OSU Earns Match and Series Sweep at Cal

BERKELEY, Calif. – It was a hot hitting day for the Oregon State volleyball team as it hit a season-high .322 en route to a match and series sweep of California on Sunday afternoon in Haas Pavilion.
 
Oregon State earned its first match sweep of the season against California with set scores of 25-23, 25-13, and 25-20.
 
It was a hot start for the Beavers, registering 18 kills with a .333 attacking percentage in the opening set. After the teams traded points early, leading to a 7-4 Cal lead, Oregon State went on a 10-3 run that forced the Golden Bears to burn its first timeout.
 
OSU never surrendered its lead following the timeout despite a 5-2 Cal run that made the score 16-15 in favor of the Beavers. Back-to-back Bear kills cut the OSU deficit to one, 19-18, before the teams traded the final 11 points of the set as Anastasija Svetnik and Aliyah McDonald locked in the 25-23 set one victory for Oregon State.
 
Set two was déjà vu of Friday afternoon, 25-13, as Oregon State once again controlled the set while remaining hot and hitting .400 in the set. After the Beavers took a 10-6 lead to open the set, California used a timeout.
 
Svetnik and Lindsey Schell each recorded kills to open the OSU lead at 14-8 before back-to-back kills from Mychael Vernon and McDonald put them up 16-9. The Bears made it a five point game, 17-12, with a 3-1 run.
 
Four straight points from Oregon State, including back-to-back Svetnik aces and a Kateryna Tkachenko kill, forced Cal to call its final timeout with OSU holding a 21-12 advantage. The Beavers went on to close the set with a 4-1 run out of the timeout to secure the 25-13 set win and take a 2-0 match lead.
 
The Golden Bears took an early 5-3 lead in the third set as a Svetnik kill and McDonald and Svetnik block tied the set at 5-5. Oregon State regained the advantage, 7-6, after yet another block from the duo of Svetnik and McDonald.
 
A 5-2 run from Cal put the team in front 11-9. Oregon State responded with a 6-0 run of its own to go on top 15-11. Despite the Bears drawing to within one following a 3-0 run, making the score 15-14, OSU pulled in front 18-15 to make Cal use its final timeout.
 
Out of the timeout, the Golden Bears knotted the game at 18 all after a 3-0 run to force Oregon State to call a timeout.
 
It was a 7-2 run to close out the match for the Beavers as kills from Tkachenko and Schell secured the 25-20 set three win and sweep of the match.
 
Match Notes:

• Freshman Mychael Vernon led the Beavers with 13 kills, while adding seven digs, two blocks, and a pair of assists.
• Freshman Izzi Szulczewski posted a game-high 38 assists.
• Senior Grace Massey recorded a game-best of 15 digs.
• Junior Lindsey Schell tallied 10 kills off 16 attacks to hit .500 on the afternoon.
• Freshman Anastasija Svetnik had nine kills, five service aces, and four blocks in the match. Svetnik's five aces is an individual match-high for a Beaver.
• Oregon State our performed Cal in kills (44-34), attacking percentage (.322-.189), assists (43-32), aces (8-3), digs (40-26), and blocks (5-4).
• The Beaver's held California to an opponent match-lows with three service aces and 26 digs.

 
Next Up: Oregon State returns to Gill Coliseum on Mar. 12 and 14 against Washington State. The first game of the series will begin at 6 pm (PT) and game two will be at noon.
 
Oregon State volleyball fans are encouraged to join Off the Bench, the program's new donor club. Click here for more information or call Alyssa Whitney at 541-231-4351 or email Rebecca McCaulley at rebecca.mccaulley@osufoundation.org.
 
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/BeaverVBall or on Instagram at Instagram.com/BeaverVBall.
 
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