Oregon State
5-23, 3-15Pac-12
Washington State
16-14, 5-13Pac-12
OSU Volleyball Falls to Washington State, 3-1
November 21, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Redshirt freshman outside hitter Lanesha Reagan picked up her second double-double in the past three matches and sophomore outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall posted 16 kills, but the Oregon State volleyball team fell behind in the match, 2-0, before falling in four sets on Friday night at Gill Coliseum.
After 15 tie scores and four lead changes, Washington State (16-14, 5-13 Pac-12) took the first set, 25-20, before leading throughout a 25-17 second set. Oregon State (5-23, 3-15 Pac-12) answered with a 25-21 third set victory, but was unable to complete the comeback, falling in the fourth set, 25-18.
“The difference in this match was three-fold,” Oregon State head coach Taras Liskevych said. “First of all, we had way too many errors hitting. We had 12 more errors than they did. Secondly, they doubled the amount of blocks that we had, and thirdly, our setting was very erratic again.”
Despite only posting three fewer kills than Washington State (55-52), the Beavers committed 32 attack errors to the Cougars' 20, and were outblocked, 15-7.5. Reagan finished the match with 14 kills, 10 digs and an ace, while Marshall added six digs to her 16 kills. Freshman libero Kayla Ellis had a team-high 15 digs with seven assists and an ace.
“This was a coming out party for people to see Lanesha's hitting potential,” Liskevych said. “The sky is the limit for her. It was great to see her really swing at the ball well.”
Redshirt freshman McKenna Hollingsworth recorded her second double-double of the season with 23 assists and 13 digs and added an ace. Redshirt junior Dana Backlund had 18 assists with six digs.
By the time the two teams had reached the first media timeout of the match, there had been 12 instances of a tie with four lead changes and Washington State holding a 15-14 edge. The Cougars were the first to take more than a one-point lead at 20-17 and although Oregon State cut the deficit to one at 21-20, the Cougars took the last four points to win the opening set, 25-20.
From a tie at four to start the second set, Washington State won the next five points to take an early 9-4 advantage. From a 10-5 Washington State edge, the Cougars took nine of the next 11 points, extending their lead to 12 at 19-7. The Beavers cut the deficit down to seven at 24-17, staving off set point twice, but fell into a 2-0 hole with a 25-17 second set in favor of the Cougars.
The two teams played to a tie up to seven to open the third set, when kills from redshirt junior outside hitter Katelyn Driscoll, Reagan and junior middle blocker Jessi Seumalo helped Oregon State separate first with an 11-7 advantage. Oregon State maintained the three-point edge up to 17-14, but the Beavers committed three consecutive attack errors and were then aced, as Washington State took the lead at 18-17.
After an Oregon State timeout, a pair of Washington State attack errors combined with four consecutive kills from Reagan spurred a 5-1 run that gave the Beavers a 24-20 lead. The two teams played to a 24-21 score, but a Driscoll kill finished off the set as the Beavers cut the deficit to 2-1.
After the Beavers took set three, Washington State answered with a 6-1 run to begin the fourth set. Oregon State cut the deficit to four at 12-8, but the Cougars won six of the next eight points to move the score to 18-10. The Beavers cut the deficit to four again at 22-18, but momentum was stifled by an OSU attack error before the Cougars took the final two points to close out the match-sealing fourth set.
“They served tough to begin that fourth set and took us out of the game,” Liskevych said. “We started poorly, down 6-1 in the fourth set. You can't start like that after winning a set like we did. They won the serving and passing battle. We just have to keep our heads up, keep playing and focus on Arizona.”
The Oregon State volleyball team closes its home slate with a Senior Day match vs. the Arizona Wildcats on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. PT, and concludes the 2015 season in a road Civil War match with the Oregon Ducks 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.
