WSU Volleyball balls out in Utah
Cougar freshman middleblocker Magda Jehlárová dominates
October 28, 2019
The No. 24 Cougar volleyball upset the No. 18 University of Utah Utes 3-2 Sunday afternoon in Salt Lake City.
This marks WSU’s first victory against a top 20 opponent since playing the then-No. 8 Washington Huskies in September.
Freshman middle blocker Magda Jehlárová achieved a career-high in kills with 18. Coming into the match, Jehlárová was in the top 10 nationwide for total blocks and blocks per set. She had a total of eight blocks on Sunday.
Utah (14-7, 6-4) led the match for the majority of the first set. It wasn’t until the score was tied at 23 that WSU (18-4, 7-3) leveled with Utah. Utah won the set 25-23. Jehlárová totaled seven kills in the first set alone.
The second set was a complete shift of momentum for the Cougars. After the first 10 points split evenly between teams, WSU did not fall behind for the remainder of the set. WSU won the set 25-15, which was the largest final score differential of the match.
Freshman outside hitter Pia Timmer and redshirt senior middle blocker Jocelyn Urias combined for nine kills in the set.
WSU fell to Utah in the third set after an extended score of 26-24. At one point, the set was tied at 24, but Utah’s back-to-back kills got the team the win. In the fourth set, the team tied again at 24, but this time WSU came out on top 28-26.
WSU was the victor in the final set with a score of 16-14. Jehlárová made the match-winning kill.
Redshirt freshman setter Hannah Pukis tallied a season-high in assists Sunday with 62. She also had 12 digs, which gave her a double-double for the match.
The final hitting percentages were .294 for WSU and .230 for Utah.
The Cougars will face the UCLA Bruins at 7 p.m. Friday in Bohler Gym.