Oregon State
4-15, 2-7Pac-12
USC
21-0, 9-0Pac-12
Volleyball Falls in 3-1 Setback to Top-Ranked USC
October 24, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Despite a match free of service errors compared to 18 for No. 1 USC, the Oregon State volleyball team fell to the top-ranked Trojans in four sets (20-25, 26-24, 16-25, 18-25) on Friday night at Gill Coliseum.
Despite the serving advantage for Oregon State, USC made up ground with a .324-.129 hitting advantage, recording 73 kills to the Beavers' 39. The Trojans held an additional advantage in digging, registering 88 to OSU's 68. The Trojans entered Friday night's matchup as the No. 2 serving team in the conference with the nation's service aces leader, senior outside hitter Samantha Bricio.
“For the first two sets, we had a match,” Oregon State head coach Taras Liskevych said. “I feel that we really let down in our sideout and our hitting efficiency in sets three and four. USC is a good team. They had their troubles serving today, missing 18 serves; conversely we had four aces no errors. That's good to see. We know why they are as good as they are. They had a good hitting efficiency and set the ball as fast as I've seen to the outside.”
Sophomore outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall hit .203 en route to a team-high 15 kills with a service ace and eight digs. Junior outside hitter Lila Toner (.207) added nine kills with 11 digs, while redshirt senior middle blocker Haley Clarke (.267) had six kills with a pair of blocks.
Freshman libero Kayla Ellis had one ace and tallied a team-high 22 digs, while redshirt freshman setter McKenna Hollingsworth posted 31 assists with a pair of service aces and eight digs.
“Mary-Kate had a good hitting match and so did Lila,” Liskevych said. “However, we still have to find more consistency from all of our outsides.”
At an 18-12 score in the first set, USC looked to be in control of the set, but Oregon State went on a run to cut the deficit to 20-18. However, the Beavers were aced and committed a pair of errors as the Women of Troy won five of the next seven points to close out the first set, 25-20.
Following the Trojans' run to end the first set, the two teams scored back-and-forth leading up to a tie at 16. USC won the next two points and held that lead until 20-18, when Oregon State won the next three points to take a 21-20 lead. The teams continued their back-and-forth play to a tie at 24, but a Marshall kill and Driscoll solo block put away the set, 26-24, to knot the match up at one set apiece.
Oregon State kept its momentum going for a 4-1 lead to start the third set, but USC took 11 of the next 12 points to seize a 12-5 advantage in the frame. The Beavers chipped within five at 21-16, but the Trojans won the final four points to take a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-16 third set win.
USC continued its run from the end of the previous set, opening the fourth on a 4-0 run. From a 10-4 Trojan advantage, Oregon State went on a 6-1 run to cut the lead to 11-10, but committed an attack error and were aced as USC built its lead back up to four at 15-11. USC maintained its lead up to 24-16, and although the Beavers staved off match point twice, the Trojans came up with the final point at 25-18 to close out the four-set match.
“We just need to build on this,” Liskevych said. “Overall, our intensity was good and our energy is good. We just need to keep working and correct the little things.”
The Oregon State volleyball team returns to Gill Coliseum on Sunday for a match against the 10th-ranked UCLA Bruins. Sunday's match is set to begin at noon PT.
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.
