In front of a full Bohler Gym crowd, Washington State earned a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 3-0 sweep over Grand Canyon University. The Cougs mostly cruised in this one, winning 25-12, 31-29, 25-17.
WSU used 54 kills and a .375 hitting percentage to advance and will meet Dayton, a 3-2 winner over Pepperdine in the first round, at the oddly specific time of 7:02 p.m. in Bohler Gym. This is WSU’s third straight first round sweep in the NCAA Tournament.
Iman Isanovic and Pia Timmer each led the way for WSU with 16 and 15 kills, respectively.
After dominating the first set, in which WSU opened with seven straight points, Grand Canyon made things difficult for the Cougs in the second set, getting out to a lead that the two sides eventually traded back and forth. Grand Canyon even had game point at 24-22 before WSU stormed back. WSU took two timeouts in the second set, too.
Oh, and apparently a player’s dad was escorted out after trying to rile up the crowd during a timeout. Fun times!
The two teams were knotted at 12 in the third set before WSU went on a 7-1 run to eventually put the game away.
So now it’s on to a second round matchup with the the fifth seeded Dayton Flyers, who needed five sets, including wins in the fourth and fifth sets, to outlast Pepperdine. Winner of tonight’s match will face the winner of no. 1 Pitt vs. No. 8 USC.