Aug. 29, 2012
Complete Oregon State Notes | Illinois State Tournament Central
OSU Makes Its Second Trip
Oregon State makes its second trip of the young 2012 season when it heads to Normal, Ill., for the Redbird Classic. The Beavers are set to meet Miami (Fla.), Presbyterian and host Illinois State.
Weekend Schedule
vs. Miami, Friday (8/31) at 1:30 p.m. PT
vs. Presbyterian, Saturday (9/1) at 10 a.m.
at Illinois State, Saturday (9/1) at 5 p.m.
Please note that Normal is located in the Central Time Zone and anyone attending should add two hours to the above start times.
Media At The Redbird Classic
Illinois State will host live stats for each match that can be found by clicking on the Gametracker link on osubeavers.com. Find that link by visiting the volleyball page, clicking “schedule” and then the “GT” graphic on the right side.
Social Media
Fans who want to follow all the happenings of the Oregon State volleyball team should follow the squad on its official Twitter page at twitter.com/beavsvolleyball. The team is active on Facebook at facebook.com/oregonstatevolleyball and for videos on all Oregon State sports, visit the official YouTube page at youtube.com/osubeaversathletics.
Against The Field
Oregon State has little in common with its three opponents it will see at the Redbird Classic. The Beavers have never met Miami nor Presbyterian and are 1-1 all-time against Illinois State. OSU lost in four sets to the Redbirds in 2010 and won in four sets in 1983.
Last Weekend
Oregon State went 2-1 last weekend at the Varney Invitational in Manhattan, Kan. OSU defeated Oakland and UC Irvine before losing in five sets to host Kansas State. Arica Nassar was honored by the Pac-12 after the tournament.
Nassar’s Honor
Sophomore Arica Nassar had 17 blocks during the Beavers’ weekend in Kansas and was named the Pac-12 Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. She finished with four solo blocks over the weekend and added 10 digs and 29 kills. Nassar is seventh in the Pac-12 with 1.42 blocks per set but leads with four solo blocks. It marks her third league weekly honor after being named Freshman of the Week twice in 2011.
Schaudt On The Board
Laura Schaudt equaled her kills output from all of last season with 27 during the team’s trip to Kansas. She started slow with four against Oakland but set a career-high with 10 against UC Irvine. That, of course, was broken in the five-set match against Kansas State when she finished with 13.
Getting Defensive
Oregon State enters the weekend with 205 digs, the only Pac-12 school to reach the 200-dig plateau through the first weekend of play. Becky Defoe is fourth in the league with 4.5 digs per set.
Liskevych In Eighth Season
Oregon State head coach Taras Liskevych is back for his eighth season as the Beavers’ head coach in 2012. In his eight seasons at the helm of the program, the Beavers have gone 77-132. His staff includes associate head coach Mark Barnard, who is also in his eighth year, as well as assistant coach Emily Hiza (second year) and volunteer assistant coach Luke Maloney (second year). Director of operations Cody March is in his sixth year with the program.
Seniors
The Beavers have five seniors - Camille Saxton, Ashley Eneliko, Martie Massey, Megan McBride and Alyssa O’Neil - equaling the 2009 team for the most under head coach Taras Liskevych during his tenure. Entering the season, the group had combined for 402 matches played in over the past three seasons.
Who Returns Overall
The Beavers return 11 players who saw action on the court last season, and a 12th in Haley Clarke, who redshirted. The 11 return 1,078 of the team’s 1,463 (73.6 percent) kills last season, 1,302 of the 1,343 (96.9 percent) of the assists and 1,524 of its 1,832 (83.1 percent) digs.
Newcomers
Oregon State welcomes six newcomers to the club this season, including four freshmen. Those freshmen are Kathleen Bozzo, Katelyn Driscoll, Sara Almen and Darby Reeder. Incoming sophomores include Amanda Brown and Alina Sopizhuk, who hails from the Ukraine.
On The Road ... Again
Oregon State is slated to play its first 14 matches away from home this season. That’s the longest stretch away from home to start a season for the Beavers since the 1988 team played its first 16 away from Gill Coliseum. Head coach Taras Liskevych and OSU played the first 12 away from Gill in 2007 and went 7-5.
Pac-12 Networks
Oregon State will have 13 of its matches televised this season on the Pac-12 Networks. Seven of the 13 will come in matches played at Gill Coliseum and all will be during the team’s league slate on Pac-12 Oregon. Fans can find a full schedule of league matches on the first page of these notes as well as on osubeavers.com.
Early Rankings
The American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason rankings has eight teams in the top 25 whom the Beavers will compete against this season. Included in those rankings are No. 3 Penn State and No. 22; both teams are located on the Beavers’ non-conference schedule this season. Oregon State took down No. 3 California and No. 13 Oregon last season.
Pac-12 Poll
The Pac-12’s coaches picked the Beavers to finish ninth in the league in 2012. UCLA was chosen to finish first, followed by No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Oregon, No. 5 Washington, No. 6 California, No. 7 Arizona and No. 8 Arizona State. Utah follows at 10 before No. 11 Washington State and No. 12 Colorado.
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