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WSU Volleyball Power Past
Virginia Commonwealth 3-0, to Start 2018 season
8/25/2018 from WSU Sports
Info
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Washington
State volleyball team took a 25-13, 25-22, 25-18 win over Virginia Commonwealth
(0-2) Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, N.C. to open the Cougars (1-0) 2018
campaign. The Cougars were in control of the match from the outset, using a
series of runs to secure the 3-0 sweep over the defending A-10 champs.
From
the outset it was all WSU as the Cougars scored the first six points of the
opening set to establish the tone of the match. Behind an offensive onslaught
that saw the Cougars hit as match-best .444, WSU never let the Rams find a
rhythm in the first set of action, putting the set away with relative ease. The
Cougars relied on their outside attack in the first set as Taylor Mims and
McKenna Woodford combined for nine kills on 15 attempts with just two errors.
Woodford returned to the Cougars' lineup after a season-ending injury cost the
senior half of her junior season. The duo would finish the match with a
combined 26 kills led by Mims' match-high 16.
With
one set in their pocket, the Cougars found themselves in a fight in the second
set as the Rams battled back from multiple deficits to stay in the match. Down
late, 21-20, the Cougars looked to their ace in the hole, Mims, to finish the
job as the senior All-American put WSU on her back with three of the her
set-high eight kills in the final five points of the set to secure the victory.
Looking
for the quick sweep with an eye on their early match Sunday afternoon,
the Cougars once again used a big final push to overpower the Rams. Up just one
at 15-14, WSU found a second gear that VCU could not match, closing the set on
a 10-4 run for the victory. Sparking the run was a balanced attack from all
over the court as Penny Tusa, playing exclusively on the outside, Claire
Martin, and Woodford put down five kills and an ace. In addition, the Cougars'
block, which had been quiet much of the day, found its rhythm as WSU sandwiched
a pair of blocks around a Tusa ace to close out the match.
NOTES…
WSU won
its 28th season opener in the last 32 years.
Senior
Taylor Mims recorded her 900th career kill on her first swing of the day. She
finished the match with 915 career kills.
Junior
Alexis Dirige moved into a tie for 10th place in WSU dig history with 1,070
digs, matching Keren Oigman (1994-97).
The
Cougars outhit the Rams .289-to-.033 while picking up six aces and five blocks.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR…
Washington
State (1-0) plays host NC State (1-0) at 9:30 a.m. PT Aug. 26 to
close out its East Coast season-opening weekend.
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August 25,
2018 / WSU Women's Soccer
Info from
WSU Sports Info
SUNDAY'S
SOCCER MATCH AT MINNESOTA MOVED TO 9 A.M. PT
Weather
worries forced the time change of the Cougars' match.
MINNEAPOLIS,
Minn. - After losing their match on Friday due to weather, Sunday's match for
Washington State soccer has been moved to 9 a.m. PT due to weather worries. The Cougars are set
to face Minnesota in the morning contest in a rematch of their epic battle from
a season ago when the two teams played to a 0-0 draw last year to open the 2018
season at Lower Soccer Field.
While the
Cougars saw their Friday contest washed out, Minnesota was able to play later
in the evening during which the Gophers picked up a 2-1, double-overtime, win
over Ole Miss. The Cougars enter Sunday's contest 2-0-0 on the season after
picking up a pair of home wins during opening weekend.
::::::::::::
No matter
what, Coug offense should have a different personality
With Falk
gone and Minshew likely taking over, there may be a new vibe to WSU offense
By Dale
Grummert, Lewiston Trib
One reason
Gardner Minshew has evidently won a three-way battle for the starting
quarterback role at Washington State is that he has actually taken snaps at the
NCAA level.
He has
experience reading defenses, deciding when to audible, managing the clock - all
the intangibles that Luke Falk prided himself on mastering during his
three-plus years directing the Cougar attack.
Yet it
seems clear from preseason workouts that Gardner Minshew, for better or worse,
is not Luke Falk. Neither is Trey Tinsley or Anthony Gordon, who are apparently
still dueling for the Cougars' backup role.
No matter
who's running the show this season, the Wazzu offense should have a distinctly
different personality for the first time since November 2014.
Unsurprisingly,
head coach Mike Leach has declined to name a starter for the Cougars' opener
Sept. 1 at Wyoming. But Minshew has taken the vast majority of first-team reps
in recent practices, which is Leach's tacit way of expressing his preference.
At running
back, junior James Williams seems likely to get the nod over impressive
newcomer Max Borghi.
Of course,
none of the quarterbacks can be expected to match the intimate familiarity Falk
developed with Leach's Air Raid offense, and with the route-running tendencies
of veteran receivers like senior Kyle Sweet. The even-keeled QB led the Cougars
to three consecutive bowl appearances and seven fourth-quarter comeback wins.
"Whoever's
going to be starting - that's going to be their first rep at Washington State
as a quarterback in a game," Sweet noted this week. "We're just
trying to help them out as much as we can."
Beyond
that, not even Minshew is likely to duplicate the methodical way Falk managed
aspects of the game that go beyond X's and O's. Minshew started only seven
games in his two years at East Carolina, completing 57 percent of his passes
for 2,140 yards, 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
In
invoking the NCAA's graduate-transfer option, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Minshew
originally committed orally to Alabama, where he probably would have ridden the
bench, but was lured to WSU after the death in January of Falk's heir apparent,
Tyler Hilinski.
As for
Tinsley (6-3, 215) and Gordon (6-3, 200), they've looked breezily capable in
spring and preseason camps this year but haven't appeared in a game since
transferring from junior colleges two years ago. They'll face a steep learning
curve if they get on the field.
But if
Falk's successors fail to display the same strengths he did, they might also be
less likely to fall into the same traps. Leach, who benched Falk midway through
two games last season, believed a certain hesitancy sometimes crept into his
game, and in any case the Cougars proved less explosive in 2017 than in
previous years.
It's
anybody's guess how Minshew and/or the other quarterbacks will react to the
fast, often deceptive defenses of the Pac-12. For what it's worth, though, none
of them seems temperamentally similar to Falk.
Tinsley is
an affable Californian who digs Baker Mayfield. Gordon is a gunslinger who
reminds Wazzu fans of Connor Halliday. And Minshew has a beseeching,
troop-rallying demeanor reminiscent of another ex-Cougar, Jason Gesser.
"He's
kind of a crazy Luke Falk," offensive lineman Robert Valencia said of
Minshew early in preseason camp. "He's always wearing jorts and camo
pants. He's been wearing camo pants the last three days with his aviator shades
on."
Hmm.
What's the Luke part of that description?
"For
being new to the team, he's picked up the system real fast," Valencia
said, "and he knows how to take control of the offense."
If
experience is Minshew's biggest edge in his bid for a starting job, the same is
true of Williams (6-0, 205), a junior who led the Cougars in receptions last
year while rushing for 395 yards. He's been the team's most elusive running
back since stepping foot on campus, and is now trying to emulate the doggedness
and reliability of his prime mentor, the now-graduated Jamal Morrow.
"His
development and maturity have been slow but sure," running-backs coach
Eric Mele said. "I think he's picking it up. He's trending upward."
He's being
chased, too. One of the head-turners of preseason workouts has been Borghi
(5-10, 195), who has shown an efficiency and toughness rare in true freshmen.
