Oregon State
1-1,0-0WCC
GCU
2-0,0-0WAC
Beavers Fall to GCU In Four
August 31, 2024 | Women's Volleyball
PHOENIX – The Oregon State volleyball team dropped their first match of the season, a 3-1 decision, to Grand Canyon on Saturday night.
Lauren Rumel led the Beavers (1-1) with 18 kills, her second consecutive match in double-digits to open the season, while Annika Hester closely followed with 14. Yasemin Narlioglu paced the defense with 19 digs, besting yesterday's mark by eight and Vivian Light trailed with nine. Emma Lilo tallied 34 assists on the night with Alara Doganyüz adding eight.
Nearly going toe-to-toe for the entire first set, the hosts pulled away very late with a three-point lead at 23-20 off a Hester miscue and broke it open for the 25-21 set one win. A set later, the Beavers started hot with leads at 4-1 and 13-10 but the Antelopes battled back, eventually taking one final lead after it was deadlocked at 23. Consecutive kills by GCU secured them the second set and put the Beavers on the brink.
Six service aces – three by Rumel – helped propel them to the third set win and avoided a sweep at 25-21. Facing an early hole down 2-0, those three Rumel aces in a 6-0 spurt helped the Beavers jump out to an early lead. The hosts would answer back, countering with a run of their own – 12-8 – to knot it at 14 apiece and went back-and-forth until the Beavers made it 22-18. Despite attacks from GCU, Oregon State held onto the four-point cushion to take the third set.
Four Beavers – Doganyüz, Lilo, Light and Narlioglu – each pitched in for the defense with two digs apiece to keep the Lopes at bay. Rumel complemented the aces with four kills to pace the offense.
Grand Canyon used a suffocating latter half of the fourth to secure the Saturday night win by using a 13-5 run over the Beavers. The two sides opened the set with near-alternating 24 points before the Antelopes did their damage. Grand Canyon held Oregon State to a .227 hitting rate compared to their .387 clip.
Oregon State will close their time at the GCU Invitational with a morning battle with Montana. First serve between the Beavers and Grizzlies is set for 11 a.m. PT.
OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS)
