PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State and its imposing size handcuffed the Vandals on Saturday. Idaho closed out the WSU Cougar Challenge with a 3-0 loss to the cross-border rivals. WSU totaled 10 team blocks, controlling much of the play at the net.

Idaho (4-5) struggled to get any kind of offense going. After having three player hit double-figure kills the previous match, Idaho was led by Kaela Straw and her seven total kills. Idaho totaled 24 kills as a team, totaling just two more kills than errors. The Vandals broke the .000 mark for the match in the third set, finishing at .020 percent.

"They [WSU] are definitely bigger than what we have faced," head coach Debbie Buchanan explained. "It did change the way we were swinging a bit. We have been able to get away with high-cross and high-hands and we had to change a bit to swing more line. We did not start doing that until really the second game. We were a littler jittery in game one and did not pass as well as we need to, making it hard to get in a rhythm."

Junior Becca Mau was named Idaho's All-Tournament selection. She totaled five kills on the day and 35 for the tournament. She averaged 3.50 kills per set and a .354 attacking average for the weekend.

Washington State (8-1) hit .354 for the match. They pounced on Idaho right from the start, recording a match-high 16 kills in the first set. The Cougars totaled a .520 swing percentage in the opening frame. WSU opened a 12-point lead at 20-8, holding Idaho to single digit scoring up until 24-10.

"I thought we were able to do some good things," Buchanan explained. "We just had too many times where we did not stay in system and we did not take care of the easy plays. We started slow and if you look at the two teams, we looked really young today."

Kyra Holt led the Cougars with a match-high 10 kills. Washington State had four player finish .500 or better on the attack. 

Idaho will play its first home match of the season on Thursday. The Vandals will host Wyoming to open the Idaho Volleyball Classic. The Vandals will play Tennessee Tech and Oregon State on Friday to round out the tournament.

Fans can stay up-to-date on all things Idaho volleyball by following the team on Instagram and Twitter, @IdahoVolleyball