Oregon State
3-11, 1-3Pac-12
Colorado
10-6, 2-2Pac-12
OSU Volleyball Drops 3-0 Match to Colorado
October 04, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State volleyball team fell to the Colorado Buffaloes in three sets (19-25, 23-25, 14-25) on Sunday afternoon at Gill Coliseum.
OSU hit .218 as a team, but it was not enough to overcome a .410 hitting percentage for Colorado, the highest hitting percentage the Beavers have surrendered this year. The Buffaloes also held the kills edge, 52-37, and only committed nine errors to the Beavers' 15.
“The performances from our top players were a big difference – from two games ago to off games today,” Oregon State head coach Taras Liskevych said. “Kudos to Katelyn Driscoll and Haley Clarke, who really hit well. Our blocking was not good. Colorado hit at such high numbers that it's pretty difficult to win. That's our blocking – it has to be better. They hit .410 – when we play like that we're making them good. We didn't pass well or set well. Our passing and setting has to improve.”
Offensively, redshirt junior outside hitter Katelyn Driscoll led OSU with 12 kills on .304 hitting. Sophomore outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall had 11 kills, five digs and an ace, while redshirt senior middle blocker Haley Clarke hit .615 with eight kills and a block.
A pair of errors on OSU helped spur a 4-1 run to start the match for Colorado, who extended its lead to five at 9-4 and eight at 18-10. A pair of kills from Driscoll and a kill and an ace from Marshall helped cut the deficit to 18-15 as part of a 5-0 OSU run, but the deficit proved too much in a 25-19 first set win for Colorado.
After hitting .433 in the opening frame, Colorado continued its hot start, opening the second set with a 5-2 lead. Colorado led much of the frame by three and then by four at 12-8, but OSU won eight of the next 10 points to take a 16-14 lead in the set. The two teams then played to ties at 16 and 18 and at 23. The Beavers had led, 23-22, but Colorado won the final three points to go up, 2-0, with a 25-23 third set win.
“The key to the match was the second set,” Liskevych said. “We had every opportunity to win it. We were in control ahead 23-22 but made a couple of errors. Towards the end of the set, we needed a couple of good sets and a couple of good blocks. We hit some balls out and had an over pass that we just didn't block. We've just got to be better than that.”
The beginning of the third set was played closely between the two teams, with Colorado being the first to separate with an 11-7 lead. The Buffaloes continued the run to take a nine-point lead at 19-10 and held control through the end of the frame, taking the set, 25-14, as the Beavers fell in three sets.
The Oregon State volleyball team begins a four-game road swing next week, as the Beavers return to action on Friday, Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. PT for a match at Stanford. The Beavers bookend next weekend with an 11 a.m. PT match at California on Sunday, Oct. 11.
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.
