Cougs bow out in the second round of the NCAA Tournament

Dec 3, 2022 - 4:34 PM

WSU’s seventh straight trip to the NCAA Tournament ended with a second round defeat at the hands of the San Diego Toreros Friday night in San Diego. The Toreros took the first two sets and WSU stayed alive with a set three victory. But San Diego dominated the third set, 25-15 to advance to the Sweet 16.

San Diego finished the season ranked no. 3 nationally and were receiving votes for first place. The Toreros’ only loss this season as to Louisville, the no. 4 team in the nation. So, yeah....San Diego is quite good.

In fact, the Toreros had only lost 12 sets the entire season before WSU handed them their 13th. From Sept. 29 to Nov. 17, San Diego ripped off 13 straight three-set sweeps.

As for WSU, thus ends another successful season under head coach Jen Greeny. WSU’s 23 wins tied for most under Greeny, and Magda Jehlarova got block no. 600 for her career. The good news for WSU is that all but one player are eligible to return next season (thanks, extra COVID year!).

This was WSU’s second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament’s second round, and the Cougs haven’t been able to get to the Sweet 16 since 2018. But the job Jen Greeny and her team has done in Pullman, turning around a program that had just seven NCAA Tournament appearances in its history prior to her arrival in 2011, is remarkable. It took Greeny six seasons to get back to the tournament, but the Cougs haven’t missed since 2015.

Cougs await bowl fate

Last night’s Pac-12 Championship Game could have implications for the Pac-12’s bowl pecking order. Washington was hoping for a USC win that would likely put the Huskies in the Rose Bowl. Now, that’s likely to change given Utah’s romp.

Utah’s win likely puts Ohio State in the College Football Playoff, despite the Buckeyes not even winning their division and getting to rest this weekend while USC got beat up. Why do we even have divisions? Why do we even have conference championship games?

Anyway, the other conferences hold their championship games today which don’t hold us much relevancy to the final poll as past years. We’ll know more as the day goes on and the official bowl announcement will come tomorrow.