PULLMAN, Wash. — Magda Jehlarova finished with 10 blocks and a team-leading 15 kills without any errors (15-0-20, .750), and No. 10 Washington State (26-7) defeated No. 19 Dayton (32-3), 3-1 (25-21, 25-15, 20-25), Saturday. The Cougars’ win gives them their first trip the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 since 2018.
Jehlarova became the Pac-12’s all-time leader in career blocks with No. 757 early in Saturday’s second-round win. Iman Isanovic had a second-straight double-digit kill performance in her first two NCAA Tournament matches, and Pia Timmer added 12 kills with a team-leading 11 digs on the night.
Julia Norville fell only one dig shy of Timmer’s dozen, and also added a pair of aces to move only five shy of LaToya Harris for third all-time in Cougar history. WSU finished with a 12-7 advantage in total blocks in Saturday’s win, while also improving on its program-record hitting percentage as a team after a .290 (52-16-124) night in round two.
Having fallen short of the second weekend in the NCAA Tournament in their first four years, the Washington State seniors, led by Jehlarova, came out firing in Saturday’s second round and did not trail once through the first two sets. Jehlarova’s first block of the night, the Pac-12 record-breaking moment, came on the heels of a 6-2 run that gave Washington State a 17-11 advantage.
Following a 25-21 opening-set win, Washington State kept its foot on the…
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