Oregon State
Fairfield
Volleyball Drops Five-Game Decision To Fairfield
September 23, 2000 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2000
STORRS, Conn. - After taking a 2-0 lead, the Oregon State volleyball team dropped three straight games to Fairfield to fall to the Stags, 3-2, at the V.I.C.E. Script Connecticut Invitational at Gampel Pavilion on Saturday. Game scores were 14-16, 9-15, 18-16, 16-14 and 15-11.
It was OSU's fourth five-game match in the last eight days, with the Beavers dropping to 9-3 after Saturday's loss.
Fairfield's comeback was led by Conny Paul, who finished the contest with a match-high 30 kills, including the match-winner in the decisive fifth game. The Stags, who outkilled the Beavers 93-82, had four other players in double figures. Four OSU players also had double-figure kills. Gina Schmidt turned in a team-best 22 kills, followed by Angie Shirley (19), Joscelyn Hannaford (17) and Michele Solomon (10). Schmidt also led the Beavers with 14 digs, but OSU was outdug by the Stags, 79-77.
With Jessica Papell serving to start game one, the Beavers scored eight straight points - including two off aces by Papell - before the Stags got kill for a sideout. Solomon quickly responded with a kill to give the Beavers back the serve, and OSU added another two points before Fairfield got another sideout. The Stags then capitalized on some Beaver hitting errors and went on a 5-0 to close the gap. OSU went up, 14-9, but the Beavers couldn't put the game point away. OSU missed six game-point chances, and Fairfield came back to tie it at 14-14. Seven sideouts later, the Beavers managed to score back-to-back points off kills from K.C. Frederic and Shirley to win the game.
Shirley led the Beavers with five kills in their game two victory, but OSU quickly found themselves down early in game three after the Stags jumped out 4-0. The Beavers rallied back to tie the game at 8-8 and took a 10-9 lead, but after three sideouts Fairfield went on a 5-0 run to take a 14-10 lead. After that it was a role reversal from game one. This time, Fairfield missed six game-point chances and OSU came back to tie it at 14-14. The game was tied two other times before Fairfield it away, 18-16.
Game four was another close contest. With the game tied, 13-13, Shirley slammed down a kill for a Beaver sideout. OSU took the lead on block by Schmidt and Solomon, but Fairfield tied it up again. The teams traded sideouts before Fairfield scored twice on an OSU hitting error and a kill from Becky Guess.
The Beavers struggled to start game five, falling behind 5-0 early on. After OSU rallied to close within a point at 6-5, Fairfield went on another rally of its own and eventually took a 14-10 lead. The Beavers kept things going after Fairfield's serve went into the net, but the Stags got the kill from Paul to end the match.
OSU concludes competition at the tournament with a 4:30 p.m. PDT match against host Connecticut.
Match Results
Fairfield 14 9 18 16 15 Oregon State 16 15 16 14 11
