Ateam’s work ethic, not individual talent, is often times the difference between winning and losing a game.

Last weekend, the WSU women’s volleyball team had arguably the best work ethic in the building, coming away from the season-opening Purdue Mortar Board Premier tournament with two wins and one loss, including a victory over a top-25 team in the University of Kentucky and a first-place finish.

This weekend, the Cougars (2-1) head to Long Beach State University for matches against Northeastern, UC Irvine and Long Beach State in the Long Beach State Mizuno Invitational. While they may not be top-25 or big name schools, each team poses separate threats.

Long Beach State (1-2) had a bit of a rough start to the season, finishing with one win and two losses in their opening tournament, but they will be on their home court Friday and Saturday. The 49ers have a strong outside hitter in senior Nele Barber. Barber led the team kills and digs in her first season at Long Beach State after transferring from Marquette University and was near the top of the Big West Conference in both statistical categories last year.

Northeastern (3-1) looks strong going into the weekend riding a three-match winning streak. The Huskies are led in most offensive statistics by freshman outside hitter Amy Underdown. Averaging just over 4 kills a game, expect to see Underdown score points often.

The Cougars will play their final match of the weekend against UC Irvine. The Anteaters come in with a record of 1-2, but the win last weekend came against the seventh-ranked USC Trojans in a three-set sweep.

Led by redshirt senior outside hitter Victoria Dennis, Irvine will look to pull another upset or two this weekend behind Dennis and her 4.82 kills per set.

The Cougars will still be favored in these matches and will rely heavily on their core of sophomore players, including middle blocker Taylor Mims.

Mims said that a jump was made from last season to this season with a more intense offseason training program and a better team-wide focus.The team will also try to carry the momentum from last weekend’s tournament win into this next tournament.

To keep sharp, Mims said that players are trying to “keep our heads held high, and know that our ranking is out there.”

A key to the Cougars success in both this weekend’s tournament and the rest of this season may reside in the depth of the team.

“To not have to rely on one or two players is a great thing,” WSU women’s volleyball Head Coach Jen Greeny said in an interview earlier this week. “We’ve got a lot of hitters coming in with good numbers and our seters have done a nice job of spreading out (the game).”

This versatility allows the team to attack from multiple angles successfully, leaving opponents wondering who and where the next shot will come from.

WSU will begin tournament play against Northeastern at 10:00 a.m. Friday at the Walter Pyramid.