PULLMAN, Wash. – The Idaho volleyball team was outplayed in a three-set loss to Washington State on Thursday night, losing 25-22, 25-20, 25-17.
The Vandals fall to 6-5 on the season with the loss while Washington State improves to 11-0.
Idaho junior Jessica Hastriter led the Vandals with 13 kills on 29 attempts, hitting .310, and sophomore Katelyn Peterson finished with eight kills for the Vandals. Sophomore setter Meredith Coba had 28 assists and five digs in the match, sophomore Jenna Ellis had a team-high 12 digs and senior Taylor Wilkinson had five blocks.
The Vandals hit .175 in the match, a season-low, while the Cougars hit .270. The Vandals out-blocked WSU 8.0-6.0, but the Cougars held a 48-44 lead in digs and a 6-0 advantage in aces.
“I just don't think we were aggressive like we normally have been so far this season,” Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said. “We didn't have a lot of leadership tonight. You can't play a team on their home court with a great crowd and not be able to take care of those things.”
The Vandals matched the Cougars in the early going of each of the three sets, only to falter towards the end. Idaho and Washington State were tied 16-16 in the first set before the Cougars pulled ahead 20-16 and held on for the 25-22 win. Idaho led 13-11 midway through the second set before the Cougars used another run, this time a 6-0 spurt, to pull ahead for good en route to a 25-20 victory. Idaho led 14-11 in the third set before WSU took the lead for good at 16-15 and clinched the match with a 25-17 win.
“We told the girls that they are a Pac-12 team and we have to battle,” Buchanan said. “No one is ever going to give you match, no one is going to just let you have points, you have to earn them. We've got to make sure that whoever we play, we stay who we are.”
The Vandals return to action on Friday when they face Nevada at 1 p.m. at WSU's Bohler Gym. Live stats of that match will be available at www.GoVandals.com
