UW Husky volleyball season begins with upset by Arizona State

The Washington volleyball season began with an upset Friday afternoon.

The No. 8 Huskies were beat at Alaska Airlines Arena by the Arizona State Sun Devils 25-20, 25-15, 28-26 in UW’s first January volleyball match.

The 2020 season was, of course, postponed by the pandemic, turning it into the 2020-21 season.

Claire Hoffman led the Huskies with 21 kills, and Ella May Powell had 24 assists, 11 digs and five aces. Freshman Sophie Summers had six kills and five blocks for the Huskies.

But ASU hit .339 offensively, compared to just .207 for UW.

Marta Levinska had 18 kills to lead ASU, and Annika Larson added 18 digs.

It was the first time the Huskies had lost a season opener under coach Keegan Cook.

“We started off not serving at a super high level which puts you in a tough situation right away, and then I didn’t think we were hitting with a lot of purpose, which allowed their ball control players to manage a lot of situations,” he said.

• Washington State opened its season with a 25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 25-22 victory over visiting Oregon. Pia Timmer had 16 kills for WSU.

WSU’s Cruz leaving

Quarterback Gunner Cruz, who played sparingly for Washington State during the shortened 2020 football season, has reportedly entered the NCAA transfer portal.

The Rivals.com “NCAA Transfer Portal” Twitter account was the first to announce Cruz’s decision, although he has yet to hint at a departure on social media. Cruz, who’ll still be a redshirt freshman this fall, should have four years of eligibility remaining.

Women’s basketball

• Jansen Edmiston and Kiara Burlage scored 19 points each as visiting Lewis-Clark State (6-2) beat Seattle Pacific 68-67 on Abby Farmer’s layin with 2:54 remaining in the game.

Rachel Berg had 14 points, eight turnovers and five rebounds for the Falcons (2-2).

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that the WSU volleyball team defeated Oregon on Friday night.