Oregon State
4-17, 2-9Pac-12
Colorado
14-9, 6-5Pac-12
Marshall Posts 25 Kills in 3-2 Setback at Colorado
October 31, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
BOULDER, Colo. – Sophomore outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall buried 25 kills on .264 hitting and multiple Oregon State volleyball players set career highs, but the Beavers were outhit, .262-.183, and fell at Colorado in a five-set heartbreaker on Friday night at the Coors Events Center.
Oregon State (4-17, 2-9 Pac-12) fell in the first and third sets by a score of 25-18, while winning each of the second and fourth sets by scores of 25-23, forcing a fifth set. The Beaver ultimately fell in the deciding final set, as the Buffaloes (14-9, 6-5 Pac-12) took the match with a 15-10 fifth set win.
“Without question, I'm proud of our team and the way they fought hard,” Oregon State head coach Taras Liskevych said. “We had some gutsy comebacks throughout the different sets. The key was in transition setting. They had much more conversions in transition and that's what I think the games are about right now for us. In transition, we're not killing enough balls and we're not getting non-setters to set some good balls up for our hitters.”
Following close play to begin the fifth set, the two teams switched sides with Colorado holding an 8-5 lead. Oregon State took three of the next four points to cut the deficit to 9-8, but an OSU service error and block by Colorado pushed the Buffaloes' advantage back to three at 11-8. The Beavers drew within two at 12-10, but a pair of OSU attack errors and a block by Colorado sealed the match, as the Buffaloes took the fifth set, 15-10.
“If there's anything I'm a little disappointed in, it's the way that we ended the fifth set,” Liskevych said. “We came within one point, and then all of a sudden we had a serving error and a host of hitting errors that sealed the game. I think that's something that we've got to learn from.”
Marshall added 11 digs to her kills total to record her team-high fourth double-double of the season. Redshirt junior setter Dana Backlund set career highs in assists (50) and digs (13) and added five blocks and a pair of service aces in her third double-double of the season. Redshirt senior middle blocker Haley Clarke hit .381 en route to a career-high 11 kills with four blocks.
Freshman libero Kayla Ellis finished the match with three assists, an ace and 26 digs, matching the career-high in digs she set in the Beavers' match on Sunday vs. then-No. 10 UCLA. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Lanesha Reagan recorded nine kills and 10 digs off the bench for Oregon State.
“There was some very good play from several players tonight,” Liskevych said. “Haley continues to attack really well in the middle. Mary-Kate had some very timely hits and 25 kills, which is outstanding. Good defensive effort by Kayla, who had a lot of digs. We dug a lot of balls tonight.”
Each team had 83 digs. Oregon State edged Colorado in service aces, 8-7, paced by a pair of aces each from Backlund, Reagan and junior defensive specialist Rachel Buehner, who added seven digs.
“I think the skill that continues to be a factor for us is that we're serving well,” Liskevych said, “We had eight aces in that match, but we also had some untimely misses. We have to find a way where we're not making errors on our side of the court in critical moments.”
Colorado was the first team to separate early, as the Buffaloes used a 5-1 run from a 5-4 advantage to take a five-point lead at 10-5. Colorado extended its lead to eight at 15-7 and to as large as 10 at 20-10. The Beavers chipped away to within six at 23-17, but the Buffaloes took two of the final three points to win the opening set, 25-18.
The Buffaloes began the second set quickly with a 10-6 lead, but Oregon State got kills from Clarke and Marshall as well as a service ace by Reagan to ignite a 4-0 run and knot the match up at 10 apiece. The Beavers then took their first lead, and held it until a tie at 17 and then an 18-17 Colorado lead.
After the Beavers set the score even again at 18, the Beavers faced a three-point deficit after committing an attacking error and surrendering a pair of kills to the Buffaloes' Alexis Austin. Down 22-20, Marshall recorded three consecutive kills to give the Beavers a 23-22 lead, and from a deadlock at 23, posted her fourth straight kill before redshirt junior outside hitter Katelyn Driscoll buried the next one to win the set, 25-23, and tie the match at one set apiece.
The two teams opened the third set with a tie at five apiece, but Colorado won three of the next four points to take a 9-6 lead and extended it to five at 11-6. Colorado maintained that advantage to a 14-9 lead, at which point the Buffaloes took six of the next seven points to seize a 10-point advantage at 20-10. The Beavers cut the deficit to seven at 21-14, but the Buffaloes matched them point-for-point down the stretch, taking the frame, 25-18.
The fourth frame opened almost exactly like the third, with Colorado taking a 10-6 lead following an early tie at five. Oregon State tied the match at 13 all, sparked by four kills over that stretch from Marshall. The Buffaloes regained their four-point lead at 18-14 and extended it to five at 20-15, but the Beavers won four of the next five points to draw within two before tying the set up at 22 apiece. From a tie at 23, the Buffaloes hit a pair of balls out of bounds, as the Beavers sent the match to a fifth set with a 25-23 fourth set win.
“We just have to keep our heads up,” Liskevych said. “We've had two tough five-set losses in a row. We just need to keep plugging away and find ways to keep competing in the Pac-12.”
The Oregon State volleyball team returns to action on Sunday for the second half of its roadtrip, as the Beavers are slated to take on the Utah Utes at the Huntsman Center. Sunday's match is set for an 11 a.m. PT (Noon MT) start.
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.
