OSU Volleyball Set to Host Cal and No. 7 Stanford
November 05, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
California Golden Bears
(9-14, 3-9 Pac-12)
Nov. 6 | 7 p.m. PT
No. 7 Stanford Cardinal
(15-5, 9-3 Pac-12)
Nov. 8 | 11 a.m. PT
Gill Coliseum | Corvallis, Ore.
Live Video: California | Stanford (Pac-12 Networks)
Live Stats: California/Stanford
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State volleyball team returns to the friendly confines of Gill Coliseum this weekend for a pair of home matches against Bay Area foes, as the Beavers are set to host the California Golden Bears and the No. 7 Stanford Cardinal.
Oregon State (4-18, 2-10 Pac-12) closes its 2015 campaign with five of its final eight matches at home. The weekend gets started with a 7 p.m. PT meeting with the Golden Bears on Friday, and wraps up on Sunday with an 11 a.m. PT match against the seventh-ranked Cardinal.
Sunday's match against Stanford is set to be televised on the Pac-12 Networks. Friday's match against the Golden Bears will be made available through a live stream.
Live stats are available for each match. Each of the stats and live video can be accessed through the links above or through links on OSU's volleyball schedule page at OSUBeavers.com.
Friday's match will serve as a celebration of Dad's Weekend, and students are encouraged to attend with Dad. Sunday's match will be GenBeavs day, as all GenBeavs members can receive free tickets to the match.
Stanford (15-5, 9-3 Pac-12) has won four straight en route to a No. 7 ranking in the latest AVCA Division I Coaches' Poll. The Cardinal are tied for third in the Pac-12 standings with wins over Washington, Washington State, Arizona and Arizona State during a four-match homestretch the past two weekends. The two teams met previously in Stanford, Calif. earlier this season, with the Cardinal claiming a 3-0 win at Maples Pavilion.
Following a slow start to the conference schedule, California (9-14, 3-9 Pac-12) has won three of its past five league matches, defeating Arizona State, Washington State and Utah. The Golden Bears, who fell to Oregon State in straight sets at home earlier this season, are currently tied for ninth in the Pac-12 standings.
Oregon State is 1-4 in conference matches played at home this season, with four of five played in four sets or more and two (Utah and UCLA) being pushed to five sets. Stanford is 4-4 in away matches this year, while California is 1-4 when away in 2015.
Quick Hits
- Last time in action, OSU fell in a pair of road matches, dropping a five-set decision at Colorado and a four-set match at Utah.
- Following her All-America campaign in 2014, sophomore outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall continues to lead the team offensively, pacing the squad in kills (313), points (354), total attempts (1,029) and service aces (19) while ranking second on the team in total blocks (37) and tied for second in digs (160).
- Marshall ranks seventh in the Pac-12 in kills per set (3.86), as well as eighth in the conference in points per set (4.37). The sophomore also ranks fifth in service aces per set in conference matches (0.28).
- Marshall's 30 kills against Utah on Oct. 2 are the most by any player in the Pac-12 in a single match this season (second-highest total is 27), and are the most kills by an OSU player since Rachel Rourke had 31 against Arizona on Nov. 7, 2009.
- Freshman libero Kayla Ellis leads the team in digs with 257 (3.21/set) this season. Ellis has started the past 15 matches at libero (16 of the last 17) and has 3.91 digs per set against conference opponents, ranking ninth in the Pac-12 overall and tops amongst all Pac-12 freshmen.
- Redshirt senior middle blocker Haley Clarke is tops on the team with 81 total blocks (1.00/set), recording 14 on solo efforts and 67 block assists, while also leading OSU regular starters in hitting percentage (.292) and ranking third in points (168.5).
Student-Athlete Profile
No. 1 Emilie Wilmes – Junior Outside Hitter
Hometown: St. Paul, Ore. (Canby HS/Long Beach State)
- A human development & family science major
- The daughter of Darlene and Mark Wilmes
- Is the oldest in her family, with two younger sisters, Mindy and Audra, and one younger brother, Peter
- Favorite athlete is Misty May-Treanor
- Enjoys horseback riding and boating on the river in her spare time
- Favorite sporting events to attend outside of volleyball are football games
- Chose to play at Oregon State due to its Pac-12 affiliation and its proximity to home
Record Watch
- Mary-Kate Marshall already finds herself among OSU's career leaders in her sophomore season. After recently entering the Beavers' career record books, Marshall ranks at No. 20 on the all-time kills list (853). Additionally, Marshall recently moved up to 12th all-time in career attacks (2,767).
