Beavers Continue Road Stretch at Colorado State Tournament

CORVALLIS, Ore. - The Oregon State volleyball team hits the road for the third-straight week traveling to Fort Collins, Colo. for the Colorado State Tournament. OSU play three matches Sept. 10-11 against UAB, Colorado State and Southern Illinois Edwardsville.

ON TAP
• Oregon State (1-4) hits the road for the third-straight week traveling to Fort Collins, Colo. for a preseason tournament at Colorado State.
• The Beavers will face three opponents over the course of two days, beginning with UAB on Friday morning at 8 a.m. PT. OSU hits the court again that evening to take on host, Colorado State, at 6:30 p.m. PT.
• Oregon State concludes weekend action on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. PT against Southern Illinois Edwardsville.
• This is the third week of a six-week stretch that the Beavers will be on the road. OSU is on the road for the first 12 matches of the 2021 season that includes four tournaments and the first two weeks of the Pac-12 schedule.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
• The match against Colorado State will be streamed on the Mountain West Network. It will be the only OSU match of the weekend that is streamed.
• Live stats will be available for every match.
• To access live stats and the link to watch the Colorado State match via your computer, smartphone or tablet, visit osubeavers.com.

SOCIAL MEDIA
• Fans are encouraged to follow the Oregon State volleyball program via social media. There are several platforms to follow the team including:
• Twitter: @BeaverVBall
• Instagram: @BeaverVBall
• Facebook: /BeaverVBall

TICKETS
• Season and single game tickets are available by visiting BeaverTickets.com/volleyball or by calling 1-800-GO-BEAVS.

AGAINST THE FIELD
• Oregon State has a 3-4 overall record against this weekend's opponents.
• This will be the first meeting between the Beavers and both the UAB Blazers and SIUE Cougars in program history. OSU has not crossed paths with UAB or SIUE before in volleyball.
• Against Colorado State, OSU is 3-4 with the Beavers falling to the Rams in the last meeting on Sept. 20, 2019, 3-1, in Fort Collins, Colo. OSU last defeated CSU, 3-0, on Sept. 29, 2009 in Fort Collins.
• During the last match between the two programs in 2019, OSU won set three. Maddie Goings led returners from the 2019 squad against CSU with 11 kills, 44 total attacks, one block assist, eight digs and 11.5 points. Lindsey Schell finished the match with seven kills, 12 total attacks, one assist, two block assists and 8.0 points. Grace Massey had 20 digs.

RETURNERS
• Oregon State returns 11 from the 2020-21 roster, highlighted by the return of Grace Massey and Maddie Goings for a fifth year.
• Massey (1,859 career digs) returns for her final season 170 digs behind the top spot on OSU's career dig list. Becky Defoe (2010-13) holds the top spot with 2,029 digs. She's off to a strong start this season recording double-digit digs in every match but one this season. Massey is the lone returner who earned All-Conference accolades following the 2020-21 season.
• Goings made her 2021 debut vs LSU and recorded a team-high 19 kills. After the Penn State Classic, she has 1,117 career kills to sit 12th all-time at OSU and has 3,456 career attacks to sit 10th.
• Junior Lindsey Schell returns for another season in the Orange and Black after leading the Beavers last season with 62 blocks, which ranked 11th in the Pac-12. This season, the Temecila, Calif. native has 64 kills off 124 attacks. She also leads OSU with 20 blocks to average 1.05 per set.
• Nya Buckner makes her return to the squad and has started in three matches. She has 15 kills, four digs and 11 blocks.
• The freshmen from the 2020-21 season will remain listed as freshmen for the 2021 fall season and includes: Aliyah McDonald, Izzi Szulczewski, Kateryna Tkachenko, Ellie Turner, Mychael Vernon and redshirt freshman Emma Villaluz.
• Szulczewski has been a crucial part of OSU's team with 179 assists on the season to lead OSU. She has posted four double-doubles after recording double-digit digs in every match but one this season. On the year, she has 18 kills, two service aces, 14.0 blocks and 65 digs.
• Tkachenko made her debut vs LSU. Through three games, she has 31 kills, five digs and three blocks.
• Turner has played in every set this season. She leads OSU with seven service aces, including four at Oklahoma. The Austin, Texas native also has 46 digs, two assists and one kill.
• Villaluz has appeared in every match, making three starts. She has 28 digs and three assists.
• Mary Kate Lopez, McDonald and Vernon are returners that have not seen time during the 2021 season.

NEWCOMER POWER
• The freshman class has hit the ground running since joining the squad.
• Six of the seven true freshman have seen time in at least one set this season, and four have made appearances in the starting lineup (Emily Bourne, Madison Kelly, Vivian Light and DiLara Unal). Iris Coba (DS/L) is the only true freshman to not see time.
• Light attacked opening weekend starting her career in the Orange and Black by leading the Beavers with 16 kills against Oklahoma. She has 31 kills, seven blocks and five digs on the year.
• Bourne and Kelly made an impact in their roles this season, including starting in both games at the OU Classic. On the year, Kelly has 20 kills, 12 blocks and six aces. Bourne has 17 kills, six digs and six blocks through the first five games of the season.
• Unal and Beaver made their first appearances in 2021 against Penn State. Beaver had one assist in the match. Unal has one kill, one assist, three digs and three blocks through two appearances.
• White was the final newcomer to see time this season. The Richland, Wash. native has 26 digs and two aces on the season.

LAST TIME OUT
• The Beavers traveled to University Park, Pa. last weekend for the Penn State Classic. OSU took LSU to four sets before dropping the match, 3-1. OSU fell to No. 17 Penn State and Iowa State in three sets.
• Against LSU, the Beavers were led offensively by senior Maddie Goings (19 kills), junior Lindsey Schell (16 kills) and freshman Kateryna Tkachenko (13 kills). The match was Goings and Tkachenko's season debuts. Freshman Izzi Szulczewski also had a career-high 52 assists in the match, while Grace Massey finished with 24 digs and three aces. OSU took set two, 25-22, but dropped the other three sets by four or fewer points.
• OSU took on No. 17 Penn State on Saturday, 3-0. OSU was led by Schell (14 kills) and Szulczewski (33 assists). Massey led OSU with 18 digs. Freshman DiLara Unal made her season debut and picked up two blocks. As a team, OSU battled through the second set to tie the set 15 times, seven of which were after each team had 24 points. The Beavers hit .260 this match - the second-highest hit percentage this season.
• The Beavers dropped the final match of the weekend to Iowa State, 3-0. Schell and Tkachenko led OSU with 10 kills. Szulczewski posted her fourth double-double of the season and third of the weekend with 24 assists and 11 digs. Ellie Turner also finished with 11 digs, and Madison Kelly had two aces.

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

Beavers Continue Road Stretch at Colorado State Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Emily Bourne

Nya Buckner

Iris Coba

Maddie Goings

Madison Kelly

Vivian Light

Mary Kate Lopez

Grace Massey

Aliyah McDonald

Lindsey Schell

Izzi Szulczewski

Kateryna Tkachenko

Ellie Turner

DiLara Unal

Mychael Vernon

Emma Villaluz