Cougars kill Dukes
WSU wins its first game of the JMU Invitational
BENJAMIN MICHAELIS | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE
Junior outside hitter Penny Tusa, left, and senior libero Alexis Dirige high-five one another after a successful rally in the game against University of California, Los Angeles, on Oct. 21 in Bohler Gym.
September 2, 2019
The Cougar’s volleyball team had a 3-0 set win against James Madison University in their opening match at the JMU Invitational this weekend in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
The set scores were 25-20, 25-13, and 25-15.
This was the first matchup in the history of the two teams.
WSU was able to grab a total of 43 kills while JMU had 24.
However, JMU did beat out the Cougars with seven blocks while WSU only had five.
The No. 22 Cougars did not fear to use their best competitors.
Senior Alexis Dirige had two aces and redshirt senior Jocelyn Urias, freshman Alexis Lusby, and freshman Pia Timmer all helped lead their team to victory.
Urias led the team with ten kills in the match. The Dukes did not give up the lead easily in the first set with many runs of their own.
However, freshman Reagan Cooper and others helped the Cougars win the first set. The second set was all Washington State as they dominated the court with a 12-2 run over the Dukes.
WSU came from behind in the third set. They started down 9-7 until a 5-0 run helped Washington State to victory. Kills from junior outside hitter Penny Tusa and Lusby helped greatly.
Finally, a 6-1 run completed the matchup between the two teams and sent the Cougars to victory ending the set 20-13.
Senior Ashley Brown fueled the cougars with her leadership with an all-time high of 27 assists for her team. Alexis Drige also had a match-high of 14 digs to JMU.