- Darby Reeder recently moved into the top-15 on the career digs list at OSU. The senior is tied for second on the team with 160 digs this season after setting the single-season record with 614 last season. With a career total of 1,004, Reeder is just the 13th player in OSU history to reach the 1,000-dig milestone..
- Reeder also recently entered OSU's career list in service aces, moving into a tie for 24th with 71 aces for her career.
Young Beavs
- A large portion of the makeup of the 2015 roster is a group of six freshmen – four redshirt freshmen and two true freshmen. OSU has increasingly relied upon its freshmen this season, as five of the six have started at least one match this season and multiple freshmen have received starts in each of the past 15 matches as well as in 16 of the last 17.
- The Beavers started a season-high four freshmen – Kory Cheshire, Kayla Ellis, McKenna Hollingsworth and Lanesha Reagan - in their match at Long Beach State. The Beavers have started three freshmen in seven conference matches (Utah, Colorado, at Stanford, at California, at Washington, at Washington State, USC).
OSU Volleyball No. 5 in Strength of Schedule
- 22 games through the 2015 schedule, the Oregon State volleyball team boasts the fifth-toughest schedule in the nation, according to the NCAA.
- Among opponents in their first 22 matches, Oregon State has played nine matches against currently ranked foes, including five against the top 10 (No. 2 USC, No. 3 Washington, No. 6 Hawai'i, No. 7 Stanford, No. 9 UCLA, No. 14 BYU twice, No. 20 Arizona State and No. 22 San Diego). In addition, the Beavers have played three matches versus opponents receiving votes (Colorado twice and Long Beach State).
The Road Less Traveled
- Before opening its conference schedule on Sept. 24 at home against Oregon, OSU had finished out its non-conference slate without playing a home match. Only one other Pac-12 institution went without a home match before conference play, as the Ducks did not host a home match until conference play.
- A breakdown of how the Beavers' challenging road non-conference schedule stacks up to the rest of the Pac-12 is below. Among all power conference schools, only seven played two games or fewer at home before non-conference play. A breakdown of those schools is below as well:
Pac-12 Schools
Oregon State 0
Oregon 0
UCLA 2
Washington State 3
Stanford 4
Utah 4
Arizona State 5
California 5
Washington 5
Arizona 6
Colorado 7
USC 7
Power Conference Schools
Oregon State 0
Oregon 0
West Virginia 1
Florida 2
LSU 2
Northwestern 2
UCLA 2
14 schools 3
Clarke All-Tournament in San Diego
- Following a 14-kill, 18-block performance over a three-game stretch in San Diego, redshirt senior middle blocker Haley Clarke was named to the all-tournament team for the USD and SDSU Invitationals.
- Clarke recorded six kills with as many blocks against San Diego State on Saturday to help lead the Beavers over the Aztecs, 3-1. Clarke leads the team in total blocks (81) and hitting percentage (.292) this season.
Marshall Opens 2015 Season All-Tournament
- Mary-Kate Marshall was the first OSU player to earn an honor in 2015, earning an all-tournament selection at the conclusion of the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational.
- Marshall finished the tournament with 36 kills, ranking third amongst all tournament athletes from the four participating schools.
- Marshall's four kills/set was sixth amongst Pac-12 athletes that weekend, as well as second amongst players in the Chevron Rainbow Wahine tournament field.
Scouting California
- With wins in three of its past five conference matches, California currently sits in a tie for ninth place in the Pac-12 standings. The Golden Bears split in each of its past three weekends, defeating Utah in five sets, Washington State in straight sets as well as then-No. 14 Arizona State in four sets.
- California was selected to finish 11th in the Pac-12 by league coaches in this year's preseason poll. The Golden Bears finished 10-20 with a 2-18 Pac-12 mark last season, returning five starters plus the libero amongst 12 returning letterwinners from the 2014 team.
- The Golden Bears' offensive leader is Lillian Schonewise, who ranks seventh in the Pac-12 in hitting percentage (.360) and paces her club with 223 kills (2.97/set). Setter Alyssa Jensen ranks sixth in the Pac-12 in assists per set (9.82).
- On the defensive end, the Golden Bears' Maddy Kerr places fifth in the conference in digs per set (4.26), and are led in blocking by Jenelle Jordan with 75 (0.95/set).
