Women's Volleyball Match of the Week preview: Oregon State at Washington

Who: Oregon State at No. 4 Washington

When: Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Networks, with Rich Burk and Dain Blanton on the call.

After pulling out the last Match of the Week installment at home, Washington gets some more Pac-12 Networks primetime treatment in Seattle with Oregon State coming to town for a Pacific Northwest clash of clans.

The Story So Far: Oregon State (4-12, 2-4 Pac-12)

The Beavers had a banner of a year in 2014, winning 21 matches for the first time in nearly 25 years and reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. Oregon State also had a good bulk of its production returning in 2015, with more than half of its kills and 65 percent of its digs from 2014 back in Corvallis. However, head coach Taras Liskevych also had to replace four starters from last year and has six freshmen on the 2015 roster. That, combined with playing the sixth-toughest schedule in the nation and spending the whole non-conference portion of their schedule on the road (more on that later), has led to the sub-.500 record for the Beavers.

While the Beavers might have a record that would contend for the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, they have certainly looked like a Pac-12-caliber team thus far in conference play. They pushed a ranked Oregon squad to four sets before nabbing its first conference victory by beating Utah. Then the Beavs were competitive at Stanford despite being swept by the Cardinal and capped the weekend trip to the Bay Area off by sweeping Cal.

An NCAA tournament berth is likely out of the question for Oregon State save for a 12-2ish finish to conference play, which would be tough for even No. 1 USC to achieve, but these final 14 matches will provide plenty of experience for those six freshmen on the roster (five of them have already started a match) and chances to build confidence for 2016. With just two seniors on the roster, Oregon State is built to make a bigger splash next year and beyond.

The Story So Far: No. 4 Washington (15-1, 5-1 Pac-12)

Look out, Pac-12 – the Huskies are for real. Not that anyone would consider a national power like Washington that has won a national championship and been to four NCAA Final Fours to be a pretender, but the 2015 Dawgs were a relatively unproven commodity until October. After a soft-ish non-conference schedule (no ranked opponents) and 2-0 Pac-12 start against unranked teams, Keegan Cook has led the Dawgs to a 3-1 mark in their last four matches – all against top-15 teams.

Last week, the Huskies overcame a one-set hole to defeat Arizona 3-1 in the Pac-12 Networks Women’s Volleyball Match of the Week before handing Arizona State its first loss of the season by sweeping the Sun Devils Friday night. Now there is a bit of an asterisk next to that Arizona State win, as ASU all-time kills leader Macey Gardner tore her ACL late in the second set. But there’s no downplaying the Huskies’ 25-6 blitzing of the Sun Devils in the first set, holding Jason Watson’s squad to a measly -.179 hitting percentage in the frame.

Now on the back end of a four-match homestand, the Huskies are in a good position to improve to 7-1 in conference play before squaring off with Stanford on The Farm in the next Pac-12 Networks Women’s Volleyball Match of the Week. First things first, though – taking care of the Oregon schools.

Three Players to Watch: Oregon State

1. #15 Mary-Kate Marshall (Outside Hitter, Sophomore) – It’s no secret where the second ball is being set to – Marshall not only leads the team with 4.11 kills per set, she also is eighth in the nation in attacks per set. Having taken 35 percent of all available Oregon State attacks, her arm hasn’t fallen off yet and is coming off an impressive double-double (17 kills, 14 digs, not to mention six blocks) in the three-set win over Cal. She’s also a tough server, ranking third in the Pac-12 with 0.33 service aces per set in conference matches.
2. #22 Kayla Ellis (Defensive Specialist/Libero, Freshman) – The collegiate rookie leads the Beavers with 2.65 digs per set, but has improved that pace since moving over to libero (where she has started the last nine matches) and is averaging 3.29 digs per set in Pac-12 play.
3. #4 Haley Clarke (Middle Blocker, Redshirt Senior) – Have yourself a weekend, Haley. Clarke is sixth in conference matches with a .338 hitting percentage, but she took her game to new heights in Northern California. Clark was error-free in 28 attacks and hit .536 in addition to providing six blocks combined against Stanford and Cal.

Three Players to Watch: Washington

1. #10 Lianna Sybeldon (Middle Blocker, Senior) – Lianna Sybeldon is here to tell you that anything Haley Clarke does, she can do better. Sybeldon hit a whopping .731 on a career-high 19 kills in 26 error-free attacks in the four-set win over Arizona last Wednesday and backed it up by hitting a “modest” .417 against the Sun Devils. That rounds out to a .632 hitting percentage for the weekend and a Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honor. She’s now hitting .481 on the season, good for first in the free world (or at least NCAA Division I women’s volleyball).
2. #5 Melanie Wade (Middle Blocker, Senior) – When one of your middles is named offensive player of the week and another one is named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, you’re gonna be pretty tough to beat. Wade collected 16 blocks in the seven sets over the weekend, including 10 in the sweep of Arizona State, and is now fourth in the nation with 1.64 blocks per set on the year. She also hit .438 against the Sun Devils. That’s just not fair.
3. #14 Kim Condie (Defensive Specialist/Libero, Senior) – Condie, who played just 18 sets in her first four years on Montlake (one of them a redshirt year), is coming off her best week of collegiate volleyball. The back-row player posted 10 digs in back-to-back games against the Arizona schools, setting a personal career high. She had eight digs in her first three playing seasons and has 45 already this season alone.

Three Notes to Know

1. On the Road Again – Get this: Oregon State did not play a home match in the non-conference portion of its schedule, and was one of two schools among all power-conference squads to not play a home match until league play. The other? Oregon.
2. New School vs. Old School – At the age of 30, Keegan Cook is the youngest head volleyball coach in the Pac-12. Oregon State head honcho Taras Liskevych, on the other hand, was the second to graduate college of all Pac-12 women’s volleyball coaches, as the 1970 grad finished up five years after USC’s Mick Haley. The trend is reversed on the court, however – Oregon State has six freshmen, compared to just one for Washington, while the Dawgs have six seniors, compared to just two for Oregon State.
3. Husky Dominance – Washington has won 23 straight matches against Oregon State, and have been taken to five sets just once during the current streak. The Beavs have not defeated their border rival since 2001, the last year the Huskies turned in a losing season.