Cougs host weekend tournament

WSU+volleyball+prepares+for+an+opposing+team%E2%80%99s+play+during+the+2012+season.%C2%A0+The+Cougars+will+compete+against+four+teams+in+the+Cougar+Challenge+Tournament+starting+Friday%2C+Sept.+6.

WSU volleyball prepares for an opposing team’s play during the 2012 season.  The Cougars will compete against four teams in the Cougar Challenge Tournament starting Friday, Sept. 6.

The Washington State University volleyball team looks for a second tournament victory during the Cougar Challenge Tournament in Pullman.

The Cougars (3-0) will make their 2013 home debut Friday and Saturday after winning the Black Knights Invitational in West Point, N.Y. last weekend.

“There were definitely times of up and down but for the most part played very well,” WSU Head Volleyball Coach Jen Greeny said in a press conference. “Just happy to come home 3-0 and some awards as well. It’s really fun to be back, we’re excited to be back and get to … play at home.”

WSU will host Eastern Washington (2-2), Texas Tech (4-1), Montana (1-2), and South Dakota (2-2) at the tournament.

“It’s a new challenge. These teams will be pretty tough that are coming in,” Greeny said.

Freshman Kyra Holt led the Cougars to their tournament victory last weekend in her first collegiate action in West Point.

“I like the chemistry on the team,” Holt said in a press video. “I feel like we have really good chemistry, even though we just started out.”

With a mix of returners and a large freshman class, the Cougars have worked on playing together, something Holt said she saw happening last weekend.

“We were still trying to get into the rhythm of things because we’re playing with new and different people, but I think we did good for our first tournament,” Holt said

WSU currently sits at fourth in the Pac-12 in both opponent hitting percentage and blocks per set, allowing only a .121 hitting percentage and tallying 2.83 blocks per set.

Senior captain Camryn Irwin finds herself sixth in the conference in assists per set, with 10.92. Irwin is also sixth on the Cougar all-time record list in career assists heading into the weekend, having accumulated 2,454 in her career at WSU.

Coming into the tournament, the Cougars spent the week working on consistency, Greeny said.

“During that Seton Hall match it was a bit of a rollercoaster,” she said. “So being able to kind of change the momentum and be a little bit more consistent through those rough times.”

WSU will play Eastern Washington at 12:30 p.m. and Texas Tech at 8 p.m. Friday, followed by matches against Montana at 1 p.m. and South Dakota at 8 p.m. on Saturday.

During the tournament, Cougar matches will be webcast for free on wsucougars.com.