Beavers Complete Comeback to Beat Wildcats in Five

Friday, October 25

Tucson, AZ

7:00 PM

Oregon State

9-11,3-6Pac-12

Arizona

11-10,1-8Pac-12

Oregon St.

Arizona

Photo by: Dave Nishitani/Oregon State Athletics

October 25, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

By: Athletic Communications

TUCSON, Ariz. – The Oregon State volleyball team defeated Arizona on the road Friday evening at the McKale Center. The Beavers overcame a poor start to beat the Wildcats in five sets, the first time OSU has come back from a 2-0 deficit to win a match since beating Wyoming in five in 2011.

OSU, which snapped a six game winless streak improves to 9-11 overall and 3-6 in the Pac-12, beating Arizona (11-10, 1-8) by scores of 13-25, 20-25, 26-24, 25-23 and 15-13.

"That was a really gritty, resilient win," head coach Mark Barnard said. "They did a great job of not letting an awful first set affect them during the rest of the match."

Both teams have battled a slew of injuries throughout the early portion of the season, with the Beavers playing without starting setter Maddie Sheehan again this weekend. However, Montanna Gubrud was called on to direct the offense in the final three sets leading the Beavers to the win. Gubrud's 39 assists and 14 digs were each career-highs for the senior setter.

"Montanna played very well. She just kept dishing it up there and did a nice job of improving her set to the right side to get Haylie (Bennett) going as the match went along."

The Beavers took a quick lead in the deciding set with a pair of Haylie Bennett kills and an errant shot by the Wildcats to go up 3-0 and forcing Arizona into its first timeout. Three kills by Maddie Goings made it 6-3 as the teams traded sideouts. Arizona inched its way closer tying the score at 8-8 leading the Beavers to call for their own timeout. The team swapped points to 11-11 when Kory Cheshire came up with a kill and then a block to gain a two point advantage at 13-11. Following another UA timeout, the Wildcats came out with consecutive kills to tie the score again. However, kills by Goings and Cecilee Max-Brown sealed the win for the Beavers taking the set, 15-13, and the match.

The match began in an ugly manner for Oregon State. After Max-Brown recorded the match's first kill, making the score 1-1, Arizona proceeded to score the next nine points to go up 10-1. The Beavers would not soon recover trailing 20-7 before finally settling a bit dropping the set 25-13.

OSU was better in the second set but UA again took the early lead and pushed it to a five-point advantage at 15-10. The Beavers used kills by Max-Brown, Lindsey Schell and Amy Underdown to close the gap to three at 16-13, but would never get closer. The Wildcats secured the set, 25-20, to take a two sets to none lead.

Oregon State came back from the intermission with a new look, switching out of a two setter system to one in which Gubrud, who is listed at 5-foot-7, would play in all six rotations. The move paid off with the Beavers keeping things close early. OSU trailed by three at 11-8 but responded with a Max-Brown kill and a Gubrud ace to tie the score at 12-12. The score remained knotted at 18 when the Beavers used another Max-Brown bullet and an ace by Cheshire to go up 20-18. Arizona fought back to tie the score and then gain the lead, 23-21, following a couple OSU errors. A kill by Schell and back-to-back attack errors by the Wildcats gave OSU set point at 24-23. UA again tied the score but Bennett answered with a kill before Arizona sailed an attack long to give the Beavers the set at 26-24.

The early portion of the fourth set was close but a 5-1 burst by the Beavers that included a rare kill by Grace Massey forced Arizona to use both of its timeouts as OSU took the lead at 15-12. Following back-to-back attack errors by the Beavers knotting the score at 16-16, Barnard called for a timeout. The Beavers responded with seven of the next 11 points as Max-Brown, Bennett and Goings each knocked down kills to make it 23-20. Arizona closed the lead to 23-22 but a Cheshire kill gave the Beavers set point and Goings finished it at 25-23, evening the match and sending it to a fifth set.

"Cecilee (Max-Brown) was good for us and when we moved Maddie (Goings) outside she really got herself into the game and played well."

Game Notes: Oregon State earned its first Pac-12 road win of the season and moves to 3-6 in conference play … Cecilee Max-Brown led the Beavers with 16 kills while Haylie Bennett racked up 15 … Maddie Goings (12 kills, 11 digs) and Montanna Gubrud (39 assists, 14 digs – both career-highs) each posted double-doubles … Kory Cheshire recorded nine kills on 15 swings with zero errors … the win marks the first OSU win after dropping the first two sets since 2011 against Wyoming (8/26/11).

Next Up: Oregon State wraps up the first half of conference play on Sunday at noon when the Beavers take on Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. The match will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Arizona.

Season and single game tickets for the 2019 Oregon State volleyball season are now available for purchase via BeaverTickets.com/Volleyball and 1-800-GO-BEAVS.

Oregon State volleyball fans are encouraged to join Off the Bench, the program's new donor club. Click here for more information or call Alex Gary in Our Beaver Nation at 541-737-2370.

For more information on the Oregon State volleyball team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/BeaverVBall, by Facebook at Facebook.com/BeaverVBall or on Instagram at Instagram.com/BeaverVBall.

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