Another weekend on the road for WSU Volleyball will see them travelling to Arizona, battling two nationally ranked teams.

The Cougs (9-9, 0-6) will face off against No. 16 Arizona in the McKale Center tonight at 6 p.m. and No. 17 Arizona State in the Wells Fargo Arena Sunday at 11 a.m.

The Cougs have faced their fair share of nationally ranked teams this season, but Head Coach Jen Greeny said playing top-tier teams is just a part of competing in the Pac-12 conference.

“It has been a tough stretch of nationally ranked teams, but that’s what really enjoy playing in the Pac-12,” Greeny said in an interview with wsucougars.com “We’re hoping to beat those teams and become nationally ranked ourselves.”

The Cougars are coming off two losses on the road against Oregon and Oregon State last weekend. They will be looking to snap a seven-game losing streak and notch their first conference win of the season.

Junior libero Kate Sommer says that maintaining focus and intensity during long rallies will help the Cougars push past close losses and come out with a victory.

“We’re really close to winning, so we’re going to get past that hump this weekend and expect to come out on top,” Sommer said.

Sommer said Greeny’s belief in the players is the biggest influence on her play, and this belief instills confidence in the team as a whole.

Heading into the weekend, sophomore outside hitter Kyra Holt says she’s working to improve her defense and blocking.

“I’m hoping that we continue to keep fighting and we don’t give up. We just have to keep fighting and it will come,” Holt said.

Holt said WSU’s long and arduous preseason has helped her to continue grinding and working to push past competition.

Both Sommer and Holt put up big numbers against the Oregon schools last weekend. Sommer led the team defensively, tallying 35 digs. Holt had a total of 30 kills against Oregon and Oregon State, the team leader in the stat.

Sommer said the matches so far this season have taught her to keep fighting and not give up.

“You never know when you’re going to turn that corner. We’re just going to get back on the horse and expect to win.”

Live streaming and audio of the match against Arizona tonight will be available on wsucougars.com. The Arizona State match Sunday will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks and live audio will be on wsucougars.com.