Following a weekend where the Cougs swept Oregon State and narrowly fell to Oregon, the WSU Cougars will play their final two road matches of the regular season. With their recent performances, the Cougs have done enough to get to No. 25 in the most recent coaches’ rankings. 

WSU volleyball (17-8, 9-5 Pac-12) will first play Arizona State (11-15, 5-9) at 6 p.m. on Friday in Desert Financial Arena. Earlier this season, when the two teams met in Bohler, WSU came out on top 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-21).

The offense was the focus of the matchup, as the team started by hitting .607 in the first set. Despite cooling down as the match unfolded, it was a dominant win for the Cougs, who will look to replicate that magic on the road. 

Pia Timmer was the focus of the matchup, tallying 13 kills on a .464 hitting percentage. Her offensive outburst came from a poor performance against Arizona, but she will be looking for a more consistent weekend the second time around. 

The second match of the weekend is against Arizona (13-12, 3-11) at 10 a.m. on Sunday in McKale Center. 

Despite the record being less than ideal for the Wildcats, the Cougs only narrowly escaped with a win in their first match, winning 3-2 (22-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-16, 16-14).

Following the win against the Wildcats, Laura Jansen, who had a spectacular game, attributed her performance to going all-out.

“I just thought of it before the game, just go all out and don’t hold back. It went well going all-out,” Jansen said.

If Jansen and the rest of the offense can replicate that all-out mentality, the win will come easy for the team. 

Players to look out for: 

Karly Basham – Basham was a significant player in the close loss to the Ducks. If she can replicate her defensive performance against the Arizona schools, the Cougs will be in a good position.

Laura Jansen – Jansen’s all-out mentality against Arizona the first time around led WSU to a win. Replicating that mentality will be easy, but time will tell if the execution is just as easy. 

Pia Timmer – Timmer had an uncharacteristic game against Arizona, hitting a putrid .019. She will be heavily motivated to prove herself against the team that read her in the first match.