova came up with a solo block to win a point, and Alexis Dirige finished the Huskies off with an ace to tie the match at one set apiece.

The Cougs then used a 9-4 run to close out the third set, capped off by a kill from Jocelyn Urias, leading to WSU rolling in the fourth set, running out to leads of 9-5 and 18-12 before closing it out at 25-20.

Pia Timmer led the team in kills with 14, adding two blocks and seven digs. Pukis posted 41 assists, a match high, and also had a career-high six kills. She also had 10 digs to record her third career double-double.