Lady Beavers Stay Unbeaten with Win over Pacific Tigers
The Beavers downed the Tigers 25-21, 25-16, 25-19 while never trailing by more than two points during the match.
(SEATTLE, Wash. ) — The Oregon State University volleyball team (4-0) continued their strong start to the 2014 season Friday evening in a straight-set victory over the University of Pacific Tigers (3-2).
The Beavers downed the Tigers 25-21, 25-16, 25-19 while never trailing by more than two points during the match.
“I think we competed well on our side of the net,” said head coach Taras Liskevych. “Our blocking got a lot better in the match as we went along. We hit for pretty good numbers, but I think we had a few too many errors. All in all it was another good win for us and now we have to look ahead to our match against Lafayette College tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.”
The Beavers jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set and continued to pull ahead till they led 20-13. The Tigers went on an 8-3 run to make it 23-21, but the Beavers rallied consecutive points to secure the first set 25-21.
The Beavers hit .250 in the first set, compared to the Tigers .158. Mary-Kate Marshall led the Beavers with five kills on 13 swings in the first set, while Gillian Howard led the Tigers with four kills on just five swings.
Beavers jumped out to another 4-1 lead in the second set, but the Tigers countered, tying the score at 5-5. The score remained close until Marshall put down her third kill in a row to give the Beavers a 14-10 lead. The Beavers went on a 10-3 run to lead 24-13, highlighted by back-to-back block assists from senior captains Tayla Woods and Arica Nassar. The Tigers scored three more points, making it 24-16, before Katelyn Driscoll put down a kill to give the Beavs the set and the 2-0 lead.
Pacific started the third set with a 2-0 lead, the largest that the Tigers would hold in the match. Two kills early from Marshall helped the Beavers tie the score at 3-3. The teams traded points till the Tigers led 5-4 when the Beavers went on a 6-1 run, led by five kills from the redshirt sophomore Driscoll. The Beavers pulled ahead 19-13, led by back-to-back kills from Woods as well as back-to-back blocks from Driscoll and Nassar. The Beavers took the final set 25-19 for the win.
“We got everyone in the match, other than Lila Toner who is still making her way back from an injury.” Liskevych said. “I thought Katelyn did a great job today. She and Arica both did well for us tonight.
Marshall led all hitters with 14 kills and added 10 digs for her first collegiate double-double. The freshman from Texas now has 65 kills at a 4.64 per set rate. Driscoll followed closely with nine kills on only 15 swings, good for a .600 attack percentage. She added four blocks to her final line. Nassar finished the night with five kills on 11 swings; she added four digs and five blocks, including a solo block.
“The way we played tonight was a good confidence booster” said Driscoll. “We just need to continue to play well on our side of the net.”
Darby Reeder had another strong game at libero for the Beavers, finishing the match with 16 digs, three assists and an ace. Reeder leads the team with five aces through four matches. Sydney Francis finished with 11 digs, an ace and a kill.
“We just have to take it one match at a time, we need to come out tomorrow with the same momentum that we had tonight,” said Nassar.
The Beavers will return to action Saturday, Sept. 6 for two matches, first at 10:00 a.m. when they face off against the Lafayette College Leopards (1-4). Lafayette lost to Seattle U in their first match of the tournament.
The Beavers will play Seattle U at 7:00 p.m. to close the tournament.
Source: Oregon State Athletics
