Oregon State
13-11, 3-9Pac-12
Colorado
14-10, 4-8Pac-12
Nassar Posts 16 Kills But Beavers Fall At Colorado
October 28, 2012 | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 28, 2012
BOULDER, Colo. - Arica Nassar had 16 kills and Camille Saxton and Sara Almen pitched in with 13 apiece but the Oregon State volleyball team dropped a four-set match to Colorado Sunday afternoon. Set scores were 20-25, 25-15, 24-26, 22-25.
Nassar hit .520 as she totaled 25 attacks and just two errors to lead the Beavers, who hit .204 as a team. Nassar also pitched in with four blocks, which tied for the team lead with Saxton.
Nassar's 16 kills were two shy of her season and career-best 18 against Miami earlier this season.
"This is a tough loss, obviously," head coach Taras Liskevych said. "We had every opportunity. The match really depended on us having set point in set three and not putting them away and then being in control in set four. We just made a lot of unforced errors in that set.
"Sara Almen did a really good job. Her future is bright here, that's for sure. Also, Amanda Brown did some good things for us. Arica Nassar also had an outstanding match. She's done well the last couple of matches for us."
Saxton also had eight digs to go along with her 13 kills, which pushed her to 1,119 for her career, still good for 13th in OSU history. She was equaled by Almen, who surpassed her previous season high of nine against Washington State. Almen also pitched in with a season-best four service aces and three blocks.
The Beavers out-blocked Colorado, 8.5 to 7.5, and collected eight service aces to five for the Buffaloes. But Colorado (14-10, 4-8 Pac-12 Conference) narrowly out-hit the Beavers (13-11, 3-9) with a .215 percentage and had just seven service errors to 13 for Oregon State.
Alexis Austin led Colorado with 18 kills while she and Kelsey English had four blocks apiece to tie for the team lead.
Becky Defoe paced the Beavers in digs for the 22nd time this season, posting 21, while Chelsey Keoho led Colorado with 18.
Colorado picked up the set one win mainly due to out-hitting the Beavers, .424 to .162. The set was tied as late as 15 before the Buffaloes took the lead en route to the five-point win.
Oregon State evened the match at one set apiece in the second with a 25-15 win. The Beavers upped their hitting percentage to .267 while Colorado was at zero percent. The Beavers never trailed in the set and scored nine of the frame's last 11 points for the win.
Colorado went up 2-1 in the match with a 26-24 win in the third set. OSU held a late advantage at 24-23, but the Buffaloes managed to score the set's final three points for the win. Neither team held much of a statistical advantage during the frame, with the Beavers holding a .256 hitting percentage to .220 for the Buffaloes.
The Beavers held a 22-19 advantage in the fourth set, but Colorado took the match by scoring the last six points of the frame for the comeback victory. The Buffaloes hit .216 in the set, just better than the Beavers .143.
The Beavers return home Friday night when hosting Stanford at 7 p.m. PT. OSU also takes on California Sunday at 11 a.m. with that match slated to air live on Pac-12 Oregon.
For more information on the Oregon State volleyball team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/BeavsVolleyball or by Facebook at Facebook.com/OregonStateVolleyball.
Support Oregon State University Athletics by making your tax deductible donation to the Beaver Athletic Student Fund. For more information follow this link or call 541-737-2370. Former Student-Athletes are invited to join the Varsity O Facebook Page for upcoming Alumni events.
Follow Oregon State Athletics On YouTube.
