After taking a 2-0 lead against the West Coast Conference’s No. 1-ranked University of San Diego on Saturday, Oct. 25, the Cougs dropped the last three sets.
“[I’m] still really proud of ‘em that we came out and competed because we could’ve not,” WSU head coach Korey Schroeder said. “I thought, for the most part, we stayed engaged throughout the entire match.”
It was their third loss in the last four matches, and it dropped them to fourth place in the WCC. However, the Cougs look to rebound this week against the University of the Pacific (7-13, 1-8) and Oregon State University (OSU) (13-5, 7-2).
Versus University of the Pacific:
The first match is at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, at home against the Tigers. Currently, Pacific is in third-to-last place in the conference. Still, Schroeder is ensuring the Cougs do not overlook the match.
“Everybody in the WCC is capable… I think we’re pretty darn engaged and focused on what needs to be happening on Thursday,” Schroeder said.
Despite the Tigers’ slow season, they have Olivia Keller, an outside hitter, who has 241 kills (seventh most in the conference).
Melina Christodoulou for the WSU volleyball team winds up a serve on Sep. 27 2025.
They also have the second most service aces in the WCC, at 139, averaging 1.88 aces per set. One of their liberos, Jayhlin Swain, is contributing 0.39 of those per set (third-best in the WCC).
But, Wazzu has been preparing for their services in practice.
“We’re definitely this week, putting a little bit more service pressure on our passers,” Schroeder said. “I think the message, a lot, is ‘hey, [if you’ve] got the chance to make a perfect pass, go for it. If it’s a really tough serve, just keep it alive.’”
Versus Oregon State University:
OSU is ranked No. 2 in the WCC, just two matches behind the University of San Diego. They recently won in straight sets against LMU (5-13, 3-6) and will face the University of Portland (10-10, 5-4) on Thursday, Oct. 30, before taking on the Cougs at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 2, at home.
Livia Ward sets up Lucie Blažková for a spike against the Santa Clara volleyball team on Sep. 27 2025.
Despite losing two out of their last four matches, they are still a tough team. They are hitting .252 a match (second in the conference) and have the third most total blocks, with 168. They also have four players with 130 or more total kills, including outside hitter Lauren Rumel, who has 273, fifth-most in the WCC.
To slow them down, WSU is looking to get them out of the system by applying pressure on serves, limiting how much their middle blockers get involved, setting their block lineups well, and swarming to the ball defensively, per Schroeder.
Applying service pressure may be difficult, however, since OSU only has 97 reception errors (the third fewest in the conference). But getting blocks would help give the Cougs momentum and help them steal points, despite it being something they have struggled with at times this year.
Overall, these next two games for WSU will be tough, but they are important for WCC standings. If things work out their way and they win both matches, the Cougars could be second or third place in the conference by the end of the weekend.
