WSU volleyball travels to Los Angeles
Cougs on road again, played 10 away games so far this season
HSING-HAN CHEN | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE
Senior libero Alexis Dirige waits for the serve from the University of Washington on Sep. 25 at Bohler Gym.
October 3, 2019
The No. 24 Cougars will head down to Los Angeles this weekend for a two-game road trip against the UCLA Bruins and the University of Southern California Trojans.
WSU will seek to extend its three-game win streak against UCLA (7-4, 2-0) at 6 p.m. on Friday in Pauley Pavilion. The Cougars (12-2, 1-1) will remain in L.A. to play their second game against USC (7-5, 1-1) at noon on Sunday in the Galen Center.
WSU heads into the weekend after a loss to Cal in Berkley on Saturday. They stayed with Cal until the fifth set when Cal defeated them 15-4.
Head coach Jen Greeny said she was not sure what to expect from the team entering conference play last week but was proud of their first conference win of the season against Washington.
“If we’re able to play a little bit better and get our offense going, I think we can do some good things in the Pac-12,” she said. “It’s been a crazy start for everybody in this conference.”
She said it is a challenge to improve the skills of each player and learn to play as a unit. It is also difficult to prepare and scout upcoming opponents in a competitive conference.
The Bruins look to keep their two-match win streak alive against WSU after defeating USC and ASU last week. The Trojans are coming off a win against Arizona on Saturday but will play Washington on Friday before facing WSU on Sunday.
In the match against Cal, redshirt senior middle blocker Jocelyn Urias tied her career-high with 18 kills and recorded five blocks, marking her statistical best match of the season.
The next two matches mean another road trip for the Cougars. Greeny said she has felt like the team has been on the road all season. Out of the 14 games, WSU has played four of them in Pullman.
“It’s quite the start to the Pac-12 season. It’s tough to be on the road as well,” she said. “It’ll turn around at the end of Pac-12 play, and we’ll be home a little bit more.”
Against USC, the Cougars split the two games in the 2018 season. WSU will play both the Bruins and Trojans again on Nov. 1 and Nov. 3 respectively in Pullman.
The match against UCLA is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday in the Pauley Pavilion. Against USC, the match will begin noon Sunday in the Galen Center. Both games can be viewed on the Pac-12 networks.
