Oregon State
Portland
Volleyball Drops Season Opener to Portland, 3-1
August 27, 2010 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 27, 2010
Corvallis, Ore. – Sophomore Camille Saxton (Balzac, Alberta) served a career-high five aces, adding a best 10 kills, but the Oregon State volleyball team fell in four to Portland on Friday evening (13-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-22) in the season opener as part of the Corvallis Invitational.
“We just need to get better in every match we play,” head coach Taras Liskevych said. “We need to improve our blocking and communication on out of system plays.”
After shaking off the first-match jitters, the Beavers found their swing, capitalizing on overpasses and big swings by the entire front court to take a 14-8 lead in the first set to force the Pilots to burn their first timeout. Oregon State then limited Portland to nearly all sideout points with sophomore Tami Brown (Eugene, Ore.) racking up her pair of aces in the final three points of the set.
Coming off the dominating performance in the first set, the Beavers struggled with nine unforced errors in the second set, allowing the Pilots to build their lead to as many as three. A service error by Portland tied the set up at 18 all, but kills by Marissa Plummer and Madison Smith helped close out the set in favor of the Pilots to tie things up at 1-1 all.
Saxton came out from the long break serving up three service aces in the Beavers five straight points to start the third set. But Portland worked its way back into the game, capitalizing on Beaver errors and nine kills at the 17-16 mark. Oregon State came within one but was unable to recapture the lead with Portland taking the 2-1 edge.
The Beavers fell behind early in the fourth but battled back to take the early lead, but the team was unable to hold on to push the match into a fifth set.
Senior Jill Sawatzky (St. Andrews, Manitoba) led the Beavers defensively with four blocks, three solo blocks, and nine digs, while adding 10 kills of her own. Four other players had three blocks at the net with senior Kiersten Sambrailo (Watsonville, Calif.) and sophomore Ashley Eneliko (Seattle, Wash.) with a solo each.
Portland's Ariel Usher and Katie Hronek paced all hitters with 13 kills each, while Danielle Dupar dug a match-high 24 balls.
Oregon State continues play in the Corvallis Invitational on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in legendary Gill Coliseum against Sacramento State.
Oregon State Notes –Sophomore Tami Brown set a new career best for kills with five; career aces with two … Sophomore Camille Saxton bested her career high for service aces with five; new career high for kills with 10 … Senior Jill Sawatzky tied her career best for solo blocks with three.
Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. For more information follow this “everyday champion.” Follow Beaver Athletics on twitter.
