Oregon State
12-4, 2-2Pac-12
Utah
9-8, 0-4Pac-12
Volleyball Beats Utah, Sweeps Home-Opening Weekend
September 30, 2012 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 30, 2012
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Camille Saxton had 19 kills and Arica Nassar pitched in with 13 to pace the Oregon State volleyball team to a four-set win (26-24, 25-23, 19-25, 25-22) over Utah Sunday to give the Beavers a weekend sweep of their 2012 home opening-matches at Gill Coliseum.
"This weekend was very important to our team's success for this season," Oregon State head coach Taras Liskevych said. "We didn't play particularly well today; our passing was off. But we hung in there today and did the little things you need to do at the end of sets."
The Beavers hit .263 for the match and were led offensively by Saxton, who tallied 19 kills on 55 attempts. The senior also had one service ace and six digs in the win. She ended the weekend with 35 kill and nine service aces after tallying 18 and eight, respectively, in the Beavers' four-set win over Colorado Friday night.
Nassar, meanwhile, collected her 13 kills in 17 attempts for a percentage of .706, just shy of her 2012 team-best .786 percentage against Cal State Fullerton in non-conference play.
Defensively, the Beavers (12-4 overall, 2-2 Pac-12 Conference) were out-blocked by Utah, 14-8, but held a 59-51 dig advantage. Alyssa O'Neil paced the Beavers with 20 digs, marking just one shy of her season-best. Becky Defoe had 17 digs, meanwhile, giving her 1,249 for her career, which moves her into fourth in school history.
Another Oregon State player to watch on the career lists is Ashley Eneliko, who tallied nine kills and three assisted blocks in the win over the Utes (9-8, 0-4). The senior has 291 blocks for her career, and when she reaches 300, will be the 11th player in school history to reach that plateau.
Utah hit .220 overall and was led offensively by Morgan Odeal, who collected 15 kills and finished with a .343 hitting percentage. Bailey Bateman posted a Ute-best eight blocks.
The match was a seesaw battle for most of the day with the lead changing hands 11 times and the 730 in attendance witnessing 19 tie scores. Fortunately for the Beavers, they came out ahead in three sets for the win.
In set one, the biggest score swings occurred with Oregon State taking a 26-24 win. The score was tied six times and the final lead change by the Beavers put that number at four. OSU hit .286 for the frame compared to a .158 mark for Utah.
The Beavers again battled in set two for the 25-23 advantage. OSU hit its strongest on the day during the set, posting a .367 mark; Utah, meanwhile, was held to a .243 clip.
Utah picked up its lone set win in the third frame on the strength of a .400 hitting percentage; the Utes took the set, 25-19. Oregon State hit .146 during the frame.
The Beavers held off a late Utah rally in the fourth set for the 25-22 win and match victory. OSU hit .290 while Utah was held to just .057.
Oregon State hits the road to open the month of October next weekend. The Beavers visit California Friday night in a match that begins at 7 p.m. PT. OSU then takes on Stanford at Maples Pavilion Sunday at 2 p.m. That match will be on the Pac-12 Networks in the state of Oregon.
Live stats and a full recap with stats for both matches can be found on the online home of Oregon State Athletics, osubeavers.com.
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.
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