The warm fall days in Pullman have been kind to Cougar athletics.

Washington State Director of Athletics Bill Moos sat down with KXLY anchor Derek Deis and former WSU quarterback Jason Gesser Monday morning and talked about last week’s success in soccer and volleyball as well as upcoming games for football and women’s golf.

The Cougars’ road to Berkley

The WSU football team a bye this past week, and with no game to recap the trio talked about the Cougars’ (2-1) upcoming game against newly-ranked California.

“You never know what you’re gonna have after a bye week,” Moos said. “I’ve seen teams come out flat and I’ve seen teams rested and come and blow it wide open … you just don’t know.”

The No. 24 Golden Bears (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) will return to their home turf after a win over the University of Washington on Saturday. California’s offense is fast and simple, and the goal is to run opponents ragged. Deis said the key to the Cougs’ upcoming game will be to not only stop the speed but also to not allow explosive plays to happen down field.

Volleyball falls to Huskies, sweeps Utah

The Cougar volleyball team narrowly fell to No. 6 Washington (12-0, 2-0) on Thursday, losing 3-2.

On Saturday, the Cougars (12-6, 1-1) turned around to sweep Utah (7-6, 1-1), 3-0, showing not only their overall confidence, but also their ability to put tough losses behind them. With such a young team consisting mostly of freshmen, Moos said the way the Cougs came back to take on Utah was an indicator of how the team would be able to grow and build in the future.

Women’s golf takes Cougar Cup

Women’s golf Head Coach Kelli Kamimura was a guest on Cougar Calls this week and talked about the Cougars’ recent win over 11 other in the Cougar Cup at the Palouse Ridge Golf Course. The team won with a three-day total score of 866 (-3).

Junior Cherokee Kim was a topic of discussion on the show. Kim was the individual champion of the tournament, firing a five-under, 211 (69-69-73), for her first collegiate victory.

Kamimura credits Kim with being a great student as well as a great athlete, and said she has several players like that comprising her successful team.

The discussion shifted to the idea that in golf there is no one to hide behind. You are standing at the tee or on the green all by yourself and it is all on you to be a competitor.

“Collegiate golf is anything but leisure,” Moos said.

The team will be heading to Littleton, Colorado next week for the Ron Moore Invitational.

Soccer wins in Tempe

The Cougar soccer team won its Pac-12 opener over the Arizona State Sun Devils, 2-1, on Sunday in Tempe.

Senior forward Kourtney Guetlein scored both of the Cougars’ (8-1-0, 1-0-0) goals in the first eight minutes of the second half against ASU (4-4-0, 0-1-0).

Moos talked about how first-year Head Coach Todd Shulenberger has created a balance between the ideas of “play how you want to play” and “play with structure,” which has been a major factor in the team’s fast start, Moos said.

The Cougars will host Southern California on Thursday at the Lower Soccer Field before going up against UCLA on Sunday, once again on their home turf.

Reporting by Payton Dineen