No. 10 WSU volleyball heads to Oregon

The No. 10 WSU women’s volleyball team (14-2, 4-0) will try to defend their four game winning streak this weekend in Oregon when they take on Oregon State (8-7, 1-3) and No. 20 University of Oregon (11-2, 4-0).

Last week the Cougars were ranked No. 17, which is the first time the Cougars have cracked the top-25 since 2009.

After three consecutive wins over top-10 teams (UW, UCLA, Stanford) and sweeping University of California in three sets last Sunday, the Cougars jumped seven spots in the rankings to No.10.

WSU is second in the Pac-12 for blocks (3.21 bps) and service aces (1.12 saps). WSU also holds seventh place for kills (13.24 kps), hitting percentage (.208), and assists (12.29 aps).

Middle blockers sophomore Claire Martin and sophomore Taylor Mims hold first and fifth place respectively for blocks in conference play while senior outside hitter Kyra Holt is 4th in Pac-12 conference play in kills (4.00 kps).

WSU holds rank in the NCAA as well, as they are second in team blocks per set (3.33 bps), and fifth in opponent hitting percentage (.129) and team total blocks (193.0). Mims, recently named Offensive Player of the Week, is 15th in blocks per set (1.48 bps) and 13th in total blocks (86). Martin is 12th in blocks per set (1.55 bps).

Oregon State has an all-time record of (41-47) against WSU and has won seven of the last 11 matches.

In last Sunday’s match, Oregon State junior outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall and senior outside hitter Lila Toner lead the Beavers sweep of Arizona State with 12 and 10 kills respectively. Where Oregon State has hitters, they lack in blockers with Marshall only tallying two blocks throughout the entire game.

The match-up between Oregon State’s kills and WSU’s blocking could be something to watch in their match tonight.

The Cougs have been solid at blocking this season. Last week against Stanford, Mims recorded eight blocks, Martin tallied seven blocks and Holt put up five blocks.

Oregon freshman middle blocker Ronika Stone received a Pac-12 collegiate award, and was named Freshman of the Week after helping the Ducks extend their winning streak to 11 matches against Arizona State and Arizona last weekend.

Stone lead the team in blocks, tallying five in both games, and contributed 13 kills against Arizona. Stone is second in the Pac-12 in hitting percentage (.442) and seventh in blocks (1.35 bps).

Junior outside hitter Taylor Agost followed with 12 kills and a .458 hitting percentage. Senior libero Amanda Benson led the Ducks with 18 digs in the match. Oregon had 11 team blocks versus Arizona’s three.

The WSU-Oregon match-up has high stakes, as the teams will be competing for the number one spot in the conference, both holding a (4-0) record.

WSU plays Oregon State University at 7 p.m. today in Corvallis and the University of Oregon at 1 p.m. Sunday in Eugene. Tonight’s match will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.