Ella Lajos with a kill that starts a 3-point run by WSU. #GoCougs#RiseAgain
MATCH STATS
- #16 Utah def. Washington State 3-0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-18)
- #16 Utah improves to 18-6 (9-4, Pac-12); Washington State falls to 14-12 (3-11, Pac-12)
- Salt Lake City, Utah (Pac-12 Match)
- Attendance: 1,639
- Box Score
Salt Lake City, Utah – #16 Utah snapped its three-match losing streak with a sweep of Washington State at home behind a strong defense and a balanced attack. The win is extremely important to the Utes, who now keep pace for the tight battle for second in the Pac-12, while Washington State misses out on an opportunity to push forward from the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Outside hitter Adora Anae continued to flex her muscles as a National Player of the Year candidate with a double-double (15 kills, 12 digs) in just three sets while hitting .345. That led the Utes as they out-hit the Cougars .292 to .065 with more digs (52-40) and blocks (6-4).
Beyond Anae and the likes of Carly Trueman (11 kills, .320), Berkeley Oblad (eight kills, .316) and Tawnee Luafalemana (six kills, .600), the Utes defense played extremely well as they held every Washington State player to seven or less kills, with four of five players who recorded double-digit swings hitting .115 or less.
They will need to continue that mix of feeding Anae, finding balance and playing strong defense as they look to get back to the same formula that got them to 8-1 in Pac-12 play.
As the Utes look to achieve that, they get the other Washington school next as the Huskies come to town for a ranked matchup. Washington State gets over a week to recover as they head home to take on California in a must-win match for their NCAA Tournament hopes.
PRESS RELEASES:
SALT LAKE CITY- The No.15-ranked Utah Utes (18-6, 9-4 Pac-12) rolled past the Washington State Cougars (14-12, 3-11) in a three-set win (25-18, 25-11, 25-18) Thursday night at the Huntsman Center. Utah earned its ninth sweep of the season and its third sweep during conference play.
Utah finished the match hitting a clip of .292, while Washington State was limited to a .065 hitting percentage. The Utes also led the Cougars in kills (44-29), assists (38-27), digs (52-40), and blocks (6.0-4.0).
Utah and Washington State traded points to open the match and went into the media timeout of the first set with the Ute lead at 15-13. Out of the timeout, Utah scored three of the next four points, forcing a Cougar timeout. The Utes continued its momentum with a kill from Carly Trueman, followed by a solo block from Berkeley Oblad to lead 20-14. The Utes would take the frame on a kill by Anae, winning the first set 25-18.
The second set was all Utah after the Utes cruised to the set win 25-11. Utah posted a hitting percentage of .353, while Washington State was held at a .029 clip. The Utes led 8-4 in the second set and then scored three straight points which would force Washington State to take its final timeout of the set. There was no looking back for Utah as the Utes went on a 4-1 run out of the timeout to lead 15-5. Utah cruised to a second set win, closing out the frame on a 4-1 run after Carly Trueman clinched the set with her eighth kill of the night.
Utah picked up right where it left off in the second set, jumping out to a 10-1 lead in the third set. A kill from Trueman held the Utah lead at 12-3, but Washington State would go on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to just 12-9. Utah countered and scored three of the next four points to push its lead to 16-10. The Cougars trailed by just four points, 21-17, but a 4-1 run from the Utes gave Utah the third set 25-18.
Two Utes earned doubles-doubles on the night with Adora Anae registering 15 kills on .345 hitting and 12 digs, while Bailey Choy totaled 29 assists and a match-high 15 digs. Anae notched her 14th double-double on the season and her fifth-straight, while Choy recorded her 10th of the season.
Carly Trueman recorded 11 kills, Berkeley Oblad added in eight kills, and Tawnee Luafalemana totaled six kills. Oblad also notched five total blocks, with three of the blocks being solo blocks. Brianna Doehrmann totaled nine digs in the win.
Utah is back in action on Saturday night against the No. 11-ranked Washington Huskies. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Huntsman Center.
WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE…
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The Washington State volleyball team (14-12 overall, 3-11 in Pac-12), playing in its fourth match in seven days, struggled offensively in the 25-18, 25-11, 25-18 loss to No. 15 Utah (18-6, 9-4) Thursday night at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
Taylor Mims and Casey Schoenlein led the Cougars with seven kills each and Mims led the team with 10 digs. Ella Lajos and Jocelyn Uriaseach added four kills while Claire Martin had three kills and led the team with three blocks. Ashley Brown had 14 assists and served an ace as did Mims and Urias. Alexis Dirige and Olivia Coale contributed six digs each.
WSU had 29 kills with 22 errors in 108 attacks for a .065 team hitting percentage. Utah had 44 kills and hit .292. The Utes led the Cougars in digs, 52 to 40, and blocks, 6.0 to 4.0, while both teams served three aces.
WHY & HOW…
WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said, “Again way too many hitting errors and way too many unforced errors in general. We are trying to find something that works and we still are searching for that. Back to the drawing board. We have to be better offensively and our hitters just need to do a better job of keeping the ball on the court.
“We were doing an okay job, especially in that first set, of holding them to under 200 (hitting percentage) but if your offense isn’t working as well then it’s hard to win ball games. Definitely nothing was working in that second set; they were serving really well and our passing broke down.
“We talk about not being streaky and not letting the other team have any runs. A run of one or two points is all they should get but it’s been runs of four and five and six points in a row and there’s not a lot we can do as a coaching staff when that’s happening. We can only try to break the momentum so much. We have to find a way to sideout and then score some points.”
On the tight travel schedule in the past seven days Greeny said, “It will be nice to get back in the gym and actually practice. I think we need that. The skills have definitely broken down right now. We need to get back to the basics and volleyball fundamentals.”
Casey Schoenlein with the slap down kill. #GoCougs#RiseAgain
NOTES…
- Twelve Cougars saw action in the match at No. 15 Utah.
- Junior Claire Martin has 386 total blocks, tied at No. 6 with Holly Harris (1999-02) on the WSU all-time career list. Martin’s 354 block assists is fifth-best in Cougars career records and only six away from her Head Coach Jen Stinson Greeny’s 360 tallied in 1995-98.
- Attendance: 1,639
MARK YOUR CALENDAR…
Washington State (14-12 overall, 3-11 in Pac-12) returns to Bohler Gym for a match against California Friday, Nov. 10 and against No. 2 Stanford Saturday, Nov. 11. Both contests begin at 7 p.m.
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