Recent history shows WSU dominance in the volleyball Apple Cup. Winners of the last three straight matches and winners of seven of the last nine, the Cougs hold the bragging rights between the two programs since the start of 2018.
Now, WSU is playing in the WCC and the Huskies are playing in the Big Ten.
Last season saw the Cougs sweep not only the season series but sweep UW in both matches. To begin this season, the Huskies may look poised to start swinging the pendulum back in their favor.
UW (5-0, 0-0 B10) has yet to lose a match, losing just six sets in the process. Already proving their nutrition, the Huskies have won two straight matches that have gone the distance.
Against Georgia and Colorado, UW won with strong showings late.
On the other hand, WSU (3-2, 0-0 WCC) has started the season with ups and downs. After a 0-2 start, losing to Wyoming and Houston, the Cougs have won three straight.
Those victories have not been easy. Head coach Korey Schroeder’s first career victory came after the Cougs lost the first two sets of a match. One reverse sweep later and WSU had their first notch in the win column.
On Friday and Monday, WSU played two consecutive matches against Eastern Washington, a home-and-home series over the course of a single weekend. The Cougs managed to win both, but the latter of the series took until the fifth set to decide the winner.
While early, UW has had a tougher strength of schedule to begin the season and fared better. Adding to the advantage is the court the two teams will play on. To ensure the continuation of the Apple Cup, the Cougs and Huskies agreed to play an out-of-conference match, but it had to be played in Seattle.
“I don’t think you can get rid of that [big rivalry] feeling for people, and especially with it coinciding with the Apple Cup for football, I think there’s going to be quite the buzz there, but yeah, it’ll be a fun environment,” Schroeder said.
Since 2002, WSU has a 4-18 record in Seattle. Since 2015, that record has been 3-5. Even with a generally more dominant team during the Jen Greeny tenure, getting over the hump and going on the road to win the Apple Cup has proven to be a difficult task.
At 7 p.m. Friday in Seattle, the Apple Cup returns to Alaska Airlines Arena as the Cougs and Huskies play just one match for the entire season’s bragging rights.
