Oregon State Continues Road Stretch at Arizona
CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State volleyball program continues its road stretch to begin the season traveling to Tucson, Ariz. to take on the Arizona Wildcats in a Sunday afternoon matchup. The Beavers are set to begin action on Sunday at 12 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks with Brian Webber on the call.
ON TAP
• Oregon State (2-9, 0-1 Pac-12) continues road action in the first week of Pac-12 play at Arizona (9-3, 1-0 Pac-12).
• Action gets underway on Sunday, September 26 at 12 p.m.
• This is the fifth week of a six-week stretch that the Beavers will be on the road. OSU is on the road for the first 14 matches of the 2021 season that includes four tournaments and the first two weeks of the Pac-12 schedule.
• Oregon State is the lone Power Five school that won't open its home season until October. Every other P5 school has already played a home match.
• Injuries and other outside factors have once again plagued to Beavers this season as multiple key returners have missed matches at some point this season including: Nya Buckner, Aliyah McDonald, Mychael Vernon, Grace Massey, Mary Kate Lopez, Ellie Turner, Maddie Goings and Kateryna Tkachenko.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
• Sunday's match will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks with Brian Webber on the call. Live stats will also be available.
• To access live stats and the link to watch the match via your computer, smartphone or tablet, visit osubeavers.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA
• Fans are encouraged to follow the Oregon State volleyball program via social media. There are several platforms to follow the team including:
• Twitter: @BeaverVBall
• Instagram: @BeaverVBall
• Facebook: /BeaverVBall
TICKETS
• Season and single game tickets are available by visiting BeaverTickets.com/volleyball or by calling 1-800-GO-BEAVS.
AGAINST THE FIELD
• Oregon State has an 18-52 overall record against Arizona.
• The Beavers and Wildcats most recently met during the 2020-21 Covid-19 season, where the Beavers dropped both matches to the Wildcats in Tucson. OSU faced Arizona in Tucson on March 19 and 20.
• In the first matchup last season, Oregon State dropped the match in three sets. OSU finished with nine blocks (Schell - 5, McDonald - 4, Vernon - 3) to top Arizona's five. Mychael Vernon was the lone Beaver with double-digit kills (14) and Grace Massey (15) and Ellie Turner (10) finished with double-digit digs.
• Oregon State took the Wildcats to four sets in the second matchup of the season. Vernon and Kateryna Tkachenko finished with double-digits kills with 12 and 11, respectively. Izzi Szulczewski finished with 36 assists, as Massey (11), Vernon (9) and Turner (9) led OSU in digs.
• Oregon State last defeated Arizona on Oct. 25, 2019, in five sets in Tucson. Returners from this match include Lindsey Schell who finished with three blocks and three kills, as well as two digs. Maddie Goings finished with a double-double with 12 kills (one of three Beavers with double-digit kills) and 11 digs. Goings also had one block solo and one assist. Massey led OSU with 22 digs against the Wildcasts and three assists.
RETURNERS
• Maddie Goings made her 2021 debut vs LSU and recorded a team-high 19 kills. After the Oregon match, she has 1,127 career kills to sit 12th all-time at OSU and has 3,485 career attacks to sit ninth.
• Junior Lindsey Schell returns for another season in the Orange and Black after leading the Beavers last season with 62 blocks, which ranked 11th in the Pac-12. This season, the Temecila, Calif. native has 118 kills off 258 attacks. She also has 34 blocks to average 0.87 per set.
• Nya Buckner makes her return to the squad and has started in three matches. She has 15 kills, four digs and 11 blocks.
• The freshmen from the 2020-21 season will remain listed as freshmen for the 2021 fall season and includes: Aliyah McDonald, Izzi Szulczewski, Kateryna Tkachenko, Ellie Turner, Mychael Vernon and Emma Villaluz.
• Szulczewski has been a crucial part of OSU's team with 322 assists on the season to lead OSU. She has posted five double-doubles this season to sit with 15 on her career. On the year, she has 32 kills, seven service aces, 28.0 blocks and 105 digs.
• Tkachenko made her debut vs LSU. She has recorded double-digit kills in five of the nine matches she has seen time in this season, including a career-high 17 at Colorado State. On the year, she has 94 kills, 38 digs, four aces and six blocks.
• Vernon made her 2021 debut at the Colorado State Tournament starting against UAB. During her debut, she recorded 14 kills to lead OSU. She posted 17 kills at Colorado State to finish the weekend with 40 kills, nine digs and five blocks. At the Boise State Classic, she finished with 17 kills and 12 digs. Most recently, she posted seven digs at Oregon.
• Villaluz has appeared in every match, making four starts. She has 56 digs, three aces, three assists and two kills.
• Turner has played in five matches this season. She leads OSU with seven service aces, including four at Oklahoma. The Austin, Texas native also has 46 digs, two assists and one kill. She will miss the match at Arizona.
• Mary Kate Lopez and McDonald are returners that have not seen time during the 2021 season.
NEWCOMER POWER
• The freshman class has hit the ground running since joining the squad.
• All-seven true freshman have seen time in at least five sets this season, and six have made appearances in the starting lineup (Emily Bourne, Iris Coba, Madison Kelly, Vivian Light, DiLara Unal and Ryan White).
• Light attacked opening weekend starting her career in the Orange and Black by leading the Beavers with 16 kills against Oklahoma. She has 38 kills, eight blocks and seven digs on the year.
• Bourne and Kelly made an impact in their roles this season, including starting in both games at the Oklahoma Classic. On the year, Kelly has 24 kills, 17.0 blocks, 11 digs and six aces. Bourne has 27 kills, 10 digs and 15 blocks through the first 11 matches of the season.
• Unal and Beaver made their first appearances in 2021 against Penn State. Unal has started six matches and has 17.0 blocks. She also has one ace, five assists, five kills and four digs on the season. Beaver has seen time in three matches. She led OSU with 32 assists against SIUE.
• White has appeared in 11 matches and started four, including the previous two matches as libero with Grace Massey being out. The Richland, Wash. native has 72 digs and five aces on the season.
• Coba was the final newcomer to see time this season. The Lodi, Italy native has appeared in five matches making one start with eight digs and three aces.
LAST TIME OUT
• The Beavers traveled to Eugene, Ore. to open Pac-12 play against the No. 13 Ducks. Oregon State dropped the three-set match (10-25, 14-25, 24-26) on Wednesday evening.
• Kateryna Tkachenko led the Beavers with 11 kills off 33 attacks. She also posted seven digs and one block. Maddie Goings followed with five kills, and Lindsey Schell had four. In total, seven Beavers recorded at least one kill.
• Ryan White led the team with a career-high 14 digs. Izzi Szulczewski followed with nine, while Mychael Vernon joined Tkachenko with seven digs.
• Schell led the team with two blocks. As a team, Oregon State finished with six.
• Szulczewski led the team for the 10th time this season with 20 assists. Goings and White finished with two as the team had 25 total.
• Szulczewski and White were the lone Beavers that finished with service aces.
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.
OUR MISSION
Oregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS).