After consecutive wins against Gonzaga (13-12, 6-8) and Seattle University (7-18, 1-13), the Cougs (16-8, 10-4) are up against the University of Portland (12-14, 7-8) at 7 p.m. Thursday night. It is the Cougars’ last home match this season and is senior night.

WSU comes into this match off one of their best offensive outputs of the season. Outside hitter Taryn Vrieling and middle blockers Camryn Lingenbrink and Lucie Blažková all hit over .600. As a team, they hit .417, which was their second-highest hitting percentage this season. It marked the second-consecutive match in which they hit over .400.

They managed to do it against the Redhawks, a team that had the fourth-most total blocks in the West Coast Conference heading into the match.

Thursday, however, they will be up against a grittier Portland team. Despite not having the most flashy record on paper and sitting at seventh in conference (out of 12 teams), they have played well this season. They have forced a fifth set in their last three losses, including against No. 1 University of San Diego (21-4, 14-0). 

Also, in their seven wins this season, they have won 3-0 in all but one match. They have been propelled by outside hitters Elin Larsson, Maui Robins and Lucia Busso, who all have over 250 kills. Their libero, Tinoa Woodward-Hart, is 10th in the conference for digs (277) and fourth in digs per set (3.60). 

They have four players that have 20 or more service aces and are hitting .225 as a team, which is fifth best in the conference.

However, they are second to last in the conference in total blocks (163) and have the third-most reception errors (168). The Pilots are also ninth in the conference in total digs (1188). This means the Cougs may plan on prioritizing simply getting as many attack attempts as possible since the Pilots struggle defensively.

The Pilots have also not defeated an opponent that is above. 500 in conference play this season.

These all favor the Cougs as they look to get the win on senior night. The Cougs will be celebrating Vrieling, Lingenbrink, outside hitter Melina Christodoulou, middle blocker Keniya Cleveland and libero Kylie Wong.

A win would also be Wazzu’s ninth straight over Portland. Last year, they defeated the Pilots 3-2 at home and 3-0 in Portland. The last time they lost to Portland was in 2004, but they did not face each other in 2008, 2010, 2012 through 2018 or 2020 through 2023.

After Thursday, the Pilots have two matches remaining and the Cougs have three. All of these matches, for both teams, are on the road.