Beavers Fall to No. 21 USC Despite Goings’ Career Day

Sunday, September 24

Los Angeles, Calif.

1:00 PM

Oregon State

10-4, 0-2Pac-12

USC

10-3, 2-0Pac-12

Oregon State

USC

Photo by: Dave Nishitani/Oregon State Athletics

Beavers Fall to No. 21 USC Despite Goings’ Career Day

September 24, 2017 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Athletic Communications

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Mary-Kate Marshall recorded 19 kills and Maddie Goings had the best match of her career but the Oregon State volleyball team fell to No. 21 USC in four sets Sunday afternoon at the Galen Center.

The Beavers fell to 10-4 (0-2 in Pac-12 play) with the loss while the Women of Troy improved to 10-3 (2-0). Set scores were 21-25, 26-24, 18-25 and 25-27.

OSU forced extra play in two out of four sets, stealing the second set after recovering from a 24-23 deficit in the late going. A kill by Goings evened the score at 24-24, before a kill and a big block by Cheshire sent the Beavers to the intermission even at 1-1.

Oregon State took an early lead in Set 4 at 10-5 and 13-8 before USC began to sneak back into the game tying the score at 17-17. From there, it was a back-and-forth contest with OSU eventually serving for the set at 24-23. However, the Beavers could not hold on dropping the set 27-25.

"We had opportunities to take it to a fifth set but just didn't take advantage," head coach Mark Barnard said. "We kept hanging in there and mostly did a good job and played well."

Oregon State, which features and undersized lineup, was active at the net out-blocking USC 13-4. Kory Cheshire equaled her season-high with seven blocks, including three solos, and Maddy Gravley turned away USC attackers on five occasions to lead the Beavers.

"We knew coming into today that we have to work hard to slow teams down at the net and we need to do whatever we can to get a touch on the ball. Our defense was quite good today and really could have been even better."

Goings, a true freshman, registered the first double-double of her career with career-highs in kills (17) and digs (14) and added a pair of blocks.

"Maddie was ridiculous. She's doing great. She has gone from someone who was more of an opposite hitter in the past to where we need her to play all the way around. Her adjustment has been very good and she's playing very well right now."

Marshall recorded a team-high 19 kills while Kayla Ellis led the Beavers with 17 digs.

The Beavers are back on the road next weekend to play the mountain schools beginning with Colorado on Friday, Sept. 29 and then Utah on Saturday, Sept. 30. Both matches will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.

Game Notes: Maddie Goings tallied the first double-double of her career (17 kills, 14 digs) … Mary-Kate Marshall recorded 19 kills, to tie for her second-most in 2017 … Kory Cheshire tied her season-best with seven blocks … three Beavers registered double digits in digs Sunday afternoon with Kayla Ellis tallying 17, Maddie Goings posting 14 and Kylee McLaughlin managing 10 digs.

Next Up: OSU travels to take on Colorado and Utah next weekend. The Beavers face the Buffaloes Friday at 7 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Oregon and Pac-12 Mountain. They'll then face Utah in Salt Lake City Saturday at 7 p.m. on Pac-12 Mountain.

Season and single-match tickets for the 2017 season are available for purchase by visiting BeaverTickets.com or calling 1-800-GO-BEAVS.

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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