WSU volleyball fell to No. 2 Stanford University in four sets Saturday night. This match was the second meeting of the regular season between the Cougars and the Cardinal.

“I’m very proud of the way we battled,” WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said, according to WSU Athletic Communications. “We threw some people into the match and I thought they did a nice job, and we fought until the end against a very, very good Stanford team.”

In the first set of the match, the Cougars (15-13, 4-12) built a 14-4 lead. Stanford (22-3, 15-1) then regrouped with a timeout. The Cardinal eventually rallied for six unanswered points, but an error sealed a first set victory for the Cougars.

“We served extremely well in the first,” Greeny said. “Lost a heartbreaker in the second in extra points.”

Both teams were close to victory multiple times in the second set, as there was never more than a three-point difference in score. Stanford ended up winning 32-30 in the high-scoring set that featured 16 ties.

Senior opposite Casey Schoenlein left the match and did not return in the third set. She was helped off the court. At that point, the Cougars were down by four points against the second-ranked team. WSU got to 16 points before Stanford scored six in a row to end the third set.

The Cardinal edged the Cougars in set four, winning 25-21 and ending the match. WSU and Stanford exchanged the lead four times during the set. However, the Cardinal didn’t give up a lead after they reached seven points.

Junior outside hitter Taylor Mims led all athletes with 25 kills and junior middle blocker Ella Lajos had six blocks.

“They’re number two in the, nation we’re not, I mean go at it we have nothing to lose,” Mims said. “I think people were able to step up and fill some roles that were dropped during the game.”

Next up for the Cougars is a 3 p.m. Friday match in Eugene to face the University of Oregon. It is scheduled to take place in Matthew Knight Arena.

“I think it was a good weekend, and overall, our offense was a lot better than it has been the last few weeks,” Greeny said, “and that is a positive that we can carry on to our matches at the Oregon schools.”