Not only did the Cougars (13-7, 7-3) sweep the University of the Pacific (7-14, 1-9) Thursday night, they held them to a 0.083 hitting percentage. It was the second-lowest hitting percentage Wazzu has allowed all season.
“That’s something we always talk about — [driving] the hitting percentage down,” WSU Head Coach Korey Schroeder said. “You drive their hitting percentage down [and] yours just goes up, you’re going to win matches.”
Camryn Lingenbrink and Melina Christodoulou combine for an attack at the net for WSU volleyball against Pacific on Oct. 30 2025.
Going into the night, the Cougars knew they needed a win after dropping three out of their last four previous matches. Despite facing the third-to-last place Tigers, the Cougs still understood it would be a tough match. Pacific had the second most service aces in the West Coast Conference (WCC), at 139, and outside hitter Olivia Keller, who had recorded 241 kills going into the match.
The first set saw the Cougs go up 11-4 before Pacific took their first timeout. Outside hitter Melina Christodoulou recorded two kills in that stretch. The Cougs were also winning the service battle with two aces, while the Tigers had zero.
Wazzu eventually strolled to a 25-14 set win. Six different players contributed at least one kill for the Cougs in the first set. As for the Tigers, only Keller, outside hitter Mazi Smith and opposite Julia Porath recorded kills.
The second set was much closer than the first. There were six ties until the Tigers eventually led 15-13 heading into the media timeout. Pacific had two aces in the set and benefited from three WSU attacking errors and a service error.
After the timeout, the Cougs went on a 12-4 run to close out the set 25-19. The Cougs had four kills and three service aces during the run, and the set ended with a service error from Pacific’s middle blocker Valentina Varani.
The media timeout proved to be a turning point in the set. It allowed the Cougs to calm themselves and prepare for the second half of the set.
“It doesn’t matter who you’re playing. You’re gonna have moments where maybe you’re not feeling your absolute best…you can’t look at it and be like ‘we’re down 4-2 or down 13-11, like, we should be beating this team,” Schroeder said. “I thought that [we] did a really good job just staying calm and continuing to play our game.”
Eliana Ti’a hits the ball for WSU volleyball against Pacific on Oct. 30 2025.
The third set saw the Cougs race out to a 17-10. Outside hitters Eliana Ti’a and Taryn Vrieling, and middle blocker Lucie Blažková, all recorded two kills. Wazzu also recorded three blocks as a team. Pacific struggled offensively to open up the set, having four attack errors.
The Tigers made things interesting by going on a 10-6, closing the Cougs’ lead to 23-21, drawing WSU’s first timeout of the entire match. Smith led the run for Pacific with two kills and two total blocks.
After the timeout, Vreiling recorded her seventh kill, and Ti’a and Blažková combined for the match-winning kill, taking the set 25-21.
The Cougs hit .321 on the night — their highest in a match since Oct. 4 against Gonzaga. Christodoulou led the Cougs in kills with 10, and she had a .400 hitting percentage. It was her first match back since Oct. 11, when the Cougs lost to Pepperdine 3-0.
“I missed it so much…so it’s really important that I’m back and I’m able to help the team as much as I can,” Christodoulou said. “I was helping them before as well, from far away, but I’m just trying to be as consistent as I can and trying to help them with whatever I can.”
The Cougs are now set to take on the Oregon State University Beavers (14-6, 8-2). It will be one of their most difficult matches of the season, but they are prepared.
“[We] [are] ready. We [are] ready,” Christodoulou said. “[We’re] gonna still be the same team that we are the whole season. We’re gonna keep performing, and we’re gonna keep being very consistent and play together because that’s [what] brings us the wins.”
The match begins 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2.
