Oregon State
Utah
Beavers Outblock Utah to Earn the Sweep
September 23, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 23, 2011
Salt Lake City, Utah – The Oregon State volleyball team (10-3, 2-1 Pac-12) tallied 15.5 blocks to Utah's 5.0, as the Beavers swept (25-23, 31-29, 25-21) the Utes on Friday evening on Crimson Court.
“This was a big win on the road, and a great way to open our Pac-12 away trips,” head coach Taras Liskevych said. “One of the keys was our blocking. This was the best blocking that we've had in a long time, and a really good blocking performance by Allie Rogers. All in all, I think it was a great team effort.”
Redshirt freshman Allie Rogers (Eugene, Ore.) blocked a match-high eight balls with juniors Megan McBride (Auburn, Wash.) and Ashley Eneliko (Seattle, Wash.) adding six each.
Oregon State took the lead early in the opening set, building it to as many as five. Utah went on a five-point run to take the 17-16 lead, prompting an Oregon State timeout. But quickly the Beavers regained their composure, reversing the lead in their favor to hold on to take the 1-0 lead.
Utah (6-7, 1-3 Pac-12) returned the favor in the second set, setting the pace early. But Oregon State battled back behind the serving of junior Alyssa O'Neil (West Linn, Ore.) to tie the match at 19 before building its lead to 22-19. But Utah wasn't finished as it tied the match eight more times before kills by Rogers and junior Camille Saxton (Balzac, Alberta) shut down the Utes to build the Beavers' lead to 2-0 going into the long break.
The Utes scored the first three points of the third set, but the Beavers stormed back quickly to take the lead and hold on despite Utah tying the match at 17 all. Once again, Saxton closed out the set as she did in all of the previous with a kill, her 13th of the match.
Saxton led the Beavers with 13 kills with McBride flirting with a double-double with nine kills to add to her 27 assists and nine digs. Freshman Arica Nassar (Menifee, Calif.) chalked up eight kills of her own.
“Once again, great numbers by Arica [Nassar] hitting and attacking and hitting by Megan [McBride],” Liskevych said. “And finally, if we side out the way we did today, we're going to be in every match. We just did a really good job, always above 60 percent siding out, and that will keep us in the match with anyone in the Pac-12.”
Junior Alyssa O'Neil (West Linn, Ore.) and sophomore Becky Defoe (Bend, Ore.) both netted a team-high 15 digs with Saxton adding a double-double with 11 digs, and junior Martie Massey (Beaverton, Ore.) rounding out the group in double-digits with 10 digs.
Utah's Chelsey Schofield killed a match-high 15 balls, while adding a best 19 digs.
Oregon State completes its road trip in its first match up ever at Colorado on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. PT.
Oregon State Notes – Redshirt freshman Allie Rogers set a new career-high for blocks with eight … Junior Martie Massey set a new best for digs with 10 … Junior Camille Saxton tallied her second double-double of the season, fifth career, with 13 kills and 11 digs … Oregon State is now 6-3 all-time against Utah … Oregon State is now 5-0 in three-set matches this season, 3-0 on the road.
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