Oregon State
6-4,0-0WCC
Portland State
4-7,0-0Big Sky
Beavs Battle to Five-Set Win Over Portland State
September 20, 2025 | Women's Volleyball
PORTLAND, Ore. – Needing all five sets for the first time all season, the Oregon State volleyball team put away Portland State in the nonconference finale on the road.
Hitting .389 in the do-or-die fifth, Oregon State (6-4) used two 3-0 runs in the fifth on the way to securing a win over PSU (25-22, 20-25, 25-11, 15-25, 15-9) inside Viking Pavilion.
"Our team battled tonight and did a great job sticking in it through each shift of the match," said head coach Lindsey Behonick. "We had moments when we were way up, moments when were down and I loved how we found a way to in tight moments to keep the pressure on and score. Portland State is a gritty team, always battles and it took every person in our lineup tonight to win. (I) love the growth and trajectory of our team and the way we finished our nonconference portion of the schedule. This will give us a lot of confidence going into WCC play."
Four Beavs – Lauren Rumel (18), Alana Marrs (15), Maëli Cormier (11) and Annika Hester (10) – put up double-digit kills while both setters – Emma Lilo (30) and Jackie Matias (22) – kept the offense going with 20-plus assists. Another four – Alondra Paz (17), Matias (13), Lilo (11) and Tia Shum (10) – used double-digit kills to pace the Beaver defense.
Oregon State built a lead with early runs and held off a stingy Viking attack to take the first set at 25-20. Portland State battled to tie it late at 21, took a short-lived lead at 23-21 before a pair of Rumel kills sealed the first frame. Rumel opened her night with six first-set kills with a team-best six while Paz opened her ledger with nine digs.
The hosts evened things in the second thanks to numerous six-point advantages before the Beavers closed it on a late run to close it within five at 25-20.
Taking the lead back in set three, OSU held to the Vikings to just a .032 clip, 14 Beaver digs and an 11-0 run to break it open on the way to the 14-point set win. Matias and Nathalie Scholz took charge in the third behind an evenly split six digs to put Portland State on the brink.
Flipping the script in the fourth, the Vikings pulled together a .433 clip to force OSU to their first fith-set match of the season. The Oregon State offense was held to a match-low .125 and committed nine errors in the frame.
Two true freshman – Cormier and Marrs – split eight kills evenly to push the Beavers to a fifth-set win and seal the match. Following a 3-0 run by the Vikings to even it at 7, Cormier used all four of her set kills to help the Beavers use a pair of 3-0 runs to win on an 8-2 mark. Shum's three digs in the set helped keep PSU at bay and forced them to a .118 clip.
For the match, the Beavers held their hosts to a measly-.217 hitting rate.
Oregon State will return home to open West Coast Conference play this week. The Beavers will open the weekend with a 6 p.m. first serve against Saint Mary's (Calif.) on Thursday.
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