It was not how the weekend was supposed to go for WSU Volleyball. Heading into Minnesota to compete against the hosting the then-No. 6 Minnesota Gophers and the then-No. 22 Pepperdine Waves, expectations were high. Ideally the team would be able to take at least one match to solidify their spot in the top echelon of teams. 

That is not what happened. WSU would go winless, but nonetheless put up a valiant effort and showed life in both matches. Overall, if they had a couple more bounces go their way or were able to show a little more stamina, they could have easily taken at least one win over the weekend. 

WSU vs. Pepperdine 

In the first matchup of the weekend and the first match ever between the two programs, the Waves came out on top 3-2 (25-18, 17-25, 29-31, 26-24, 15-6). 

This was the first time this season that the Cougs would get to the fifth set, which was evident by their lacking stamina in that final set. In the most intense and tightly contested match of the young season, the Cougs would take a 2-1 lead and get Pepperdine on double match point. 

Coming oh so close to closing it out on the fourth set, they would drop two straight points after evening the score at 24 to lose it and even up the series. They would fall rather quickly in the fifth set, only managing six points as Pepperdine would go on a five point run to win it. 

Many Cougs had stellar performances, but as a team there were some uncharacteristic offensive struggles, coming into these matches WSU led the nation with a .329 hit percentage. As a team, they were only able to manage a .210 hitting percentage. 

Two athletes posted season-high totals. The first being Laura Jansen with 22 kills as well as Argentina Ung, who put up a career-best 57 assists. Ung had an overall great match, adding five kills, three block assists and a solo block. 

Pia Timmer would utilize her opportunities extremely well, tallying 14 kills which included a series of six kills on only eight attacks. 

Head coach Jen Greeny had nothing but praise for the Pepperdine squad. Although acknowledging the fact that her team ran out of steam near the end of the match.

“Pepperdine is a great team and played unbelievable defense. I think we just kind of ran out of steam a little bit in the fifth,” Greeny said postgame.

WSU vs. Minnesota

In their second match, WSU went against the hosting No. 6 ranked Minnesota Gophers. They would show some fight, but fall 3-1 (25-16, 25-13, 24-26, 25-20). 

The offensive struggles from their first match would continue overall for the team, as they would only manage a measly .192 hit percentage for the match. 

Jansen and Katy Ryan would show promise through the struggle, both tallying more than 15 kills with 16 and 15 respectively. Ryan’s aggressiveness and grit were what kept the Cougs competitive in the third and fourth sets, something that head coach Jen Greeny recognized. 

“[Ryan] started to get some confidence, really turned it on and really started to get aggressive in the second half of that match,” Greeny said postgame.

Timmer would add to the offense, racking up 12 kills but was generally quiet other than that. 

Ung would continue her impressive season in the assist category, managing 44. She would get 12 of these in the third set alone, helping the Cougs take their only set of the match. Her grand total on the season now sits at 383 through 11 games. 

 Although disappointed by the results, there was some good to come out of this weekend. But coach Greeny has now redirected her attention to preparing for conference play. 

“It was a tough weekend but our eyes are now on the Pac-12 and I think these two matches have really helped get us ready for that,” Greeny said postgame. 

Following their respective wins over WSU and Minnesota’s loss to Pepperdine, the Waves rode their way to No. 17 in the AVCA Division-I Coaches Poll and the Gophers fell to No. 8 overall. 

WSU will look to quickly recover as they start conference play and face a ranked Washington squad in Seattle on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. They will follow that up on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. as they head to Los Angeles to take on the USC Trojans.