by The Washington State volleyball team was declared the winner of the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at Missouri State. The Cougars were declared the winners over Illinois based on sets lost during the three-day tournament (see below):
1st – Washington State (3-0/9-2 sets)
2nd – Illinois (3-0/9-3 sets)
3rd – Missouri State (2-2/10-6 sets)
4th – Chattanooga (0-3/1-9 sets)
5th – Tennessee State (0-3/0-9 sets)
WSU junior MB Taylor Mims (Crow Tribe) was named the Most Valuable Player and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by fellow Cougars McKenna Woodford and Ashley Brown. The entire team is listed below:
All-tournament team
Taylor Mims, Washington State (MVP)
McKenna Woodford, Washington State
Ashley Brown, Washington State
Jordyn Poulter, Illinois
Tyanna Omazic, Illinois
Lily Johnson, Missouri State
Ally Ford, Chattanooga
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Washington State volleyball team (11-1) overcame the morning match hangover after a five-set win the night before to sweep Tennessee Chattanooga (7-7) with set scores of 28-26, 25-20, 25-18 Saturday morning at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at Hammons Student Center in Springfield, Mo.
Junior Taylor Mims led the Cougs with 18 kills and hit .444 while McKenna Woodford added nine kills and Ella Lajos contributed six kills. Claire Martinled the match with six blocks. Alexis Dirige led the match with 19 digs. Ashley Brown had another double-double match with 17 assists and 11 digs. Penny Tusa contributed 19 assists.
Missouri State will announce an all-tournament team after the final match Saturday night.
This concludes the nonconference portion of the Cougars’ 2017 season.
About Taylor Mims‘ play at the tournament Greeny said, “That’s not an easy thing to do, going from a middle blocker where you just play three rotations in the front row and it’s not an easy position. But now she has so any more things to focus on like passing and defense, a lot of out-of-system balls and situations like that. She’s so athletic and really fun to coach because she takes a lot of feedback and puts it into use usually right away. A lot of maturity has come from Taylor not only on the court but off the court as well as she is one of our team captains this year. Amazing growth from her and a great match today.”
Junior outside hitter Taylor Mims on being ready to play after a five-set win the night before said, “We prepare by having a positive and active mindset. Playing a 6 o’clock game at night and going to five sets, then playing an 11 a.m. game the next day is rough. Obviously we are tired but we needed to come together as a team and fight through it. Playing teams like Missouri State really helps us prepare for Pac-12 play. They were really scrappy and explosive. So playing against teams like that really expands our defense and play.”
Washington State (11-1) sits atop the Pac-12 standings heading into conference play Wed., Sept. 20 hosting No. 7 Washington (10-1) in a 6 p.m. match at Bohler Gym and televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
