The WSU volleyball team started out the season this weekend on a high note, winning the Seattle University Fall Volley Tournament.

Leading the way for the Cougars (2-1) was tournament MVP, and lone Cougar senior, Meagan Ganzer.

"Meagan has been a great player here and this is such a great accomplishment and there will be many more to come," Head Coach Jen Greeny said in a press release. "Unfortunately, with such a young team we will probably rely on her a lot this year."

Ganzer recorded 72 kills in the tournament, moving her past Greeny on the WSU all-time kills list. The 72 kills brought Ganzer to a career total of 1,008 — enough to put her in at No. 10 on the WSU all-time record book.

"This is a huge honor and the girls on this team are the best support group I could have ever asked for,” Ganzer said in a press release. “They are amazing and I am blessed. I'm so glad I got to share this with parents and family members, since it is so close to home."

WSU opened up the tournament with a 27-25, 24-26, 25-17, 25-20 win against Santa Clara, getting a win for Greeny in her first action as WSU head coach.

"It is always great to get the first win and the first match under your belt," Greeny said in a press release. "I don't know if there were jitters early as much as inexperience showing early on but the players responded in sets three and four and really came back and played well. To come out and grab that first set was really important. I really liked the way they fought back in the second set even though we didn't get it. At the break we talked about getting our middles more involved and that is exactly what we did with Marcelina Glab and Ver'leea Hardaway and that really opened up our offense." 

Following the win on Friday against Santa Clara, the Cougs dropped their first of the season Saturday morning against Eastern Washington 22-25, 25-18, 25-20, 20-25, 15-8.

"We made mistakes at crucial times and our youth really showed today whereas yesterday we were pretty composed," Greeny said in a press release. "Eastern Washington did a great job of moving their hitters around and we couldn't handle it today. I think our blocking really struggled compared with yesterday and that hurt us a lot along with ball-control and passing. We weren't able to really get our middles going like we did yesterday.”

To finish the tournament WSU took out host-school Seattle University 19-25, 25-21, 17-25, 26-24, 15-12. The Cougs head-to-head win against Santa Clara to open the tournament is what ultimately let the Cougs come home with the tournament victory.

"I think we showed a lot of fight at the end which is typical of the teams we've had in the past; never give up, fight to the end and I'm really proud of the way we came back in the fourth and the fifth sets," Greeny said in a press release. "Camryn Irwin really got us back into the game just with her serving and her decision-making down the stretch. For just being a sophomore she showed a lot of leadership with a young and inexperienced team. Seattle was a tough team all weekend and they have a lot of great weapons. In that third set they hit .559 which is unbelievable. They will have a great year."

Next up for the Cougars is the University of Portland Nike Invitational Friday and Saturday; the Cougs will take on Nevada, Portland, Butler and Texas A&M.