Oregon State
5-21, 3-13Pac-12
UCLA
21-5, 12-4Pac-12
OSU Volleyball Falls in Four Sets at No. 9 UCLA
November 15, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Oregon State volleyball team fell to the No. 9 UCLA Bruins in a four-set match at the John Wooden Center on Sunday afternoon.
Oregon State (5-21, 3-13 Pac-12) fell in the first two sets, 25-18 and 25-19, respectively, and faced match point at a 25-24 deficit in the third set. The Beavers took the next three points to win the set, 27-25, and extend the match to a fourth set. However, the ninth-ranked Bruins went on to take the fourth set, 25-19, to seal a 3-1 result. The Beavers were outhit, .207-.092, but held the serving edge, finishing the match without being aced while acing the Bruins four times.
“Overall, today was a subpar performance by our whole team in hitting,” Oregon State head coach Taras Liskevych said. “Many of our hitters were hitting minus or a low percent; you can't win at this level doing that. Conversely, we hung in there in our serving and passing and we didn't get aced once.”
Oregon State was led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall, who posted her team-high sixth double-double of the season with 15 kills and 12 digs and added a pair of blocks. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Lanesha Reagan notched her first career double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs along with three blocks. Redshirt junior outside hitter Katelyn Driscoll added seven kills with three blocks.
“The bright spots were that Jessi Seumalo hit .375 with no errors, Mary-Kate had a lot of double blocks and great defense on her and still hit .155 and Katelyn hit .150,” Liskevych said. “Unfortunately, everybody else was very subpar hitting.”
Redshirt junior Dana Backlund tallied 19 assists and three digs, while redshirt freshman McKenna Hollingsowrth registered 16 assists with six digs. Freshman libero Kayla Ellis had a team-high 16 digs.
A 4-1 run to start the match gave UCLA an early advantage, maintaining that three-point edge up to a 7-4 advantage and extending it to four at 9-5 as well as to five at 11-6. The Beavers cut the lead to three at 19-16, but the Bruins extended their lead back to five at 21-16. The Bruins controlled the remainder of the first set, opening the match with a 25-18 first set win.
Oregon State opened up the second set with a 7-2 run, holding the five-point advantage up to a score at 14-9. when UCLA went on a 5-0 run to knot the frame up at 14 apiece before taking a lead at 15-14. The two teams traded points to a tie at 16, but the Bruins took six of the next seven points to seize a five-point edge at 22-17, and closed with three of the next four points to take the second set, 25-19, and a 2-0 lead in the match.
“One of the critical junctures of this match was in the second set when we were ahead 14-9 and they called a timeout,” Liskevych said. “They just really went after us and all of a sudden they were up 15-14.”
The Beavers opened the third set quickly, taking a three-point lead to open the frame at 8-5. UCLA tied the frame up at 10, setting up the first of nine tied scores from that point. The two teams played to a tie at 24, where a kill from UCLA's Reily Buechler set up the Bruins for match point at 25-24. Oregon State answered with a kill from Reagan, before back-to-back kills from Marshall gave the Beavers the third set win, 27-25.
The back-and-forth scoring continued into the fourth set, leading up to a deadlock at eight each. From the tie, the Bruins won nine of the next 10 points to seize an eight-point lead in the set at 17-9. The Beavers were able to pull within five at 23-18, but the Bruins took two of the final three points to take the fourth set, 25-19, and seal the match.
"They had some outstanding defensive plays, particularly by their libero, Taylor Formico, who played outstanding,” Liskevych said. “She got UCLA on a run of serves in that last set and that really hurt us. We kept fighting, which is great, but we've got to be better both in setting and hitting. Those are the key skills that we need to be better at.”
The Oregon State volleyball team finishes its 2015 campaign with three of four matches at Gill Coliseum. Next week, Oregon State hosts Washington on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. PT, as well as Washington State on Friday at 6 p.m. PT, with both matches set to appear on the Pac-12 Networks.
The Beavers close their home slate with a Senior Day match vs. Arizona on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. PT, and conclude the 2015 season at Oregon on Friday, Nov. 27 at 8 p.m. 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.
