Volleyball Falls to Cougars, 3-1
November 8, 1998
CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Oregon State volleyball team (12-14, 2-13 Pac-10) dropped a four-game match to Washington State (11-9, 8-6) at Gill Coliseum Sunday afternoon. Game scores were 15-7, 15-13, 8-15 and 15-5.
The Cougars have now won the last 11 meetings between the two schools.
Sarah Bjeldanes led the Beavers with 17 kills, while Krista Kinsman registered 11 kills for OSU. Washington State had four players in double-figures, led by Missy Blackshire's 20, as the Cougars outkilled the Beavers, 76-59.
The Cougars also outdug the Beavers, 63-55. Samantha Spink posted a match-high 18 digs, while Bjeldanes led the Beavers with 12.
Oregon State's blockers struggled and came up with just eight blocks, while WSU blocked 14 OSU attempts. Wendy Rouse led the Cougars with nine blocks, and Angie Shirley had a team-best five for Oregon State.
The Cougars dominated offensively in the first game, when they hit an impressive .500 with 25 kills as a team.
Down 12-10 in game two, the Beavers came back to tie the contest at 12-12, when Alicia Erickson knocked down a kill for a WSU sideout. The Cougars scored two points off Beaver errors, but Angie Shirley's kill gave OSU another chance. After a couple more sideouts, Gina Schmidt's kill put the Beavers within a point, but the Cougars responded with a kill and a block for the win.
The Beavers jumped out to an early 11-3 lead in the third game, but they let the lead slip away as WSU came back within four at 12-8. OSU called a timeout, and a block from Kinsman and Shirley ended the Cougar rally and gave the service back to the Beavers. OSU scored three straight points, two off Bjeldanes' kills and one off a WSU hitting error, to win the game.
"(WSU) had a lot of breaks in game one, and we were right there tied at 12-12 in game two," said coach Jeff Mozzochi. "We made some adjustments and executed in game three."
Oregon State couldn't keep the momentum going in the fourth game, as the Cougars cruised to a 7-0 lead. The Beavers, who hit just .025 in that game, never got back in the contest.
"Washington State won the match by scoring the first seven points in game four," said Mozzochi. "Overall we did a lot of good things, and it was a very good weekend for us except for that stretch of seven points."
Linescore Washington State 15 15 8 15 Oregon State 8 13 15 5
