While the Colorado football team traveled to Pullman to take on the Cougs on the gridiron, the volleyball team reversed field as they headed east to Boulder, Colorado, to take on the Buffs on the court.
Setting the tone, No. 11 WSU volleyball (21-7, 11-6 Pac-12) took down Colorado (14-14, 6-11) in a sweep 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-23). Paralleling the football team, it was all WSU from start to finish as the season’s end came closer.
In front of 2,093 fans, WSU got off to an electric start. With 20 kills on .586 hitting in the first set, they had a constant barrage of attacks heading toward the Colorado floor. After Colorado won the first point, WSU rattled off four-straight points, highlighted by back-to-back kills from Pia Timmer, to take a 4-1 lead.
It was back and forth from there for the most part, with neither team going on a run deeper than three straight points.
Sets two and three were not much different, as the team hit .351% and .243%, respectively. Objectively a worse rate, but still more than enough to pick up the win.
However, it the second set, the Cougs pounced out of the gate. Two 4-0 runs in the first 11 serves gave the Cougs a 9-2 lead they never relinquished.
Through all three sets, it seemed like WSU had their mojo back. Hitting .379% while limiting the Buffs to just .181%. With a 71% side-out rate, it was clear the Cougs had the better offensive unit. The top three in kills in the match all came from the side of WSU, with Timmer leading the way with 15, followed by Iman Isanovic at 12 and Magda Jehlárová at 10.
However, it was not a perfect match. WSU looked to take advantage of the service line with a more aggressive approach, but it did not go to plan. The team had a single service ace in the three sets while committing nine service errors. While not enough to swing the result, it is not the result the team wanted to have at the line.
On an individual level, Argentina Ung stood out. In just three sets, she had 44 assists, seven digs, a team-leading four blocks and five kills without an error. The engine of the offense, more performances like this will be necessary for a deep NCAA Tournament run.
Jehlárová did not put up jaw-dropping numbers in terms of blocks, but she did have three in the match. She now sits at 745 during her career, six behind first place for the NCAA rally-scoring era and 11 behind the Pac-12 record.
WSU has just three regular season matches remaining in their 2023 season. That starts with their upcoming match at 11 a.m. Sunday against Utah in Salt Lake City.
