No. 18 Volleyball Falls in Five to No. 24 Washington State

Sunday, October 27

Salt Lake City, Utah

1:00 PM

University of Utah

14-7, 6-4

Washington State

18-4. 7-3

WSU

Utah

Photo by: Steve C. Wilson

No. 18 Volleyball Falls in Five to No. 24 Washington State

10/27/2019 4:55 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

Drews Matches Program Record With 31 Kills

SALT LAKE CITY – No. 18 Utah volleyball came close to a win over the scrappy No. 24 Washington State Cougars with three of the five sets going to extra points, but WSU edged Utah in the final points (25-23, 15-25, 26-24, 26-28, 14-16) to take the match in the Huntsman Center.

Dani Drews matched a program record during the rally-scoring era with 31 kills. Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres had 67 assists, which is the first time a Utah player has surpassed the 60-assist mark since 2010 when Stephanie Neeley had 64 against Arizona State. The 67 assists are the second most in program history during the rally-scoring era.

Utah got off to a good start building a five-shot lead in the first and maintained that until late in the set. Washington State went on a 6-1 run late to tie things up at 23, but the Utes responded with a kill from Drews and a kill from Kenzie Koerber to take the lead.

Washington State evened things up in the second, so Utah came out strong in the third taking a 9-3 lead. The Utes held a lead as big as eight in the set, but like the rest of the match, the Cougars never stopped battling. They fought back and thwarted four set points to tie the score up at 24 forcing extra points. Utah then got kills from Drews and Zoe Weatherington to go up 2-1 in the match with a 26-24 third-set win.

Utah had the edge early in the fourth, but Washington State went ahead 18-16 forcing a Utes timeout. Now, it was Utah's turn to battle back and went on a 4-0 run to take a 23-22 lead. Washington State ended up taking the advantage and the Utes held off three set points, but the Cougars broke through winning the fourth 28-26 pushing the match to a fifth set.

Like the rest of the match, nothing came easy. Utah had a 12-11 lead and then tied things up at 13 and 14. Washington State willed their way to win the final two points to win the epic five-setter.

This was the fourth five-set match in five matches for the Utes. The loss drops Utah to 14-7 on the season and 6-4 in the Pac-12.

Koerber had 18 kills and 11 digs. Brianna Doehrmann finished with 23 digs to lead the team.

The Utes will be home once again next weekend hosting Arizona State Friday, November 1 at 7 p.m. for Frozen Adventure Night and then Arizona Sunday, November 3 at noon.