Oregon State
4-14, 2-6
Washington State
14-5, 3-4
Volleyball Falls in Four Sets at Washington State
October 17, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
PULLMAN, Wash. – Oregon State's Lila Toner recorded a double-double and Mary-Kate Marshall recorded 14 kills, but the Beavers could not overcome a season-high 28 attack errors in a 3-1 setback at Washington State on Friday night at Bohler Gym.
Errors proved costly in the match's opening set, as OSU (4-14, 2-6 Pac-12) committed four in a row at the tail end of a 25-23 opening frame won by the Cougars (14-5, 3-4 Pac-12). The Beavers hit .216 in a 25-16 second set win, but hit .122 and -.120 in the third and fourth sets, dropping those frames 25-22 and 25-9, respectively.
“The key to this match was that we did not finish the first set,” Oregon State head coach Taras Liskevych said. “We were up 22-20 serving, then missed the serve and had a double hit called on us. We came back strong in the second set. They were reeling, hitting negative as a team at the end of the second set. Play was back and forth in the third set – we had every opportunity. Again, we had a serving error and had a couple of balls hit out. That really set up where Washington State gained their confidence in the fourth set.”
Toner finished the match with 10 kills, 12 digs and three blocks. Marshall added seven digs and a service ace to her 14 kills. Senior defensive specialist Darby Reeder tallied a team-high 13 digs with a pair of aces, while freshman libero Kayla Ellis dug 10 balls with a service ace.
The opening set of the match came down to final few points, with eight tied scores leading up to a deadlock at 20. The Beavers took two-point leads at 22-20 and 23-21, but an attack error and ball handling error by the Beavers allowed the Cougars to tie the set back up at 23. Following the tie, the Beavers committed two more attack errors, as the Cougars took the opening frame, 25-23.
Following the setback in the opening set, OSU kicked off the second set on a 6-1 run. The Beavers extended their lead to as large as seven at 13-6, but a pair of ball handling errors and as many attack errors helped Washington State use a 5-1 run to close the gap to 14-11. From there, the Beavers won the next five points to regain control of the set en route to tying the match up with a 25-16 second set win.
OSU had an early lead at 9-6 in the third set, but the Cougars took seven of the next eight points to take a 13-10 lead in the frame. The Cougars held their advantage up to a tie at 19 apiece, from which point the two teams traded points to ties at 20 and 21. However, the Beavers committed a service error and two attack errors down the stretch, as the Cougars went up 2-1 in the match after taking the third set, 25-22.
After opening the fourth set with a 5-4 lead, Washington State took nine of the next 10 points to grab a 14-5 lead in the frame. Washington State extended its lead to 10 at 17-7 and controlled the match's final set, as the Cougars won all but two points down the stretch to close out the win.
“Our passing fell apart and their hitters started hitting well,” Liskevych said. “We've got to hit better - our outsides have got to be better. We're reeling a little bit. It's exhibited by our serving. We had four aces to 10 errors, whereas they had four aces to four errors. We hit 10 percent and they hit 12 percent, but other than that there wasn't too much difference other than if you change the first set around. It would be a whole different match.”
The Oregon State volleyball team returns home for a pair of matches at Gill Coliseum next weekend. The Beavers will host top-ranked USC on Friday at 8 p.m. PT in their Dam Cancer match, and bookend the weekend with a noon PT match with UCLA on Sunday.
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.
