No. 19 Cougars meet Colorado on road trip

Cougars battle Pac-12 foe in Boulder looking for fourth straight win

BENJAMIN MICHAELIS | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE

Sophomore outside hitter Penny Tusa strikes the ball against the University of California, Los Angeles, on Sunday in Bohler Gym.

SIGMUND SEROKA, Evergreen reporter

No. 19 WSU volleyball will take on University of Colorado on Friday in Boulder.

This will be the second time the two teams have met this season as the Cougars defeated the Buffaloes 3-1 in Bohler Gym on Sept. 30.

WSU (16-5, 7-4) is riding a three-match win streak after defeating No. 14 University of Southern California and No. 20 University of California, Los Angeles, at home this past weekend and University of Utah on Wednesday in Salt Lake City. The victories against the Trojans and Bruins helped maintain the Cougars’ perfect home record and improve it to 7-0 on the season.

Coming into this week, redshirt junior middle blocker Jocelyn Urias has been a key player for the Cougars. She was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 15. This was Urias’ first time winning the award, but she and the team are likely both looking forward to seeing her continue this level of play as the season continues.

Urias has been making an impact on the floor, especially with career-highs. She landed the match-winning kill against USC last Friday and then provided a career-high 14 match kills against UCLA on Sunday.

It’s a given that Urias will be a main part of the team’s game plan going forward against Colorado. Although the Cougars just beat two high-ranked opponents over the weekend and Utah, the Buffaloes received six votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association Coaches Poll.

The Buffaloes (12-9, 4-6) are coming off a 3-1 victory over Arizona State University on Sunday in Tempe. The Sun Devils won the first set, but in the second set the Buffaloes turned up their offensive tempo and started a 12-4 run to come back and win the second set.

After that momentum-shifting second set victory, Colorado continued to pour it on offensively and won the next two sets after that to walk away with a 3-1 match victory over the Sun Devils.

“ASU is a really good team — to win on anyone’s home court in this conference is hard to come by,” Colorado Head Coach Jesse Mahoney said after the game against USC. “Our passing got better and we made the switch to [senior] Gabby Carta-Samuels to libero. From that point on we played with a lot more poise and confidence which was good to see.”

The Cougars face the Buffaloes at 6 p.m. Friday in the CU Events Center in Boulder, Colorado. The game will also be available on Pac-12 Networks.