The Cougars remain undefeated all-time against the University of Montana after pulling out a 3-1 victory last night. After winning two of the first three sets, Washington State closed out the match by preventing an attempted comeback in the fourth.
The first set saw both sides go back and forth. The two teams were always within two of each other, except once, through the first 34 points. The Cougs were ahead 18-16 at that point.
The Cougars finished off the set by going on a 7-3 run, which included three blocks by three different Cougs, to win it 25-19.
“We just played our game. We weren’t worried about the other side. We were just worried about us,” outside hitter Emerson Matthews said on what caused their 7-3 run.
The second set was similar to the first, in the sense that the Cougs won it, 25-22. It was different in the sense that the Cougs’ offense was not clicking.
WSU outside hitter Lucie Blazkova leaps to attack the ball against the University of Montana volleyball, March 27, 2026.
In the first set, the WSU’s offense had no problem getting the ball past the net. That was not the case in the second. In one of the set’s points, Matthews had three attack attempts before she finished it with a kill to give the Cougars a 22-19 lead.
The Grizzlies constantly stuffed the ball at the net, which caused the Cougs to have to cover the blocks and extend rallies.
“I think we were swinging low. We were a bit tentative on our swings,” Matthews said.
The Griz also had 11 unearned points in the second set off WSU attack errors, service errors, poor passing and other violations.
The third set was dominated by Montana. After it was tied 7-7, the Grizzlies found themselves up 12-7 and later 18-13 before eventually winning it 25-16.
New WSU assistant coach Keith Saito faulted the Cougars’ passing as a reason why they dropped the third set.
“We just couldn’t pass the ball as effectively as we wanted,” he said.
The Cougars also struggled to stop middle blocker Sydney Pierce, who recorded four kills during the set, and allowed three service aces.
The fourth and final set was close throughout. A key factor that helped the Cougs win it was what outside hitter Mary Healy did at the service line.
With only a one-point lead, 15-14, Healy delivered three-straight aces.
The WSU volleyball team posing for a photo during their match against University of Montana, March 27, 2026.
“We were kind of in a tight game, and just that her…run kind of just blew it open for us,” Saito said. “She…got back there and just had a couple really solid serves.”
These points created necessary breathing room for the Cougs, especially as the Griz came back to put the set within one, at 21-20.
But, Wazzu held off the comeback by going on a 4-0 run to win 25-20, capped off by a block by middle blocker Lucie Blažková.
“[Blažková’s block] was awesome,” Matthews said. “But I think sticking together as a team, it was really…exciting for us to go out like that.”
During the match, outside hitter Eliana Ti’a, Matthews and Blažková led the way for the Cougars, combining for 36 kills and eight blocks.
The win is the Cougs’ fourth all-time victory against the Grizzlies and their third consecutive dating back to last season.
WSU has two more spring matches. The next is April 11 at Sherwood Athletic Center in Walla Walla, Wash., against Whitman College. The match time has not been announced yet.
