Perfect. That is the best word to describe the weekend that WSU Volleyball (8-1) had. The team traveled to the east to play in the Fairfield invitational in Fairfield, Connecticut. In addition to Fairfield, WSU played Howard and Fairleigh Dickinson. No single team stood a chance against the Cougs, as they would win all three matches in sweeps. Going 3-0 overall in matches, and 9-0 in sets. 

The wins added to the win streak that started last weekend, reaching a total of six straight wins following these matchups. 

Being heavy favorites heading into the weekend, it is no surprise that the team was able to take each game with ease. The team was able to execute well at the net, having their strongest defensive showcase of the young season. 

WSU vs Howard

In the first matchup of the weekend for the Cougs, they took on Howard in the second ever meeting between the two schools and first since 2017. WSU played well as they took advantage of the mistakes made by Howard, winning 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-22). 

As a team, WSU hit a strong .338, 35 kills with 9 errors on 77 total attacks. The offense, which Laura Jansen dominated last weekend, was more spread out. Pia Timmer would lead the way with nine kills, Jansen and two others would tally an added seven each. 

Overall, the win was on the back of being able to execute on the mistakes made by Howard. As a team, the Bison’s committed 19 attack errors and 13 errors. These errors were far too many to overcome the WSU attack, as they were able to limit themselves to only 14 total errors. 

WSU got help off the bench as well during the game, as Molly Kipp would come in and have eight assists to keep the offensive momentum on the side of WSU. Head coach Jen Greeny gave praise to Kipp for her ability to come off the bench and have a strong impact on the game. 

“[Kipp] did a great job and was able to make some adjustments to help us get the win,” Greeny said postgame.

The defense was led by Libero Karly Basham who tallied eight digs along with her four assists. As a team, WSU made less mistakes and had control throughout the entire match. 

WSU vs Fairfield 

In the second matchup of Friday, WSU would take on Fairfield University. In their second sweep, WSU won 3-0 (25-17, 25-12, 25-22). Even though it was a sweep, WSU did not look extremely dominant outside of the second set. 

In the first set, the Cougs had struggles early. They would further struggle to get into a groove in the middle of the set, however WSU would end up winning six straight points at the end to cap off a 9-1 run to take the set 25-17. 

The second set was a different story as the Cougs would jump out to a quick 10-3 lead and never look back, finishing the set without breaking a sweat. The third and final set would be the closest of the three, but Fairfield was never able to take a lead at any point.

Following the win, Greeny was proud in the way that the team played against the tournament hosts. She praised the opposition, giving them props for their grit and talent as a unit while doubling down on the notion that her team had a strong showing. 

“This is a good Fairfield team and I’m proud of the way our team played tonight,” Greeny said postgame. 

Many Cougars had some of their strongest performances of the young season. Jansen had her season-high in kills with a total of 16, Argentina Ung had a career-best 46 assists and three separate Cougs tallied more than four blocks each. 

While Jansen was the MVP of the set, sporting a 16-1-23, .565 line, Timmer would tally 12 kills and two blocks adding to her best weekend of the young season.

WSU vs Fairleigh Dickinson 

In the final game of the weekend for the Cougs, WSU would complete the trifecta of sweeps with a 3-0 (25-9, 25-15, 25-15 ) win. It was the most dominant win of the season for WSU, and it was the first ever matchup between the two schools. 

As a team, WSU tied a program-record as they tallied 14 service aces during the match. The last time this feat was accomplished was in 1992 when the Cougs faced off against Rhode Island. Jasmine Martin and Katy Ryan each set their individual career-highs in blocks with nine and eight respectively. 

Although having their weakest game of the season in terms of hit percentage in a win with a measly .221, they were still able to hold the opposition to a -.151 hit percentage. 

From the opening serve, WSU was able to control the pace, they took a 8-1 lead to start the first set and it wrapped up soon after. The match overall was an impressive win for WSU, it was quickly over and WSU dominated as expected.

Overview

The Cougars handled business on the East Coast and used this weekend as a warm-up for tougher matchups next weekend. As a team WSU should be happy with the performance they showed and should look to continue this momentum as they near conference matchups. On an individual level, many players had their strongest showings in one of if not all three matches this weekend. 

Timmer was able to find her groove and looks poised to dominate the rest of the season, playing extremely well in the first two matches of the weekend. 

Jansen continued her offensive prowess, tallying 30 kills on the weekend to bring her season total nearing 100 at 93. 

Martin and Ryan showed out at the net, both having career-bests in blocks in the final game of the weekend. 

Finally, Ung maintained her torrid assists pace, gathering a total of 82 over the three matches to bring her to a grand total of 282 on the season through the first nine games. If Ung Continues on this strong pace, she could have a potential top-10 season in assists for an individual player in the team’s history. 

The next time we will see the WSU volleyball team in action is this weekend as they will be taking on two teams in the University of Minnesota Diet Coke Classic. The first matchup will take place on Friday Sep 16 at 3:00 p.m. PST against Pepperdine (7-2). The other matchup of the weekend will be against Minnesota (4-2) at 5:30 p.m. on September 17

After this weekend, WSU will begin conference play against Washington on September 21 and USC on September 24.