Oregon State
Ball St
Volleyball Sweeps Ball State At Nanook Classic
September 11, 1999 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 11, 1999
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Four Beavers finished with double-figure kills as the Oregon State volleyball team swept Ball State, 3-0, on the second day of the Nanook Classic at the Patty Center. Game scores were 15-9, 15-11 and 15-11.
Sarah Bjeldanes led OSU (4-2) with 15 kills, while Angie Shirley added 14. Gina Schmidt turned in 13 kills, and Michele Solomon had a career-high 10. Bjeldanes also led OSU with 12 digs.
"We played in system tonight. We passed the ball to our setter, we played aggresive and smart defense, and we had a well balanced attack," coach Nancy Somera said. "Tonight we were much more focused and put in a more disciplined effort. We came out more focused on taking care of what we needed to do on our side of the net."
OSU (4-2) cruised to an early 6-0 lead in game one, scoring its first five points off Ball State errors. The Cardinals (4-1) closed the gap at 12-8, but the Beavers held off the rally when a kill from Shirley and an ace from Schmidt gave OSU a 14-8 lead. OSU missed its first game point opportunity, but regained the serve and came away with the win on another Ball State hitting error, one of 11 for the Cardinals in game one.
With the score at 13-11 in game two, a Ball State service error gave the ball back to OSU. Shirley and Brandi Bonnarens made it 14-11 with a block, and Shirley put the game in the books with a kill.
The Beavers had to come from behind in game three. After jumping out to a 6-3 lead, OSU fell behind, 6-10 after a BSU comeback. A block from Solomon and Bonnarens made it 7-10, and after four sideouts OSU rallied to score four straight points - three of which came on Ball State hitting errors. The Beavers managed to scatter another four points in between 14 sideouts to come away with the 15-11 win.
"Ball State stepped it up a little bit (in game three), which they're going to do when they're down 0-2," Somera said. "We were doing good things, but at the point when it was 6-10, we raised our level of play a notch and kind of turned it on.We didn't let Ball State get back in the match, and that type of attitude is a winner's mentality."
Ball State finished the night with 59 kills, two more than OSU. But, the Cardinals had 33 errors and hit just .171 for the match, OSU hit .295. Both teams had 49 digs, but OSU outblocked BSU, 12-5.
The Beavers conclude play at the Nanook Classic when they take on host Alaska Fairbanks at 9 p.m. PDT on Sunday, September 12.
Nanook Classic Results - Day Two
Ball State (4-1) 9 11 11 Oregon State (4-2) 15 15 15
