Oregon State
South Dakota
Beavers Fall in Five Set Heartbreaker to South Dakota
August 27, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 27, 2011
Laramie, Wyo. - Juniors Camille Saxton (Balzac, Alberta) and Megan McBride (Auburn, Wash.) combined for 26 kills, but the Oregon State volleyball team (2-1) fell in a five set heartbreaker (26-24, 25-23, 25-21, 25-14, 15-10) to South Dakota (1-2) on Saturday morning.
Saxton killed 16 balls, while McBride added 10. Freshman Corinna Mommert (Paderborn, Germany) and senior Dre Shaw (Wailuku, Hawai'i) both added nine each.
"Hats off to South Dakota, who really played well and graveled that whole match," head coach Taras Liskevych said. "Most importantly, we did not control the ball on our side of the net. Part of it is we never got into a sideout groove. I think we have to go back to the drawing board a little bit and work on a lot of every phase of our game. I thought Camille played outstanding, and we didn't pass the ball well enough for our middles to have an opportunity to attack."
After a close first set, where untimely unforced errors handed the 1-0 advantage to the Coyotes, the Beavers rebounded behind 15 kills by four hitters. Saxton earned four for Oregon State after a quiet first set, while Mommert, Shaw and McBride each added three.
Saxton continued to be the story in the third set, leading the Beavers to the 2-1 lead with six of the team's 14 kills. Oregon State and South Dakota battled closely again with nine ties and four lead changes before the Beavers finally took over after being tied at 18. And with her second ace of the match, Saxton put the set away in favor of Oregon State.
Three long serving runs by South Dakota in the fourth tied the match up at two sets each, forcing a deciding fifth set. The Coyotes went on a 6-1 run to start the fifth with Oregon State unable to recover.
Sophomore Becky Defoe (Bend, Ore.) tallied a match-high 17 digs, while Shaw dug 10 balls. At the net, Saxton also paced the team with five blocks.
South Dakota's Tahnee Reed led the offense with 12 kills and added seven blocks.
Oregon State wraps up competition later today in the UniWyo Wyoming Invite against Gonzaga at 4:00 p.m. PT.
Oregon State Notes: Junior Megan McBride earned her third double-double of the weekend, eighth career with 10 kills and 40 assists.
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