While many people were watching Utah’s football team destroy Oregon, the Utes’ volleyball team was not having that kind of luck against the Cougars in Bohler Gymnasium.

After being defeated in each of their past 11 conference matches, Washington State (12-2 overall, 1-1 in Pac-12) started Saturday’s match against Utah (7-6, 1-1) with lots of energy, and let that momentum carry them to a straight sets win over the Utes, 25-19, 25-20, 25-14.

“I’m really happy with the sweep tonight,” Head Coach Jen Greeny said. “I think we were just a little bit more consistent. We had great production from our outside hitters, both (junior) Kyra Holt and (freshman) McKenna Woodford. I really think our blocking was pretty good tonight.”

A “block party” could easily describe the Cougars’ night, as the team averaged five blocks per set and finished with 15, just one shy of their season-high 16. Freshman Taylor Mims led the team with a career-high nine blocks, including three solo, and sophomore outside hitter Casey Schoenlein added six more in her first start of the year.

“At one point there’s me, McKenna Woodford and (freshman middle blocker) Claire Martin all on the front row, and we just laugh and smile, we’re like ‘nothing is getting past us’ because we just are determined to block everyone,” Schoenlein said, alluding to the three tallest players on the team.

The Utes struggled defensively throughout the night, and the match ended on a kill from Holt and a block error by Utah freshman middle blocker Berkeley Oblad. Holt finished the match with 13 kills and an ace, and Woodford was right up there with her at 11 kills and two aces.

“That’s something that I have been working on a lot in practice,” Woodford said of her performance at the service line. “Just a couple of technique things, and then just trust myself. It worked.”

The Cougars finished with six aces, but the most telling statistic was the teams’ 40 kills and .295 hitting percentage. Six of the nine WSU players who played in this match notched at least three kills.

“Our passing was pretty good for the most part,” Greeny said. “(Junior setter) Hayley MacDonald did a nice job of spreading the offense and getting everybody involved.”

WSU really began to pull away in the third set after two wacky plays seemed to demoralize the Utes. With the Cougars up 11-6, junior defensive specialist Tani Stephens made a tough dig that had been hit so hard it immediately went back to Utah’s side of the court. Thinking the ball would go out, the Utes let up a little, and the ball landed in the back left corner for a Cougar point.

Immediately after the play, Utah called a timeout. During the next point, MacDonald looked as if she whiffed on a kill attempt, but since it hit the top part of the net, the trajectory of the ball changed and the Utes were not able to dive in time to save it. The Cougars were in control from that point on.

“Momentum is huge in this sport,” Greeny said, “and when the momentum is going your way, it seems like those things happen.”

In the first set, the Cougars hit .312, which included Woodford’s five kills on 10 attempts. The set ended after Schoenlein had a solo block on a Utah attack attempt and the Cougars won 25-19.

“She helps our defense out a lot,” Woodford said of Schoenlein. “We have such a big front line and she adds so much to that. She’s been working really hard on her blocking footwork and just trying to put a wall up there.”

Schoenlein played this week for the first time this year after sitting out the preseason while recovering from an abdominal strain. Her offensive numbers were in negatives during the Saturday night match against Utah, but she said she’s not discouraged and she recognizes that it may take a little bit more time before she gets back to form. In the meantime, her passion for being back on the court showed on a night where the crowd was half the size it had been on Thursday when WSU played UW.

“Right now I’m still kind of getting back into the swing of things, so I’m really trying to give the team all my energy and enthusiasm because that’s the most important thing that I can bring to the team,” Shoenlein said.

The Cougars led 24-16 in the second set before attack errors by Schoenline, Mims and Woodford helped the Utes to draw within four. After a timeout, Woodford landed a kill from the left side to end the set.

“It was a little sloppy on both sides, and I think we weren’t maybe as focused as we could be, and that’s just where that consistency and discipline really comes in,” Greeny said.