Jen Greeny, Cougar volleyball chase history vs. Arizona
Greeny one win away from 200 as Cougar volleyball head coach, first serve Friday at 7 p.m.
BENJAMIN MICHAELIS | THE DAILY EVERGREEN
WSU Women’s Volleyball head coach Jen Greeny, left, and Ben Laskey, assistant director of WSU athletic communications, right, talk about the system they use to keep track of the players performance in practices and games.
October 21, 2022
While the action will be on the court Friday night when WSU volleyball hosts Arizona, all eyes will be on Jen Greeny who is one win away from 200 wins as WSU volleyball’s head coach.
She would be only the second Cougar volleyball head coach to achieve 200 wins, joining her coach from her WSU playing days, Cindy Fredrick.
Greeny snagged her 300th college victory as head coach in August but 200 at WSU, her alma mater, will be a special moment.
WSU volleyball (13-6, 5-3 Pac-12) returns to Pullman with history on the line and the goal of preserving their home win streak of ten which stretches into last season. To do that, they must beat the Arizona Wildcats (12-7, 2-6 Pac-12).
The Cougs are 5-0 at Bohler Gym so far with a dominating Cougar Challenge showing, a sweep of Oregon State and a deceive five-set Cougar victory over the Oregon Ducks.
On Friday, WSU dropped a dud of a game to Colorado losing 4-1. It was their first loss to an unranked opponent of the season.
The Cougs’ other five losses have each come to teams in the top 25 of the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
On Sunday, WSU returned to its winning ways with a sweep of Utah.
Arizona has struggled in Pac-12 play. They swept California on Sunday and were swept by Stanford on Friday. They have lost to teams that the Cougs have beaten in USC and Oregon.
That said, the Wildcats still pose a threat as Zyonna Fellows is fourth in the Pac-12 with 1.32 blocks/set. Kamaile Hiapo ranks fourth in the Pac-12 with 4.04 digs/set.
The Cougs have simply achieved more than the Wildcats have so far. They have only one player with more than 200 kills (Jaelyn Hodge), whereas the Cougs have two north of 200 (Laura Jansen and Pia Timmer). They may be closely contested in terms of record, but the Cougs have the slight edge in several categories, including kills per set (WSU 12.8 to Arizona’s 12.7) and assists per set (11.6 versus 11.4).
Last season, the Cougs did not drop a single set to Arizona through two matches. For Greeny to get her 200th win, she will need to ensure the team can do what they have been doing for most of the year and in Bohler Gym all year.
WSU volleyball will face Arizona at 7 p.m. on Friday.