- California holds a 47-21 edge in the all-time series between the two teams. Oregon State faced the Golden Bears in Berkeley, Calif. earlier this season, winning by a score of 3-0.
Scouting No. 7 Stanford
- Stanford is currently riding a four-match winning streak, handing then-No. 4 Washington its second loss of the season, before earning sweeps over Washington State and then-No. 14 Arizona State. The Cardinal's most recent win was in four sets at home over Arizona.
- Currently tied for third in the Pac-12, the Cardinal were voted preseason favorite by league coaches, earning 11 out of a possible 12 first-place votes. The Cardinal returned five starters from its 2014 NCAA Tournament semifinalist team, and added consensus top incoming freshman Hayley Hodson among six newcomers.
- Stanford is the nation's No. 8 blocking team, recording 3.01 blocks per set. The Cardinal rank second in blocks per set in the Pac-12, as well as third in the league in hitting percentage (.270), a category in which they rank 19th nationally.
- Hodson ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in service aces per set (0.31), as well as sixth in points per set (4.53) and eighth in kills per set (3.84). Merete Lutz ranks fifth in the league in hitting percentage (.363), while Madi Bugg places second in the conference in assists per set (10.81) and seventh in aces per set (0.27).
- The Cardinal's block is anchored by Ivana Vanjak, who ranks third in the conference in blocks per set (1.37), as well as by Lutz, who is seventh in the Pac-12 with 1.26 blocks per set. Halland McKenna ranks 10th in the league in digs per set, working at a rate of 3.59 per frame.
- Stanford is 62-0 all-time against Oregon State. In this season's previous meeting, the Cardinal defeated the Beavers, 3-0, at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif.
The Beavers' Returning Players in 2015
- The Oregon State volleyball team returns the majority of its production from 2014 in nearly every category. Have a look at a summary of the different categories below.
- OSU returns players accounting for over half (about 55 percent) of the team's kills total from last year. Leading the Beavers in that category was Marshall, whose total of 540 set the school freshman kills record and ranks fourth all-time on the program's single-season list.
- The Beavers also return redshirt junior Katelyn Driscoll, who placed second on the team in kills, recording 282 as a redshirt sophomore.
- 65 percent of OSU's digs production returns from the 2014 squad, paced by Reeder's single-season program record tally of 614. Marshall (306) and junior Rachel Buehner (224) return to the club after ranking third and fourth on the team, respectively, in that category last season.
- Each of that same trio ranked within the OSU's top four in service aces last season, as Reeder also led the Beavers in service aces (38), while Marshall recorded 30 and Buehner posted 19. Junior Lila Toner, who recorded 13 last season, will also play a factor for a team that returns 69 percent of its 2014 production in the serve game.
- Last season, the Beavers racked up 20 more aces than their opponents (161 to 141), posting 1.22 aces per set as a team, while maintaining an aces to errors ratio of 0.79.
The Beavers' 2015 Coaching Staff
- Fresh off one of the most successful seasons in program history and 2014 Pac-12 and AVCA Regional Coach of the Year selections, head coach Taras Liskevych leads the Beavers for his 11th season at the helm. Liskevych holds a 123-202 record at OSU, as well as a 390-286 mark for his career.
- Liskevych is joined by associate head coach Mark Barnard, also in his 11th season, as well as assistant coach Emily Hiza (fifth season) and first-year volunteer assistant coach Andy Levoe.
- The 2015 staff is rounded out with Erik Bateham, who is in his second year as graduate manager, along with Jessica Quinn and Ian Parson, who were recently announced as director of operations and assistant director of operations, respectively.
Home Sweet Home
- The city of Corvallis, home of Oregon State University, was recently featured in College Magazine's list of “Top 10 College Towns You'll Never Want to Leave,” checking at No. 4. A listing of the various schools featured is below:
1. Chapel Hill, N.C. (North Carolina)
2. Champaign-Urbana, Ill. (Illinois)
3. Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan)
4. Corvallis, Ore. (Oregon State)
5. Boulder, Colo. (Colorado)
6. Blacksburg, Va. (Virginia Tech)
7. Iowa City, Iowa (Iowa)
8. Ithaca, N.Y. (Cornell)
9. Athens, Ga. (Georgia)
10. Binghamton, N.Y. (Binghamton)
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.
