Oregon State
2-9, 0-1Pac-12
Oregon
7-3, 1-0Pac-12
OSU Volleyball Falls to No. 18 Oregon, 3-1
September 25, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
By Brooks Hatch
OSUBeavers.com
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Spurred on by a raucous Beaver Dam, the Oregon State volleyball team captured an epic third set and battled No. 18 Oregon to the wire on Thursday before falling in four sets in the Beavers' home opener.
Set scores were 25-16, 25-20, 30-32 and 25-16.
OSU's 32-30 triumph in the marathon fourth set was the highlight of the 103rd volleyball Civil War, the opening competition in the 2015-16 Civil War Series, presented by PacificSource Health Plans, McDonalds, Spirit Mountain Casino and Your Local Ford Stores.
There were 18 ties and the Ducks (7-3, 1-0 Pac-12) fought off seven set points before the Beavers (2-9, 0-1) broke a 30-30 standoff and prevailed on back-to-back kills by Katelyn Driscoll. A junior outside hitter from Littleton, Colo., Driscoll matched her season-high with 14 kills and posted a stellar .324 hitting percentage.
“That was a great match,” that thoroughly entertained a crowd of 2,446 that nearly filled Gill Coliseum's lower bowl, OSU coach Terry Liskevych said. “That was the most students I have ever seen at a volleyball match.
“They were great. I hope they understand the Pac-12 is volleyball at its best and they will see this all throughout the season. I hope they come back.
“It's a great boost. It's your own milieu, it's your own people who are watching you. I think Gill is a great place to play when you have the student body behind you like we did tonight.”
Oregon led 7-3 early in the third set but the Beavers battled back to tie 8-8 on successive kills by sophomore outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall. From that point on, no more than three points separated the rivals.
Oregon led 21-18 and was poised for a sweep when the Beavers responded with a 6-1 run to surge ahead 24-22. Oregon battled back to knot the set at 24-24 and ties ensued at 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 before Driscoll hammered home her set-winning kills.
It tied the longest set in school history since 25 points were needed to win a set (rather than 30) starting with the 2008 season. In the previous longest set, OSU fell 32-30 to No. 1 Stanford in the second set on Nov. 2, 2012, also at Gill Coliseum.
Marshall had 19 kills, one short of her season-high and the eighth time she's reached double figures in kills this fall. Kayla Ellis had 14 digs, Kory Cheshire 12 and Dana Backlund 11; Backlund also had 38 assists. Haley Clarke had four kills and a team-best seven block assists.
Oregon used a 12-2 run to break an 8-8 tie to take the first set. From that point on, however, it was a dogfight befitting a rivalry match.
“We started siding out, we passed batter and we attacked in a smarter fashion,” Liskevych said in analyzing how OSU got back into the match. “We started digging better and all of our hitters started hitting better.
“Lanesha Reagan came in and played well. All in all we competed well.”
The Beavers return to action at 1 p.m. PT Sunday against No. 7 Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. It will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.
“It doesn't get easier; Arizona State may be one of the top two teams in the Pac-12 but we competed very well against a very good team tonight,” Liskevych said. “It was a good fight by us. We just have to keep doing that.”
The match was also part of the Northwest Rivalry Series, presented by Alaska.
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.
