Beavers Complete Road Sweep with Win Over Cougars

Sunday, October 15

Pullman, Wash.

1:00 PM

Oregon State

13-7, 3-5

Washington State

13-7, 2-6

Oregon State

Washington State

Photo by: Dave Nishitani/Oregon State Athletics

October 15, 2017 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Athletic Communications

PULLMAN, Wash. – The red-hot Oregon State volleyball team defeated Washington State in an intense five-set match Sunday afternoon. The win over the Cougars completed OSU's first road sweep since 2011 and the first of the Washington schools since 1990.

The Beavers, who improved to 13-7 and 3-5 in the Pac-12, have won three of their last four matches including a pair of five-set matches over the weekend in the Evergreen State. Sunday's set scores were 25-17, 20-25, 25-19, 14-25 and 15-12.

"It was a fantastic effort," head coach Mark Barnard said. "We got two on the road. That's a big deal. We are coming up on the last week of the first half of conference play. We've put ourselves in a much better place. This win really validates our win Friday night. This boosts their belief and confidence in ourselves. We aren't a fluke."

Senior Mary-Kate Marshall, who has led the Beavers in kills in 18 out of 20 matches in 2017, was on fire to start the match recording 11 kills in the opening set and finished with 21. Maddie Goings added 13 kills and Haylie Bennett poured in 11. Grace Massey tallied 21 digs for the second straight match to tie her career-best mark.

The Beavers fell behind 6-1 in the final set before a block by Serena Bruin on WSU middle blocker Jocelyn Urias set OSU's comeback in motion. Kills by Marshall and Kylee McLaughlin helped close the gap, and Bruin kill changed the game's momentum. Bruin's shot, which went long was touched at the net by the WSU block bringing about a challenge from WSU coach Jen Greeny.

After a long replay review, the call was upheld and the Beavers trailed by one, 7-6. Marshall aced the Cougs and Goings recorded a kill to give the Beavers the lead 8-7 at the media timeout. Following the break, the team's sided out back-and-forth and remained tied at 12-12. A service error by the Cougars followed by an attack error put OSU up 14-12 and brought a timeout from WSU. Oregon State's sixth block of the day, this one posted by Bruin and McLaughlin closed the match for the Beavers.

"We played some really good backcourt defense in the fifth set," Barnard said. "When we are digging and passing well back there it really gives us energy and we really start to take off. That's what happened in the fifth. There were a lot of parallels to Friday night with our up and down play. But it was good to see that we didn't let bring us down and that was key today."

Oregon State dominated the first set 25-17 behind Marshall's offense, but Washington State came out firing in the second to even the match, 25-20, going to intermission.

The Beavers, who lost Kayla Ellis for the rest of the match in the second set after she crashed into the bleachers, returned from the locker room rolling on offense. Goings put four balls on the floor and Kory Cheshire added a trio of kills to pace the OSU offense to the 25-19 third set win.

The pendulum swung back in the fourth set and OSU's offense went cold again. WSU took the set 25-14 to send the match into the fifth set.

Game Notes: With road wins at Seattle and Pullman this weekend, it is the first road sweep for the Beavers since 2011, when they defeated Utah and Colorado on the road … it is the first time Oregon State has defeated Washington and Washington State on the road since 1990 … this is OSU's second straight win in Pullman … Grace Massey was credited with 21 digs for the second match in a row, which matches her career-high … four OSU players accumulated double-digit digs – Massey (21) and Kylee McLaughlin, Mary-Kate Marshall and Maddie Goings recording 11 apiece … three Beavers posted double-doubles – Marshall (21 kills, 11 digs), Goings (13 kills, 11 digs) and McLaughlin (49 assists, 11 digs) … Kayla Ellis was sidelined for the final three sets after crashing into the bleachers. Makenna Browne filled in for Ellis with a pair of digs.

Next Up: Oregon State returns home next week to host Arizona on Wednesday, Oct. 18, and Arizona State on Friday, Oct. 20, at Gill Coliseum. Both matches will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.

Season and single-match tickets for the 2017 season are available for purchase by visiting BeaverTickets.com or calling 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 Skylar Erhardt 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/OregonStateVolleyball or on Instagram at Instagram.com/BeaverVBall.

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