Oregon State
California
Beavers Outlast No. 3 California for School Record Win
November 18, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 18, 2011
Berkeley, Calif. - Junior Megan McBride (Auburn, Wash.), redshirt freshman Allie Rogers (Eugene, Ore.) and freshman Arica Nassar (Menifee, Calif.) combined for 12 of Oregon State's 15 blocks as the Beavers (15-14, 7-12 Pac-12) made history, upsetting No. 3 California (25-5, 15-5 Pac-12) in five (25-22, 23-25, 25-21, 14-25, 17-15) on Friday evening in Haas Pavilion.
The win marks the highest ranked opponent that Oregon State has ever defeated in school history. Oregon State outblocked the Golden Bears 15.0 to 8.0 adding an extra service ace to mark the only two categories the Beavers led overall in the match.
"We passed the ball very well so we were in system for most of the night," head coach Taras Liskevych said. "Also, there were great hitting numbers by Arica Nassar, Megan McBride and Camille Saxton. We really attacked the ball well, and we really were outstanding in blocking. Great job by the subs that came in: Martie Massey, Alyssa O'Neil, Corinna Mommert and Tayla Woods. It was a really big win for us - a terrific team win."
Junior Camille Saxton (Balzac, Alberta) chalked up 21 kills to lead the Beaver offense, earning a double-double with 11 digs for 21.5 points, while Nassar killed a career-high 17 balls to hit .469.
Senior Dre Shaw (Wailuku, Hawai'i) also reached double-figures for kills with 10, also tallying a double-double with 11 digs and three blocks. And McBride hit errorless with six kills (.462), adding a season-high 45 assists and 15 digs.
The Beavers led through most of the first set behind big swings by Saxton and big blocks by Rogers, Nassar and McBride, but the Golden Bears went on a big run behind the serving of Tarah Murrey to reach 20 first.
But the Oregon State wouldn't back down, tying the set up at 22 all before scoring three straight to take the early 1-0 lead on a hitting error by Shannon Hawari with McBride serving the final points.
The two teams battled through the second set with California leading through most of it until a kill by Eneliko tied it at 18. More back and forth action as the final tie of the set came at the 22 all mark, but despite the Beavers holding California at set point on an attack error by the Bears, the Golden Bears tied it up winning set two, 25-23.
Coming out of the break, the Beavers took a quick 3-0 lead and never gave up the lead up. California was able to tie it up at the 20-point mark, but Oregon State went on a 5-1 run to close out the set, capitalizing on a serving error and a final McBride kill.
In the fourth, the Beavers and Golden Bears exchanged points before the Golden Bears went on a run that would they would ride to tie the match back up at two sets each to force a fifth set.
The two teams traded three lead changes and 12 tie scores in the deciding set. The Beavers were unable to score a pair to take the match a couple of times before a timely serving error by Hawari and a kill by junior Ashley Eneliko (Seattle, Wash.) gave the Beavers the set and match in extra points.
California's Tarah Murrey killed a match-high 23 balls with 23 digs to lead the Golden Bears.
Oregon State wraps up its trip to the Bay Area against No. 5 Stanford on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
Oregon State Notes - Junior Megan McBride earned ninth double-double of the season with 45 assists and 15 digs; McBride earned a career-high seven blocks ... Senior Dre Shaw tied her career-high for solo blocks with two; Shaw earned her 11th double-double of the season, 12th career, with 10 kills and 11 digs ... Junior Camille Saxton earned her seventh double-double of the season, 10th career, with 21 kills and 11 digs ... Freshman Arica Nassar set a new career-best for kills with 17 ... Oregon State is now 4-0 in Pac-12 play in five set matches, 7-2 overall ... The Beavers are now 18-43 all-time against California, snapping an 11-match series streak by the Golden Bears. ... It's believed to be the biggest upset in school history since the AVCA started its coaches' poll ... The win snaps a four-match losing streak by the Beavers.
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