Nov. 9, 2001
PULLMAN, Wash. - The Washington State volleyball team defeated Arizona State 30-19, 30-24, 30-27, Friday night before 941 fans at Bohler Gym, and made a positive move toward another NCAA Tournament bid.
The Cougars move to 14-10 overall, and 8-8 in the Pac-10, while Arizona State falls to 7-14 overall, 2-11 in conference action.
Cougar outside hitters LaToya Harris and Chelsie Schafer led all players with 13 kills each while middle hitter Melissa Boyle added 12 kills. Kortney Jamtaas had 14 digs and Kali Surplus had 38 assists. Both Harris and Surplus contributed 12 digs. Adrian Hankoff had four blocks.
Kim Mehlhorn was the sole ASU player in double-figure kills with 12, and led the team with 14 digs. Jami Coughlin had seven kills and 10 digs. Jodi Smith added five kills and four blocks.
WSU had nine service aces in the match with two-each by Kerry Lewis and Chelsie Schafer.
Washington State out-scored ASU nine to one to extend a game one lead of 10-6, to 18-7. The Sun Devils countered with their only trio of points in the game but stalled. The Cougars maintained a steady pace, hitting .310 to ASU's .129, and winning 30-19.
WSU did not keep the momentum from the first game win into the second game as Arizona State led 9-5 in the early going. The teams were tied at 13 points each, exchanging points singularly and then in threes until the game was knotted again at 20. The Cougars scored the next six points before ASU's Julia Leddy and Crystal Bluth had kills and WSU was called for four hits. Boyle and Schafer came back with kills for a 28-23 WSU lead. Leddy countered with a kill for point but Schafer laced a roll shot off the ASU fingertips to put WSU up 29-24. ASU coach Patti Snyder-Park called a timeout but to no avail. Jamtaas, WSU's defensive specialist, served up an ace and WSU won, 30-24.
The Cougars took an early 14-7 lead in the third game but the Sun Devils chipped away until WSU's lead was only 21-18. After a kill from WSU's Zanda Bautre and an ace by Victoria Prince, ASU's Mehlhorn slammed home three straight kills to keep the visiting Sun Devils within two, 23-21. Bautre's kill temporarily stopped the streak. Leddy slammed one home and Bautre slipped under the net to move the score to 24-23, WSU. On the next play, Bautre hit a cross court kill only to be followed by Leddy's point. Surplus pushed the ball to the back right corner and Harris hit the floor with her attack to put WSU up 27-24. ASU got right back in the mix with a hitting error by Schafer and back-to-back kills by Smith and Coughlin to tie the game at 27. The Cougars went to Harris for her trademark cross court kill and then she went back and served an ace. Bautre had the final kill of the night for a WSU 30-27 win.
"I thought we played pretty relaxed but we played well," Cougar Coach Cindy Fredrick said. "The intensity in this conference is just so great that every once in a while you need to play a little relaxed. The first game I thought we played really well, we passed and hit real well but then we got a little bit lax in the next two games. Overall, we had a good balance in hitting."
"I liked how when they started coming back we didn't panic but kept our cool and finished the game,"
Harris said.
Washington State hosts #4 Arizona Saturday night in the final regular season home match for the Cougars.
Arizona State (7-14, 2-11) 19 24 27
Washington State (14-10, 8-8) 30 30 30
STATISTICS:
KILLS - WSU 60 (Schafer 13, L. Harris 13), ASU 38 (Mehlhorn 12).
ASSISTS - WSU 48 (Surplus 38), ASU 36 (Anglin 24).
DIGS - WSU 65 (Jamtaas 14), ASU 63 (Mehlhorn 14).
BLOCKS - WSU 6 (Hankoff 4), ASU 6 (Smith 4).
SERVICE ACES - WSU 9 (Lewis 2, Schafer 2), ASU 4 (Mehlhorn 2).
Attendance - 941