OSU Travels to Washington and Washington State
October 13, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
Northwest Rivalry Series presented by Alaska Airlines
at No. 4 Washington (15-1, 5-1 Pac-12) | Oct. 14 | 7:30 p.m. PT
Alaska Airlines Arena | Seattle, Wash.
at Washington State (13-5, 2-4 Pac-12) | Oct. 11 | 5:30 p.m. PT
Bohler Gym | Pullman, Wash.
Pac-12 Networks: at Washington | at Washington State
Live Stats: at Washington | at Washington State
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State volleyball team travels north to continue its road swing this week, as the Beavers are set to face the fourth-ranked Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars as part of the Northwest Rivalry Series, presented by Alaska Airlines.
OSU (4-12, 2-4 Pac-12) opens the week with a match at Washington's Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, Wash. on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. PT before closing the current four-game road stretch with a 5:30 p.m. PT tilt against Washington State on Friday at Bohler Gym in Pullman, Wash.
Each match is set to be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks. Rich Burk will handle the play-by-play duties for Wednesday's match at Washington, while Dain Blanton will serve as the analyst.
Live stats are available for each match. Each can be accessed through the links above or through links on OSU's volleyball schedule page at OSUBeavers.com.
Washington (15-1, 5-1 Pac-12) is the second-highest nationally-ranked Pac-12 team at this point in the season, behind only top-ranked USC, the only team to defeat UW this season. The Huskies handed then-No. 5 Arizona State its first loss of the season last week, and have wins over No. 14 Arizona, Colorado, No. 12 UCLA and Washington State in conference play.
Washington State (13-5, 2-4 Pac-12) picked up its second Pac-12 win of the season last weekend with a sweep of then-No. 5 Arizona State. The Cougars also swept Utah on Sept. 26, but were swept by USC and UCLA, and fell in five sets to Arizona and Washington.
The Beavers are 1-2 in matches played on the road in conference play. The Huskies have won all eight of their home matches this season, while the Cougars are 5-2 at home in 2015.
Quick Hits
- Last time in action, OSU split a pair of conference matches in its trip to the Bay Area. The Beavers fell at then-No. 7 Stanford, 3-0, then bounced back to sweep California.
- Following her All-America campaign in 2014, sophomore outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall continues to lead the team offensively, pacing the squad in kills (230), points (260.5), total attempts (697) and service aces (13) while ranking second on the team in total blocks (29) and third in digs (106).
- Marshall ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in kills per set (4.11), as well as fifth in the conference in points per set (4.65). The sophomore also ranks third in service aces per set in conference matches (0.33).
- Marshall's 30 kills against Utah on Oct. 2 are the most by any player in the Pac-12 in a single match this season (second-highest total is 27), and are the most kills by an OSU player since Rachel Rourke had 31 against Arizona on Nov. 7, 2009.
- Freshman libero Kayla Ellis leads the team in digs with 146 (2.65/set) this season. Ellis has started the past nine games at libero (10 of the last 11) and ranks 10th in the Pac-12 in digs per set against conference opponents (3.29).
- Redshirt senior middle blocker Haley Clarke is tops on the team with 60 total blocks (1.07/set), recording 12 on solo efforts and 48 block assists, while also leading OSU regular starters in hitting percentage (.308) and ranking third in points (121).
- Clarke ranks sixth in the Pac-12 in hitting percentage in conference matches (.338).
Student-Athlete Profile
No. 5 McKenna Hollingsworth – Redshirt Freshman Setter
Hometown: Carlsbad, Calif. (Tri-City Christian)
- Majoring in accounting
- Daughter of Val and Brad Hollingsworth
- Has one younger sister, Taylor
- Favorite thing about being part of the program is the family atmosphere
- Describes the coaching staff as “one of a kind”
- Drinks tea on gamedays
- Favorite sports to attend outside of volleyball are football and basketball
Record Watch
- Mary-Kate Marshall already finds herself among OSU's career leaders in her sophomore season. After recently entering the Beavers' career record books, Marshall ranks at No. 25 on the all-time kills list (770). Additionally, Marshall recently moved up to 18th all-time in career attacks (2,435).
