After a tough last weekend for the Cougs, WSU takes on its first away series against the Arizona schools. Today, the Cougs will play Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona, and on Sunday, they will take on the Wildcats of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. 

WSU is looking to continue its sweep against the Arizona schools. WSU has beaten both Arizona schools on the road since 2018. 

WSU has also beat ASU seven of the last 10 times that the two schools have played. In the last match against ASU in the spring of 2021, junior middle blocker Magda Jehlarova and junior outside hitter Pia Timmer recorded 22 kills and 14 blocks between the two of them. 

Against Arizona, the Cougs have won six of the last ten 10 matches between the two universities. At Arizona, the Cougs have a 3-2 record. Last year, when the Wildcats and Cougs played, WSU out-blocked Arizona 14-5. 

WSU is currently 3-4 on the road this season. These next matches are critical for the Cougs to win in order to make another appearance in the NCAA Tournament later this season. 

Fifth-year outside hitter Penny Tusa is still climbing her way up on the all-time ace list for the Cougs. She looks to have more opportunities for aces in these next two matches. 

In the last match, freshman opposite Katy Ryan made her presence known on the court. Ryan had a career-high of 19 kills against UCLA. Between the two matches against UCLA and USC, Ryan totaled 28 kills while maintaining a hitting percentage of .415. 

WSU did have 21 errors this last weekend but also recorded 25 aces, which is a relatively low number of aces for the Cougs. 

WSU so far has recorded 699 kills on the season with 266 errors. The team currently has a hitting percentage of .243. The Cougs have also recorded 78 aces on the season, and WSU has 721 digs in 14 matches. 

Some key players to watch out for this weekend are Ryan, Timmer and Jehlarova. All three players have been making huge strides on the court. 

Timmer and Jehlarova have been named offensive and defensive Pac-12 players of the week for their performance against Washington. 

You can watch the Arizona State match on the Pac-12 website. The match tips off at 7 p.m. Friday. You can also keep up with the Arizona match on StatBroadcast. The second match starts at noon on Sunday.