Oregon State
2-7
UC Irvine
5-6
OSU's Rally Falls Short in 3-1 Loss to UC-Irvine
September 19, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
The first two sets went to UC-Irvine (5-6), 25-22 and 25-21, before OSU (2-7) posted a 25-19 third set win. The two teams played a back-and-forth fourth set, but the Anteaters won four straight points with a 21-19 lead in the final set to seal the win.
“Again, we are having a tough time attacking with consistency as a team,” Oregon State head coach Taras Liskevych said. “Our efficiency is really down. We have to hit the ball better. That goes back to both of our hitting and our setting. Our setting is not consistent, and our hitters get out of system.”
OSU was out-hit, .273 to .181, and posted 53 kills to UC-Irvine's 60. The Anteaters held additional edges in digs (72-53) and assists (59-48), while the two teams each had 11.5 blocks and four service aces.
Sophomore outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall led OSU offensively, burying 20 kills on .250 hitting with six digs and a service ace. Redshirt junior outside hitter Katelyn Driscoll added 12 kills with a pair of blocks, while redshirt senior middle blocker Haley Clarke blocked six balls and added seven kills on .353 hitting. Redshirt freshman Kory Cheshire had seven kills in her second start, seeing time at both middle blocker and outside hitter.
Redshirt junior setter Dana Backlund notched career highs in assists (42) and total blocks (6) and added nine digs, while freshman libero Kayla Ellis piled up 22 digs, the most by any OSU player so far this season.
Behind hitting percentages of .314 and .567 for Oregon State and UC-Irvine, respectively, the opening set was closely contested, featuring several ties up to an 18-15 Anteater lead. OSU rallied to cut the deficit to 23-21, but the Anteaters took two of the next three points to take the first set, 25-22.
Following the tight opening frame, UC-Irvine jumped out to a 4-1 lead to open the second set. The Anteaters extended their advantage to four at 7-3, and then to seven at 13-6. OSU cut the deficit to two at 22-20, but the Anteaters closed with three of the next four points to take a two set lead with a 25-21 win in the second set.
The two teams played to ties through five points, but OSU was the first to seize control of the frame with a 10-6 lead. UC-Irvine chipped away at the lead to cut the Beaver advantage to 11-10, but the Beavers answered with a 4-0 run to extend the lead back to 15-11. The Anteaters cut into the lead again, this time at 17-15, but the Beavers closed the set on an 8-4 run to seal a 25-19 third set win.
The fourth set featured more back-and-forth play leading up to an 8-6 advantage for UC-Irvine. The Anteaters held the lead until OSU took its first lead of the frame at 13-12. The lead changed hands four times leading up to an 18-17 edge for the Anteaters, who extended it to as large as 21-17. The Beavers cut the deficit to 21-19, but the Anteaters won the final four points to take the match with a 3-1 fourth set win.
“We served the ball very tough and had them out of system a lot,” Liskevych said. “They just converted balls when they were out of system. They out-dug us by a lot, so they did well in keeping the ball in play. We became very one-dimensional for a while setting Mary-Kate. It is what is - we must move on to tomorrow.”
The Oregon State volleyball team returns to action on Saturday for its final non-conference match of the 2015 season, as the Beavers are slated to take on the Long Beach State 49ers in Long Beach, Calif. The match is set to begin at 7 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.
