Oregon State
Washington St
Volleyball Sweeps Washington State
September 24, 1999 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 24, 1999
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Four Beavers finished with double-figure kills as the Oregon State volleyball team defeated Washington State 3-0 (15-11, 17-15, 15-7) in front of 1,017 fans at Gill Coliseum Friday night.
The victory snapped WSU's 11-match winning streak over the Beavers. The last time OSU beat the Cougars was in 1993 in Corvallis, and the last time the Beavers swept WSU was back in 1990.
But to OSU coach Nancy Somera, all that mattered was that her team came away victorious in 1999.
"As far as I'm concerned, the streaks don't mean anything. I could care less if they were 11-0 against us," she said. "This is a new team, and we're headed in a new direction."
Angie Shirley led OSU with 15 kills and eight blocks, and Sarah Bjeldanes had 14 kills and 12 digs. Katrina Nelson, a native of Pullman, Wash., had a career-high 12 kills, and Gina Schmidt added 10 kills for the Beavers.
OSU broke away from a 9-9 tie in game one when the Beavers scored back-to-back-points on a block and a WSU hitting error. With the score at 13-11, Nelson slammed down a kill for an OSU sideout, and the Beavers scored twice on a block from Shirley and another kill from Nelson.
After hitting an impressive .395 as a team in game one, the Beavers struggled somewhat in the second game and found themselves down, 13-9.
But another Nelson kill resulted in an OSU sideout, and the Beavers scored four straight points to tie up the game. Nelson had another kill and a block solo during the rally, and Shirley added two kills as well.
The score was tied again at 14-14 and 15-15 before the Beavers finally scored on an error by WSU's Missy Blackshire. After trading sideouts, OSU put the game away on a kill from Schmidt.
Winning that game may have been the turning point in the match.
"There's a big difference if you're tied 1-1 at the break or if you're up 2-0," said coach Nancy Somera.
OSU jumped out to an early 5-2 lead in game three, but the Cougars cut it to within one at 5-4 before a WSU error gave the service back to the Beavers. OSU turned that sideout into a seven-point rally highlighted by three Beaver blocks, two kills from Bjeldanes, a kill from Brandi Bonnarens and an ace from Nelson.
However, once OSU made it a 14-4 game, the Beavers could not manage to score the match-winning point. OSU missed nine game-point opportunities before finally scoring on Schmidt's ace.
"(After the break) we stepped up our intensity and took a big lead, but it took awhile to close it out," Somera said. "I told the team to just stay calm and focused until it came our way."
The Beavers hit .275 for the match, outkilling the Cougars 56-52. Both teams had 55 digs, with OSU's Jessica Papell with a match-high 13 digs. OSU dominated at the net, outblocking WSU 13-4.
OSU returns to action Saturday, September 25 when the Beavers host Washington at 7 p.m. in Gill Coliseum.
Match Results
Washington State (7-4, 2-2) 11 15 7 Oregon State (7-4, 1-2) 15 17 15
