Oregon State
7-13,5-5WCC
Gonzaga
1-19,0-10WCC
Rumel's 20 Kills Keys Sweep of Gonzaga
October 31, 2024 | Women's Volleyball
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Led by a 20-kill night from Lauren Rumel, the Oregon State volleyball team soundly defeated Gonzaga by a sweep on Thursday night in Gill Coliseum.
Coupling the kill mark with a .529 clip, Rumel highlighted a strong offensive showing to close the season's penultimate homestand. Emma Lilo (19 assists) and Alara Doganyuz (17) used helpers to keep the attack humming while three – Yasemin Narlioglu (15), Lilo (13) and Vivian Light (11) – put up double-figures in digs to keep the Bulldogs to a .192 clip for the match.
"Congrats to the team on a great performance overall," noted head coach Lindsey Behonick. "We came into the match knowing that they (Gonzaga) were going to give us a lot of tips and rolls and we wanted to make sure we converted that at a high percentage. It was great to see the rebound from Lauren (Rumel) with 20 kills and hitting .529 as well as a really good offensive demeanor from Alara (Doganyuz) and Emma (Lilo). They ran the offense well when they were on the court. Congrats to them and (I'm) looking forward to being tested on the road again."
The Beavers (7-13, 5-4) took control early in the first set and led by as many as 11 on the way to a 25-14 frame win. Rumel started her big night with six early kills – leading the Beavers in the stat – pacing the offense to a .485 clip in the set. Annika Hester added four of her nine kills in the frame while Lilo kept the momentum up with 10 assists. Five different Beavers put up multiple digs to hold Gonzaga to a .200 hitting line.
Taking command from being tied at 10 in the second, Oregon State finished the set at a 10-4 pace and closed it on an 8-1 run to secure the set at 25-14 for the second-consecutive time. Using six more kills, Rumel doubled her total to a dozen as she once again led the OSU offense with Doganyuz adding five assists. Leading the defensive effort, Doganyuz tallied five digs while four others put up four as they held the Bulldogs to an .083 clip.
Playing from a deficit for the first time all night in the third, Oregon State battled back from being down 11-7 to completing the sweep of the Bulldogs at 25-22. Rumel capped her night with eight kills in the final set, including the final two to seal the win. Closer than the first two frames, the Beavers finally got separation on a service ace from Alondra Paz to make it 23-19. After another Rumel kill made a four-point lead at 24-20, Oregon State held off a late Bulldog run when Rumel slammed home a ball of a Light assist to close it at 25-22.
Rumel's 20 kills marked a career-high in a three-set match, and was one shy of tying her career-best of 21, set back in the season-opening win against Fresno State.
The Beavers will head back out on the road for their next time out, visiting Santa Clara on November 7th. First serve against the Broncos is set for 6 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
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