WSU volleyball finished the Baylor Classic (2-1) playing competitive volleyball in all three matches, starting the weekend with two sweeps against the College of Charleston and the University of Virginia.

The Cougars opened play against the College of Charleston team, which has historically been very strong. After breezing through the first set (25-15), WSU had to claw their way through the next two, going to a deuce before winning (26-24) in set two.

“I’m definitely happy with the results and glad that we could get it done in three,” Head Coach Jen Greeny told wsucougars.com of the win in the opening match.

WSU put forth a strong defensive effort in the first match, holding College of Charleston to a hitting percentage under .100 for the match, forcing them as low as .032 in the opening set.

While the defense played well, the offense sputtered from the second set onward, hitting .267 for the match overall.

The Cougars flew through the opening set, hitting an easy .500. In the second set, WSU could only muster a .179 hitting percentage, and followed that up with a .214 in the third.

The WSU offensive was led by outside hitters senior Kyra Holt and sophomore McKenna Woodford, who both had double-digit kills on the match.

Holt also shined defensively, and marked down 10 digs, giving her a double-double on the match.

WSU was able to deal with second and third sets that were not as clean as matches in the past and found a way to win, putting them at 9-1 on the season going into their second match of the weekend.

WSU went on to sweep their match against the University of Virginia.

The Cougars played a strong second match, opening with a first set hitting percentage of .647 while also holding the Cavaliers to a first set hitting percentage of .032. The Cougars played well for the rest of the match, only struggling offensively in the second set where they had a hitting percentage of .200

Once again, WSU rallied behind Holt, who led the team with 11 kills, and added seven digs and four aces to her stat line. Her four aces led the team, who had a total of six aces on the match.

“Serving tough and getting them out of system definitely helps our block and our defense in general,” Greeny told wsucougars.com.

The Cougars improved to (10-1) after the second game of the tournament.

In the final match of the weekend, WSU would fall in a five-set battle to tournament host Baylor.

The teams traded sets all night, with Baylor taking the first, third and fifth sets, and the Cougars winning the second and fourth.

After going down (10-2) early in the first set, the Cougars did what they could to battle back, putting together a few streaks of three or four scores in a row, even threatening to draw even toward the end of the set, taking six of the last eight points.

The early eight-point deficit would prove to be too much to overcome and WSU found itself down early in the set.

The second and third sets were close throughout, with only one or two streaks from either team throughout each set.

In the third set, WSU once again found itself in a deep hole, looking at a (9-2) deficit. Eventually the Cougars fought their way back into the set, and would take the lead (16-15) on a run of six straight points. The Cougars were able to eventually build up a three point lead at (20-17).

The teams would trade points until a Baylor run that would bring the difference to one point at 23-22, but the Cougars closed it out, taking a do or die fourth set (25-22).

The final set was close early, but the Bears took eight of the last nine points of the set, winning (15-9).

It was a scrappy night for both teams, with shining defense from both sides, neither of which hit above .130 for the match.

WSU was led by sophomore middle blocker Claire Martin, who came up big with a career-high 13 blocks. Holt played very well once again, scoring 19 kills and two aces for the match.

The Bears rallied behind 16 kills from redshirt junior outside hitter Katie Staiger, and three aces from sophomore outside hitter Aniah Philo.

Unfortunately, the Cougars couldn’t find their rhythm, and the hitters were unable to find ways around the stout Baylor defense.

“Baylor played really well tonight and I definitely think it was not our best outing,” Greeny told wsucougars.com after the match. “Our hitters really struggled tonight and that credit goes to Baylor for playing some good defense and having a good block up on us.”

WSU volleyball will open up conference play in Seattle, taking on the University of Washington on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The match will be aired on Pac-12 network.