Cougars split season series at No. 16 Oregon as comeback falls short

EUGENE, Ore. -- Pia Timmer had 19 kills, Laura Jansen added 17 and Katy Ryan finished with a team-leading five blocks, but Washington State volleyball (17-8, 9-5 Pac-12) fell in four sets at 16th-ranked Oregon (17-6, 10-3 Pac-12), 20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-23, on Sunday at Matthew Knight Arena.

The loss snapped a three-match winning streak for WSU against the Ducks and was the first of the season in which the Cougars finished with more blocks (7-4) and a higher hitting percentage (.313-.307) than their opponents.

It was also the first loss of the season for Washington State after winning the opening set as WSU came out strong in a 25-20 first-set win before dropping three close sets that each went down to the wire.

Karly Basham finished with a team-leading 15 digs and picked up her career-best 34th ace of the season, moving past her career-high from 2021 by one. Jansen (12) and Timmer (12) each had double-digit digs on the night to finish with double-doubles. Setter Argentina Ung had four kills with zero attack errors on the afternoon and finished with 52 assists.

Set 1 Recap

Washington State went on a 4-0 run to go ahead, 17-13, and finished the set on a 3-1 run to win, 25-20. Pia Timmer had five kills on her first eight swings of the day (5-0-8, .625) to help the Cougars jump on top in the match.

Set 2 Recap

WSU trailed, 23-15, in the second but fought back with a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 23-19. Oregon never trailed in the set and hit .552 (16-0-29) as a team but Washington State won six of the final eight points to carry momentum into the third frame.

Set 3 Recap

Oregon jumped ahead early again in the third put a late 6-0 Cougars' run cut the Ducks' lead to 20-17. WSU won two of the next three to get within two at 21-19. Pia Timmer later added back-to-back kills to get within one at 24-23 but a Mimi Colyer point closed the set for the Ducks.

Set 4 Recap

WSU found itself playing from behind for a third-straight set in the fourth and trailed, 14-7, before Pia Timmer helped Washington State sideout to spark a 9-2 WSU run that evened things at 16-16. The Cougars won three-straight points to take a 20-18 lead. Oregon answered to even the set at 20-all but another run of back-to-back points put WSU ahead, 22-20.

The Ducks then went on to force the third and final lead change with three-straight points and finished off the match with back-to-back points to win, 25-23.

Up Next:

Washington State will embark on its final road trip of the 2022 regular season next weekend as it heads to Arizona to play Arizona State on Fri., Nov. 11, at 6 p.m. followed by Arizona on Sun., Nov. 13, beginning at 10 a.m (PST).