Things are only getting tougher for the No. 9 WSU volleyball team (18-5, 8-4 Pac-12) after their first two-match losing streak in over a year, they face No. 5 the Stanford Cardinal (18-3, 11-1) away from the comfort of Bohler Gym.

WSU lost to the Cardinal 3-1 (31-29, 29-27, 23-25, 25-18) in early October, the first loss the Cougs took at home during the new season, but it has not been the last loss in Bohler.  

Losing despite taking multiple sets deep into the red zone is never what a team wants, but head coach Jen Greeny said that the team knows what they have to work on to be able to win those sets moving forward. 

“Just need to be staying aggressive. We’ll look at that and what ways that if we’re up, what things we can [do to] finish it out,” she said.

With just a single service ace in the first showcase between the two top-tier programs, the Stanford defense had eliminated that facet of the Cougar offense for the most part. Expect a more aggressive approach at the line from the Cougs as they look to give Stanford a taste of their own away-upset victory medicine. 

“I think just we probably could have been a little more aggressive from the service line but you know, credit to them on their defense,” Greeny said. 

Losing their previous two matches against then-No. 9 Oregon and unranked Oregon State, the Cougs are on a skid where their offense has looked the worst it has been all season. 

Their first rough outing came against Oregon, where they hit .128% altogether and were unblocked 13–10. Arguably worse, against the Beavers, they hit .208% against a less consistent defensive unit. 

Despite the losses, the Cougs remained headstrong in the AVCA Poll, staying in the top 10 ranking in at No. 9, a program record seventh-consecutive week. 

On the other hand, Stanford had looked dominant all season, that was until they ran into Arizona State. In Shocking fashion, the then-No. 21 Sun Devils not only took down the Cardinal, they swept them in Tempe, Arizona. 

Stanford had been undefeated in Pac-12 play for the first half-plus of the schedule, but in the loss to Arizona State, they proved that Gods do bleed. 

WSU sits with four all-time wins against the Cardinal in their program history but has yet to snatch their first win on the road, losing every time they visit Maples Pavilion. 

Greeny will coach her 400th career match as the coach of the Cougs, with her current record standing at 227-172. 

The Cardinal and the Cougs will battle at 6 p.m. Friday at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, California.