Cougs Pack Ncaa Punch While Eliminating Lehigh
Washington State knocked the high out of Lehigh Saturday night.
The No. 11 Cougars volleyball team initiated the small Eastern college into the NCAA Tournament with a 15-2, 15-5, 15-0 first-round thrashing at Bohler Gym. Simply put, the Pacific-10 Conference brand of volleyball was too much for the Patriot League team, a club that earned an automatic bid into the 56-team field.
“We wanted to get a 15-0 game. That was one of our goals,” said WSU’s Jennifer Stinson, who tore apart the opponents from her middle blocking position with nine kills and incredible .727 hitting.
Keren Oigman, also at middle blocker, was equally menacing, finishing with a team-high 10 kills on .563 hitting.
It was that easy for Washington State, which improved to 25-6 and now faces a much bigger test in No. 21 Colorado State today at 2 p.m. at Bohler Gym. The Rams (27-5) moved on with a 3-1 victory over American University (30-4), another first-time participant that received an automatic bid. Today’s winner will advance to the Central Regional site, most likely Madison, Wis.
In Saturday’s match, Lehigh’s (18-13) most glaring deficiency was its size. For starters, setter Patty Watson stands 5-foot-5. With only one hitter taller than 6-feet, the Mountain Hawks had trouble playing above the net and were outblocked 9-2.
“When I saw we only had four blocks after two games, I told them ‘We need more blocks.’ So they went out and got five blocks in the third game. This team responds well,” said Washington State coach Cindy Fredrick, flashing a smile.
The Cougars never trailed and saw Lehigh mount some sort of threat in the second game only, when the Mountain Hawks scored four consecutive points to cut WSU’s lead to 8-3. Fredrick used every player on her roster except for Jessica Martin. The Wilbur freshman is nursing a bad back.
WSU outhit Lehigh 43-25 and finished with a .418 attack percentage to Lehigh’s .023. Jessica McCarthy led the Mountain Hawks with 10 kills on .529 hitting.
“That was a big, physical team,” said Lehigh’s first-year coach Patrick Nicholas. “And at this level, you have to raise your mental game, because we can’t all of a sudden grow to be 6-2.”
Colorado State 3, American U. 1
After losing the first two games in less than an hour, the Eagles proved they belonged in the field by extending the match to four games before being eliminated by the Rams 15-5, 15-2, 15-17, 15-1.
American (30-4), first-time regular-season and Colonial Athletic Conference tournament champ, carried a 13-match winning streak into the NCAAs. After the jitters faded, American put together a good game, jumping to a 5-1 lead in the third game and holding on to win on the sixth game point.
Five seniors make up the heart of the Rams, starting with Rainie Rogers, the two-time first-team All-Western Athletic Conference selection. The leaping outside hitter finished with a team-high 19 kills on .552 hitting.
“We have been a little flat in the last two matches. Tonight we came out and played good defense,” said Colorado State coach Tom Hilbert, who coached at Idaho from 1989 until this season.
The Rams, more athletic and quicker, repeatedly ran five and six points on the Eagles. They out-blocked American 10-5 and had 65 digs to American’s 43. “We didn’t know what to expect,” said freshman middle blocker Heather Wintermeyer, who led American with 17 kills on .279 hitting. “A lot of our players (four) come from other countries and we’re not used to seeing players of that caliber. At least not that many on one team.”
Spikes and digs
Oral Roberts, the team that upset WSU two years ago, did it to another Pac-10 team Saturday when it eliminated Arizona 3-2. Washington beat Tennessee-Chattanooga 3-0. USC defeated San Diego in five games, with the last game score 16-14. And UCLA defeated Pepperdine 3-1. . . . Washington State and Colorado State’s common opponents this season have been Washington and Wyoming. The Cougars lost to the Huskies 3-1, 3-0. The Rams beat Washington at home 3-1. The Cougars swept Wyoming 3-0. CSU split with Wyoming.
WSU is seeded third in the Central region behind No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 2 Florida. CSU is No. 11.
Today’s teams have something else in common - Stanford. Last year, the Cardinal eliminated CSU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. One week later, the defending national champions beat WSU in the West Regional final.
, DataTimes