Beavers Fight to End, Fall to No. 16 Washington State

Friday, March 12

Corvallis, OR

6:00 PM

Oregon State

5-8,5-8Pac-12

Washington State

9-2,9-2Pac-12

Washington St.

Oregon St.

March 12, 2021 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State women's volleyball team fought to the end as it fell to 16th-ranked Washington State, 3-1, on Friday night in Gill Coliseum.

The Cougars took the first two sets 25-19 before OSU responded with a 25-22 fourth set win. WSU claimed the match win in the fourth set with a 25-16 score.

After the teams traded the first eight points to open the match, Wazzu jumped in front with an 8-5 lead behind a 4-1 run. Back-to-back kills from Aliyah McDonald and Kateryna Tkachenko made it a 10-9 WSU advantage.

Washington State opened it margin to four, 15-11, following a 3-0 run and forcing Oregon State to call a timeout. The Beavers remained in the set as they used a 3-1 run to come within four of WSU at 22-18. The Cougars closed the set on a 3-1 run for the opening set 25-19 win.

The Cougars took an early 6-2 lead in set two, but OSU went on a 3-0 run that included Ellie Turner's first career kill to make the score 6-5. Washington State remained in front, going up by as much as five at 13-8.

Mychael Vernon sparked a 4-0 Beaver run with a kill that included two kills and an ace by the freshman outside hitter. That Oregon State run cut the Beaver deficit to one, 13-12, and forced a Wazzu timeout.

Despite fighting off back-to-back Cougar set points, WSU took the set 25-19.

From start to finish, set three was a battle as the teams traded blows. It was Washington State taking the lead at 9-7 before OSU responded with a 4-0 run off of a McDonald kill and back-to-back Tkachenko kills to lead to a Cougar timeout.

A 6-2 run out of the timeout put WSU back on top, 15-13. Oregon State answered the call by taking an 18-16 advantage following a 5-1 run. The set would go on to be tied three more times before the Beavers took a 21-20 lead that they never surrendered. Lindsey Schell notched a late kill that was followed by a Tkachenko kill to give OSU set point.

Wazzu fought off the set point before eventually falling 25-22 to OSU in the third set.

Anastasija Svetnik recorded two straight kills that would put Oregon State ahead 3-2 early in the fourth set. Points were traded in the early going, but it was the Cougars taking an 11-8 lead off a 3-0 run and making OSU burn a timeout.

Washington State extended its lead to 15-8 and never looked back as it went on to the 25-16 set win.

Match Notes:

Freshman Kateryna Tkachenko posted a team-high 14 kills with a .289 attacking percentage.
Freshman Izzi Szulczewski posted a team-best 36 assists, along with eight digs and four blocks.
Senior Grace Massey recorded a game-best of 19 digs, while Ellie Turner tallied 13.
The Beaver's notched 10 block on the night, the sixth game this season with 10 or more.

Next Up: Oregon State and No. 16 Washington State will face-off in match two of the series on Sunday at noon (PT) inside Gill Coliseum.

Oregon State volleyball fans are encouraged to join Off the Bench, the program's new donor club. Click here for more information or call Alyssa Whitney at 541-231-4351 or email Rebecca McCaulley at rebecca.mccaulley@osufoundation.org.

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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