Mathis To Start Freshman Year on Washington St. Volleyball Team

PULLMAN, Wash. -- Fourth-year Washington State volleyball Head Coach Jen Greeny welcomed 16 Cougars to the Bohler Gym court Aug. 9, for the first of two weeks of practice sessions.

Greeny and her staff of assistant coaches, Burdette Greeny and Shannon Hunt, along with volunteer coach Kelli Tikker, are working with 11 returning letterwinners, including five starters from the 2013 squad that had the best overall record at 18-15 in four years.

Four seniors anchor the squad for 2014: outside hitters Chelsey Bettinson and Jaicee Harris, middle blocker Ver’Leea Hardaway, and defensive specialist Shawna Lum. Sophomore outside hitter Kyra Holt was the 2013 AVCA Pacific North Region Freshman of the Year and was already named to the 2014 Preseason All-Pac-12 Volleyball team by a vote of the coaches. Holt and her fellow recruiting class members of Emmy Allen, Hailey Bethune, Haley MacDonald, and Tani Stephens, named the 14th-best recruiting class in the nation by prepvolleyball.com, have a solid year of collegiate playing experience under their belts. Greeny reported the entire team worked tirelessly in the weight room and on the court during the summer and that work is evident in the early practices.

A new member of the squad is Haylee Mathis, a 5-foot-11 freshman from Strasburg who graduated from Effingham St. Anthony High School.

The Cougars will practice most mornings and afternoons until Washington State University fall classes begin Aug. 25, when volleyball practices will be held from 2-5 p.m. WSU opens the season at the Montana Invitational tournament Aug. 29-30, in Missoula, and travels to tournaments in Notre Dame and Murfreesboro, Tenn., before returning home for the Cougar Challenge tournament Sept. 18-19.

All road matches will be broadcast live in the Pullman area on KQQQ-AM radio (1150) and on the wsucougars.com website. Veteran broadcaster Steve Grubbs will be announcing his ninth season of Cougar volleyball.

The Pac-12 TV Networks will broadcast 13 WSU matches in 2014. WSU’s opening Pac-12 match will be against cross-state rival Washington Wed., Sept. 24, in a 7:30 p.m. contest in Seattle. Other TV contests for the Cougars include Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, USC, UCLA, and the second meeting with Washington.