Volleyball heads to Corvallis after series cancelation

Cougars have not played since Feb. 28 due to COVID-19 related cancelations

Sophomore Pia Timmer leads the team with 128 kills this season.

HSING-HAN CHEN | THE DAILY EVERGREEN

Sophomore Pia Timmer leads the team with 128 kills this season.

KAT MCKINNEY-ROLEY, Evergreen reporter

The WSU volleyball team is set to play a doubleheader against the Oregon State Beavers on Friday and Sunday in Corvallis, Oregon.

The Cougars have not played since Feb. 28 against Cal due to their last series against USC being canceled for a COVID-19 related protocol development.

“It’s been tough with the cancellations, we haven’t played two out of the last three weeks,” head coach Jen Greeny said. “It’s a little bit tough when you’re gearing up for a team and you don’t get to play.”

The Cougars are currently ranked 16th in the nation according to the AVCA Coaches Poll. This is the second consecutive week in the 16th position, with their previous rank being 17th.

WSU is on a four-game win streak which includes two series sweeps against Cal and Colorado. In between those two series, the Cougars had to sit out another two games against Stanford due to COVID-19 complications.

In their last match against Cal, senior outside hitter Penny Tusa landed herself in the top ten for service aces in WSU history. Tusa has already racked up 20 service aces on the season, including 15 kills and a hitting average of .164.

“Super proud of Penny and her accomplishments, she’s somebody we’ve talked about many times, but she will do anything for this program,” Greeny said.

Sophomore outside hitter Pia Timmer has been a key player in WSU’s success this season and continues to prove herself on the court in the Pac- 12. Timmer has 128 recorded kills and has nine service aces on the season. The 6-foot-2 German-born player has also recorded 16 total blocks in the 10 games this season.

Sophomore middle blocker Magda Jehlarova has already earned herself the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week and looks to continue her impressive defensive performances against the Beavers. Magda has had a combined 50 blocks on the season so far.

Redshirt sophomore setter Hannah Pukis has shined throughout the season as well with her 40 kills and 366 assists.

The last time WSU was on the court, they recorded 13 aces, 36 kills and 30 assists to seal the win and series sweep against Cal.

OSU is coming off of a sweep against the Cal Golden Bears as well. Freshman outside hitter Mychael Vernon led the Beavers with 13 kills, while freshman middle blocker Anastasija Svetnik led the Beavs with four blocks.

“They are a team that keeps getting better and better,” Greeny said. “They made a couple changes to their lineup last week and I thought they hit really well on some matches. We are going to have to serve tough to get them out of their system.”

Watch the Cougars take on the Beavers in Corvallis, Oregon at 6 p.m. Friday and at noon Sunday. You can watch the match on the Pac- 12 website.