- Darby Reeder recently moved into the top-15 on the career digs list at OSU. The senior ranks second on the team with 115 digs this season after setting the single-season record with 614 last season. With a career total of 959, Reeder ranks 14th all-time.
Young Beavs
- A large portion of the makeup of the 2015 roster is a group of six freshmen – four redshirt freshmen and two true freshmen. OSU has increasingly relied upon its freshmen this season, as five of the six have started at least one match this season and multiple freshmen have received starts in each of the past nine matches as well as in 10 of the last 11.
- The Beavers started a season-high four freshmen – Kory Cheshire, Kayla Ellis, McKenna Hollingsworth and Lanesha Reagan - in their match at Long Beach State. The Beavers have started three freshmen against Utah, Colorado, Stanford and California.
OSU Volleyball No. 6 in Strength of Schedule
- Through the first 16 games of the 2015 schedule, the Oregon State volleyball team boasts the sixth-toughest schedule in the nation, according to the NCAA.
- Among opponents in their first 16 games, the Beavers have played six games against currently ranked foes (No. 6 Stanford, No. 8 Hawai'i, No. 10 Arizona State, No. 13 BYU twice and No. 24 Oregon) in addition to matches with Long Beach State and San Diego, each of which are currently receiving votes.
The Road Less Traveled
- Before opening its conference schedule on Sept. 24 at home against Oregon, OSU had finished out its non-conference slate without playing a home match. Only one other Pac-12 institution went without a home match before conference play, as the Ducks did not host a home match until conference play.
- A breakdown of how the Beavers' challenging road non-conference schedule stacks up to the rest of the Pac-12 is below. Among all power conference schools, only seven play two games or fewer at home before non-conference play. A breakdown of those schools is below as well:
Pac-12 Schools
Oregon State 0
Oregon 0
UCLA 2
Washington State 3
Stanford 4
Utah 4
Arizona State 5
California 5
Washington 5
Arizona 6
Colorado 7
USC 7
Power Conference Schools
Oregon State 0
Oregon 0
West Virginia 1
Florida 2
LSU 2
Northwestern 2
UCLA 2
14 schools 3
Clarke All-Tournament in San Diego
- Following a 14-kill, 18-block performance over a three-game stretch in San Diego, redshirt senior middle blocker Haley Clarke was named to the all-tournament team for the USD and SDSU Invitationals.
- Clarke recorded six kills with as many blocks against San Diego State on Saturday to help lead the Beavers over the Aztecs, 3-1. Clarke leads the team in total blocks (60) and hitting percentage (.308) this season.
Marshall Opens 2015 Season All-Tournament
- Mary-Kate Marshall was the first OSU player to earn an honor in 2015, earning an all-tournament selection at the conclusion of the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational.
- Marshall finished the tournament with 36 kills, ranking third amongst all tournament athletes from the four participating schools.
- Marshall's four kills/set was sixth amongst Pac-12 athletes that weekend, as well as second amongst players in the Chevron Rainbow Wahine tournament field.
The Beavers' Returning Players in 2015
- The Oregon State volleyball team returns the majority of its production from 2014 in nearly every category. Have a look at a summary of the different categories below.
- OSU returns players accounting for over half (about 55 percent) of the team's kills total from last year. Leading the Beavers in that category was Marshall, whose total of 540 set the school freshman kills record and ranks fourth all-time on the program's single-season list.
- The Beavers also return redshirt junior Katelyn Driscoll, who placed second on the team in kills, recording 282 as a redshirt sophomore.
- 65 percent of OSU's digs production returns from the 2014 squad, paced by Reeder's single-season program record tally of 614. Marshall (306) and junior Rachel Buehner (224) return to the club after ranking third and fourth on the team, respectively, in that category last season.
