Oregon State
Washington State
Shaw and Saxton Lead Beavers to Five-Set Thrilling Win over Cougars
October 22, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 22, 2011
Corvallis, Ore. – Senior Dre Shaw (Wailuku, Hawai'i) and junior Camille Saxton (Balzac, Alberta) combined for 40 of the team's 61 kills as the Oregon State volleyball team (12-10, 4-8 Pac-12) outlasted Washington State (11-11, 3-9 Pac-12) in five sets on Saturday evening in Gill Coliseum.
Set scores were 23-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-18, 15-7.
“We earned it,” head coach Taras Liskevych said. “That's the way we have to have our two outside hitters play. That's the first match since the beginning of the year that Dre [Shaw] and Camille [Saxton] were on at the same time and had very little errors. It was great team blocking, and we served really tough. Corinna [Mommert] had some great blocks. Those are matches we have to win.”
Shaw hit .354, recording a career-high 22 kills, while Saxton tallied 18 with a .241 efficiency. Freshman Arica Nassar (Menifee, Calif.) found the floor eight times.
Coming off the bench, freshman Corinna Mommert (Paderborn, Germany) led the Beaver defense at the net, stopping 12 Cougar attack attempts. Redshirt freshman Allie Rogers (Eugene, Ore.) earned eight blocks of her own of the 21.0 total team blocks. Sophomore Becky Defoe (Bend, Ore.) led the backcourt defense with 19 digs, while junior Megan McBride (Auburn, Wash.) had 17, and Shaw added 10.
The Beavers struggled early in the first set, allowing Washington State to build its lead to as many as seven at the 3-10 mark. But the team rebounded to tie the match up at 12 taking a late 23-20 lead. But Washington State took the early 1-0 lead.
But its lead wouldn't last long as Oregon State quickly jumped out to a lead in the second set spurred by Shaw and Saxton kills. Washington State was able to tie it up three times while the two teams exchanged a pair of leads, but a 6-1 run at the end sealed the tied match going into the break.
Oregon State struck early in the third, but Washington State reached set point first with a 24-18 lead. But as the team had shown so many times before, it wouldn't give up, going on a 7-3 run at the end to hold the Cougars at set point for five rallies, but a final Washington State kill closed the set with a kill.
But Washington State's lead wouldn't last for long as Oregon State went on a 7-1 run to open the set, never looking back and forcing a deciding fifth set. The Cougars opened the fifth with the slight lead, but small two and three point runs by the Beavers gave Oregon State the 8-5 advantage as the team's changed sides.
A final block by Mommert and Rogers sealed the win for the Beavers, snapping a seven-match losing streak, to earn Oregon State's fifth home win of the season.
The Beavers outblocked the Cougars 21.0 to 10.0, while racking up 13 aces to three.
Washington State's Meagan Ganzer killed a match-high 24 balls, while Shawna Lum had a match-high 21 digs.
Oregon State continues its homestand, hosting Colorado and Utah next weekend. The Beavers will face the Buffaloes on Friday at 7:00 p.m. before the Utes on Saturday in the annual Spike Out Cancer match at 7:00 p.m. Fans that purchase the $2 pink wristband will receive free entry into Saturday's match.
Oregon State Notes – Junior Megan McBride earned her second double-double of the weekend, seventh season and 12th career, with 36 assists and 17 digs … Senior Dre Shaw tallied her seventh season, eighth career, double-double with 22 kills and 10 digs; Shaw killed a career-high 22 balls with a best 26.0 points … Freshman Corinna Mommert blocked a career-high 12 balls, the most by an individual this season … Freshman Arica Nassar served a career best three aces … Oregon State blocked a season-high 21.0 balls, while scoring a best 95.0 points and 13 service aces … Oregon State is now 5-2 in five-set matches, 2-0 in Pac-12 five-set matches.
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