“It’s that seventh man. It’s a great home-court advantage. It gets electric in here and is something that we don’t talk about enough with how important it is [to have a great crowd],” head coach Jen Greeny said. 

Friday night features a match between No. 13 WSU volleyball (7-1, 0-0 Pac-12) and No. 8 BYU (8-0), the highlight of the out-of-conference schedule at Bohler Gym for 2023. The two teams met in 2022, but this year, they meet on the court of Wazzu. 

Last season, against Oregon and Washington, the Cougs picked up massive wins in front of sold-out crowds. With the new renovations in Bohler over the summer, the BYU match looks to be the first match with a crowd comparable to those big wins last season. 

As Greeny said, a packed Bohler Gym is an undervalued asset for the Cougs that helped in last season’s big wins—the WSU faithful acting as a seventh man on the court for the team. 

Transfer Iman Isanovic experienced Bohler from the wrong side during her time at Arizona State, with the experience being much different when experiencing the benefits of the crowd. 

“It’s a Friday night match against a really good team and I know Bohler is widely known as a really great gym to play in those matches. Everyone there is there because they love volleyball, so it’s a nice atmosphere,” Isanovic said.  

With a big home football game against Wisconsin tomorrow, there will be a lot of foot traffic in Pullman and on-campus, a perfect opportunity available to watch two of the best teams in the entire country battle it out to see if WSU can get their revenge, or if BYU can hand the Cougs their first home loss of 2023. 

Both teams won their first two matches of the Cougar Challenge, with this match effectively deciding the tournament winner. 

ZZUCRU is hosting a pre-match bash at 5 p.m. in the Northside Commons and first serve is set for 7 p.m. Friday in Bohler Gym. With high stakes and great play, there is no excuse to miss out.