- Each of that same trio ranked within the OSU's top four in service aces last season, as Reeder also led the Beavers in service aces (38), while Marshall recorded 30 and Buehner posted 19. Junior Lila Toner, who recorded 13 last season, will also play a factor for a team that returns 69 percent of its 2014 production in the serve game.
- Last season, the Beavers racked up 20 more aces than their opponents (161 to 141), posting 1.22 aces per set as a team, while maintaining an aces to errors ratio of 0.79.
The Beavers' 2015 Coaching Staff
- Fresh off one of the most successful seasons in program history and 2014 Pac-12 and AVCA Regional Coach of the Year selections, head coach Taras Liskevych leads the Beavers for his 11th season at the helm. Liskevych holds a 123-196 record at OSU, as well as a 390-280 mark for his career.
- Liskevych is joined by associate head coach Mark Barnard, also in his 11th season, as well as assistant coach Emily Hiza (fifth season) and first-year volunteer assistant coach Andy Levoe.
- The 2015 staff is rounded out with Erik Bateham, who is in his second year as graduate manager, along with Jessica Quinn and Ian Parson, who were recently announced as director of operations and assistant director of operations, respectively.
Home Sweet Home
- The city of Corvallis, home of Oregon State University, was recently featured in College Magazine's list of “Top 10 College Towns You'll Never Want to Leave,” checking at No. 4. A listing of the various schools featured is below:
1. Chapel Hill, N.C. (North Carolina)
2. Champaign-Urbana, Ill. (Illinois)
3. Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan)
4. Corvallis, Ore. (Oregon State)
5. Boulder, Colo. (Colorado)
6. Blacksburg, Va. (Virginia Tech)
7. Iowa City, Iowa (Iowa)
8. Ithaca, N.Y. (Cornell)
9. Athens, Ga. (Georgia)
10. Binghamton, N.Y. (Binghamton)
Scouting No. 4 Washington
- Washington was voted by coaches in the preseason poll to finish third in the Pac-12. The Huskies received one first-place vote, drawing the only vote not received by Stanford.
- Washington has earned its current No. 4 ranking through a 15-1 start to the 2015 season with a 5-1 mark in Pac-12 play. Among other impressive wins, the Huskies recently dealt currently No. 10-ranked Arizona State its first loss.
- The Huskies returned 12 letterwinners from last year's team. Among those 12 returners are six returning starters, plus the return of the libero.
- Offensively, Washington is led by Lianna Sybeldon, who leads the Pac-12 with a .481 hitting percentage with 241 kills. A strong hitting team, the Huskies' Courtney Schwen places third in the conference with a .403 mark, while Melanie Wade is hitting at a .386 clip, the fourth-highest mark in the league.
- Wade also ranks second in the Pac-12 in blocks per set, as she turns away an average of 1.64 shots per set. Sybeldon ranks sixth in the league in blocks per set, averaging 1.26 blocks per set.
Scouting Washington State
- In the Pac-12 preseason poll, the Washington State volleyball team was picked to finish 12th in the conference. With a 13-5 record and a 2-4 mark in league play, the Cougars are currently in a tie for eighth in the Pac-12.
- Along with the Huskies, the Cougars knocked off previously undefeated Arizona State this weekend, sweeping the Sun Devils in Pullman, Wash. The Cougars' other Pac-12 win was over Utah, also a sweep.
- The Cougars returned seven letterwinners, including four starters, from last year's squad, which placed 12th in league in 2014.
- Washington State is paced offensively by the play of Kyra Holt, who ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in kills per set (4.17) and points per set (4.81). Setter Haley MacDonald ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in assists per set (10.40).
- On the defensive end, the Cougars have a pair of players ranked in the top 10 in blocks per set – Claire Martin at fifth (1.30) and Taylor Mims at ninth (1.25). Kate Sommer rounds out the Cougars' top defensive performers with 4.40 digs per set, a rate that places third in the Pac-12.
For more information on the Oregon State volleyball team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/BeavsVolleyball, by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateVolleyball or on Instagram at Instagram.com/OregonStateVolleyball.
