Cougars seek attack against Buffaloes
WSU won in last two games against Colorado; Buffs are on eight-game losing streak this season
October 24, 2019
The No. 24 WSU volleyball team will face the University of Colorado Buffaloes at 6 tonight in Boulder, Colorado.
WSU (16-4, 5-3) heads into this matchup coming off a 3-2 loss to Arizona State University on Sunday but have won four of the last five games.
Colorado’s last contest resulted in a 3-2 road loss to California at the Haas Pavilion. The Buffaloes (8-10, 0-8) are on an eight-game losing streak.
WSU has defeated Colorado the last two times they have met. Both wins were by a score of 3-1. WSU has also been victors in four of the last five matches dating back to November 2016.
Alexis Dirige, senior defensive specialist and libero, finished with 22 digs against ASU and is eight digs away from breaking the all-time WSU record.
Freshman outside hitter Pia Timmer led the Cougars in that match with 14 kills and posted an ace and a block in the ASU game. Timmer leads the team with 197 kills.
Penny Tusa, junior outside hitter and setter, was second on the team with 13 kills.
Freshman outside hitter Alexcis Lusby was another Cougar who recorded double-digit kills with 11, third most on the team. Lusby led the team with eight blocks in the match against Arizona State.
Tying Lusby with 11 kills was freshman middle blocker Magda Jehlárová, who also made 4 blocks. Jehlárová is sixth in the nation with 1.51 blocks per set. Jehlárová has 20 solo blocks and has assisted on 87, which leads the team.
In a press conference held on Tuesday, head coach Jen Greeny said that there were a handful of upsides, but overall the Cougars failed to match the intensity of ASU. She said it was a learning experience for the team.
No matter what the records show in this conference, the Pac-12 is continuously competitive, Greeny said.
“Even though Colorado’s record is not showing just how good they are, they are a really tough team,” Greeny said. “From top to bottom this conference is unbelievable every single weekend.”
Colorado leads the all-time series 10-6 over the Cougars since 1999.
WSU will look to get back on a winning streak against Colorado. The match will begin at 6 tonight in the CU Events Center in Boulder, Colorado. The game can be viewed on Pac-12 Plus Live Stream.