Oregon State Beats Lafayette College in Straight Sets
OSU jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set, but The Leopards countered, tying the score at 8-8.
(SEATTLE, Wash. ) — The Oregon State University volleyball team (5-0, 0-0 Pac-12) remained undefeated in the 2014 season as they won in straight sets over Lafayette College Saturday morning, 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-10).
“It’s always difficult to play a team that’s a little unorthodox like Lafayette, but I thought we did a good job holding them to a .024 hitting percentage,” said head coach Taras Liskevych. “I think we could have done an even better job blocking than we did, but overall it was a good win for us. We were able to play Lila Toner for all three sets and we were able to rest some players.”
Toner returned to the court for the first time in the 2014 season, downing 11 kills on 30 swings, adding four blocks, five digs, an assist and an ace to her final line. Toner led the team with 280 kills during the 2013 season.
Lafayette remained close early in the first set but the Beavers distanced themselves with a 6-1 run to take a 13-7 lead. The run was highlighted by two kills and an ace from Amanda Brown. Darby Reeder and Dana Backlund joined Brown with aces early in the first set. The Beavers extended their lead to 22-12 with a second ace from Brown and eventually took the set 25-14 when sophomore Emilie Wilmes downed her first kill of the match.
Brown had eight points in the first set as the senior middle blocker downed four kills on seven swings, along with her two aces and three blocks. Katelyn Driscoll, Laura Schaudt and Toner had two kills apiece in the first set.
OSU jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set, but The Leopards countered, tying the score at 8-8. The Beavers went on an 8-2 run, including another ace from Reeder and eventually extended their lead to 21-13, prompting Lafayette into a timeout. Out of the break the Leopards went on a 3-1 run to slightly close the gap, but a Driscoll kill gave the Beavers the set 25-18.
The third set started close, but with the score tied at 4-4 Toner put down a kill that started a 17-4 run for the Beavers. Reeder stepped to the service line with the Beavs leading 5-4 and promptly downed three aces in a row, serving for seven straight Beaver points. Rachel Buehner served for a 5 6straight OSU points during the 17-4 run, including an ace. The Beavs cruised to a 25-10 score in the final set.
Brown and Arica Nassar both finished with six kills, followed by Wilmes who had four kills on only six swings. Nassar added three blocks, while Brown finished the match with four.
Reeder finished with six aces, doubling her previous career best in a match of three that she set last week against Idaho State. She leads the team with 11 aces on the year, two shy of her season best 13 that she had during the 2013 season.
“It seems that things are just falling for me,” said Reeder. “I’ve definitely seen more opportunities to be aggressive with my serve this year.
The Beavers had 12 aces in the match, with Reeder at six and Brown at three leading the team. OSU fell just short of the school record for aces in a three-set match at 15.
“Having a comfortable lead in the sets allowed us the chance to really go for it with our serves,” said Brown.
The Beavers will finish at the Redhawks Invitational Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m. when they face the host Redhawks.
The Redhawks were felled by the Pacific Tigers in the first match of the tournament Thursday evening, but defeated Lafayette Friday night.
Source: Oregon State Athletics
