Oregon State
Stanford
Beavers Strike Early but Fall in Four to No. 7 Stanford
October 07, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 7, 2011
Corvallis, Ore. - The Oregon State volleyball team (11-6, 3-4 Pac-12) exchanged six lead changes and 11 tie scores before taking over at 22 all in the first set over No. 7 Stanford (11-3, 5-3 Pac-12), but the Beavers fell in four (25-22, 23-25, 17-25, 16-25) on Friday evening to the Cardinal in Gill Coliseum.
"We played very well in sets one and two and took them out of their system," head coach Taras Liskevych said. "They in turn took us out of our system toward the end of that in sets three and four. Stanford's setter, Karissa Cook, did a great job short serving us. She also did a great job tipping the ball.
Great performance by Camille [Saxton], and it was good to have Dre [Shaw] back. We really missed her in the last few matches. And she's really a valuable addition to get back. We've just got to keep improving as we go along.
Junior Camille Saxton (Balzac, Alberta) killed a match-high and career-high tying 22 balls, adding 12 digs, five blocks and two aces. Three other players earned seven kills each to back up Saxton.
Defensively, sophomore Becky Defoe (Bend, Ore.) earned her second-straight 20-plus digs match with match-high 27 with senior Dre Shaw (Wailuku, Hawai'i) tallying 17. Junior Megan McBride (Auburn, Wash.) racked up a double-double counting 42 assists and 11 digs, while junior Alyssa O'Neil (Portland, Ore.) chalked up 10 digs off the bench.
At the net, Saxton and freshman Arica Nassar (Menifee, Calif.) both earned a team-high five blocks, while McBride added four of her own.
Oregon State scored the first point of the match, but the Cardinal quickly tied it up with the two teams battling back and forth. Stanford built a lead of as many as four late in the match at the 22-18 mark, but big blocks by the Beavers knotted the first set up at 22. Freshman Corinna Mommert (Paderborn, Germany) entered the match to serve for Nassar, serving the remaining points with Saxton putting the set away.
The second set began similarly, ensuing with nine tie scores and three lead changes. Oregon State found itself down again by a pair of points at the 21-23 mark, tying things up at 23 all. But back-to-back points by the Cardinal tied up the match at one set each.
Seven more tie scores and four lead changes awaited the two teams coming out of the long break, but a number of runs by the Cardinal gave Stanford the 2-1 lead before the eventual match win.
Stanford's Rachel Williams paced the Cardinal offense with 22 kills, while Hannah Benjamin had 19 digs.
Oregon State wraps up the weekend against No. 4 California on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. in Gill Coliseum.
Oregon State Notes - Junior Camille Saxton earned her third double-double of the season, sixth career, with 22 kills and 12 digs; Saxton tied her career-high for blocks with five and kills, resetting her career-high for points with 26.5 ... Junior Megan McBride tallied her fourth double-double of the season, ninth career, with 42 assists and 11 digs ... Freshman Arica Nassar set a new career-high for digs with five ... Senior Dre Shaw played in her first match since spraining her ankle against Arizona on Sept. 17.
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