Beavers Fall in Four to 24th-ranked Cougars

Sunday, October 13

Pullman, WA

12:00 PM

Oregon State

8-9,4-2Pac-12

Washington State

14-4,5-1Pac-12

Oregon St.

Washington St.

Photo by: Karl Maasdam/Oregon State Athletics

October 13, 2019 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

By: Athletic Communications

PULLMAN, Wash. – Junior opposite hitter Haylie Bennett was lights out recording a career-high 22 kills, but it wasn't enough as the Oregon State volleyball team fell to No. 24 Washington State in four sets Sunday afternoon.

After opening the conference season 2-0, the Beavers are now 2-4 in the league with a 8-9 record overall. Washington State improved to 15-3, 4-2 with the win. Set scores were 21-25, 21-25, 25-18 and 18-25.

"Today was better. We did a much better job of bouncing back after mistakes and not letting it effect the next play," head coach Mark Barnard said. "We have been struggling to get everybody clicking at the same time. It seems like there is always one or two that can't get it going at a given time. We've had to change lineups so often that finding continuity has been difficult. We were close in the first two sets, we just need to make a couple more plays and we can turn those scores around."

"Haylie Bennett was phenomenal today. We had most of our success today hitting from the right side with her and Maddie Goings. But we struggled to get our middles going and for us to be successful we really need to have all of our options open."

The opening set was close for a bit as Oregon State used a 3-0 spurt behind a pair of Amy Underdown kills to take the lead at 6-4, but eight straight points by the Cougars turned the scoreboard upside down as they took a 12-6 advantage. OSU trailed by seven at 20-13 before pressing back to close the gap to 24-21 as Bennett began to heat up finishing the set with five kills. WSU finished Set 1 off by a score of 25-21.

Washington State led the second set wire-to-wire, but the Beavers held tight trailing by two at 10-8 before the Cougars used a 6-1 run to go up 16-9. Two Bennett kills during a 4-1 run brought OSU back to within two at 22-20 to force a WSU timeout. The Cougars hung on to take the set, 25-21, going up two sets to none.

The Beavers came back from the break with inspired play. Bennett recorded the Beavers' first three kills of the set as points came in bunches. After Bennett, it was Chloe Brown with a pair of kills and then Underdown with two more to make it 9-9. OSU used a 7-1 burst headlined by a block by Maddie Goings and Lindsey Schell and as well as a Goings kill to take the lead at 17-12. Back-to-back kills by Brown and Goings made it 19-13 forcing a WSU timeout. Oregon State continued to push taking the third set by a score of 25-18, to force a fourth set.

WSU jumped to a quick 7-3 lead to open the fourth set leading to an early Beaver timeout. The Cougars continued to pressure the Beavers with three in a row making it 10-4. OSU fought back with a 5-2 run as Kory Cheshire registered two kills to get within two at 14-12. A 6-1 run by WSU made it 20-13 and a series of sideouts gave the Cougars the set, 25-18, and match.

Game Notes: Haylie Bennett registered a career-high 22 kills against the Cougars … Bennett, coupled with fellow opposite hitter Maddie Goings, combined for 35 kills at WSU … Grace Massey accounted for 16 digs for the Beavers … OSU ran a 6-2 (two setter system) for the third match in a row with Maddie Sheehan leading the team with 27 assists and Montanna Gubrud added 23.

Next Up: Oregon State is back at home next week to host the Los Angeles schools at Gill Coliseum. The Beavers will face USC on Friday at 7 p.m. and then take on UCLA on Sunday at 2 p.m. Both matches will air live on Pac-12 Network.

Season and single game tickets for the 2019 Oregon State volleyball season are now available for purchase via BeaverTickets.com/Volleyball and 1-800-GO-BEAVS.

Oregon State volleyball fans are encouraged to join Off the Bench, the program's new donor club. Click here for more information or call Alex Gary in Our Beaver Nation at 541-737-2370.

For more information on the Oregon State volleyball team, follow the club's official Twitter account at Twitter.com/BeaverVBall, by Facebook at Facebook.com/BeaverVBall or on Instagram at Instagram.com/BeaverVBall.

OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).