Through the first 11 serves, there were already four total service errors, three of which came from the Cougs. Through the first two sets, WSU had 10 service errors and they ended the match with 12 service errors but still came out with a dominant-looking win.
No. 4 WSU (17-2, 7-1 Pac-12) defeated Colorado (10-9, 2-6 Pac-12) at home to defend home court. In a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-19, 25-17), the Cougs overcame a rough offensive night to come out on top for their second-straight victory and fourth of the month.
Defense was the name of the game, as Colorado hit .111% on the match and through the first 30 serves were hitting just .091%. Karly Basham and Julia Norville commanded the back row, combining for 19 digs and kept each point alive for the Cougs.
“Our mentality is just no ball hits the floor and we just go super aggressive,” Basham said.
Basham tallied her 1,000th WSU career dig Friday night with 16 on the night and came back with eight digs against the Buffaloes.
“[The back row defense] is literally is making our team right now. It’s the reason why I was able to accomplish [1,000 career digs]. I’m pushed by players like [Julia], Emma and [Logan] every single day in practice and I think that shows up just in our defensive play this whole year,” Basham said. “On and off the court it’s meant the world being here.”
In the first set, Colorado’s Skyy Howard had three kills on .429% hitting and three blocks, but slowed down the rest of the way to the tune of five kills on hitting .231% and five kills on the match.
Limiting Howard and the rest of the offense was thanks in part to the back row as well as the blocking at the net. After giving up some strong attacks from Howard specifically, the team understood how they were being attacked and were able to adjust quickly to stifle the Buffaloes attack.
Along with their 19 digs from Basham and Norville, the Cougs blocked 10 total Colorado attacks.
“It was the way we started, reading the game in the beginning, specifically their tendencies. After we started seeing in them in the first set we realized where hitters were attacking,” Norville said.
Magda Jehlárová inched ever closer to the Pac-12 blocking record as she and Lana Radakovic tied for the team lead with five blocks a piece. Katy Ryan, after leading the team Friday, was close behind with four blocks on the night, having one of her best defensive weekends of the season.
Offensively Pia Timmer led the team, finishing with 17 kills on .289% hitting, adding four digs for the team. Jehlárová finished second on the team with nine kills and hit .444%, continuing what has been another great season for the fifth-year middle blocker.
The Cougs are back in action at 7 p.m. Friday as they head back on the road to take on USC in Los Angeles in the Galen Center.
