Oregon State Hits the Road to Face a Pair of Ranked Opponents

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon State volleyball program hits the road for the sixth-consecutive week to start the 2021 season traveling to No. 19 Utah and No. 24 Colorado with weekend action beginning in Salt Lake City on Friday at 6 p.m.
 
ON TAP
• The Beavers (2-10, 0-2 Pac-12) hit the road for the sixth-consecutive week and the second of Pac-12 play traveling to No. 19 Utah and No. 24 Colorado this week.
• Action gets underway on Friday, Oct. 1 at 6 p.m. in Salt Lake City, Utah. Oregon State clashes with the Utes for the first time since 2019 due to last season's match being canceled due to Covid-19.
• Weekend action concludes on Sunday, Oct. 3 in Boulder, Colo. as the Beavers take on Colorado at 11 a.m.
• 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
• Friday's match will be broadcast on Pac-12 Mountain with Krista Blunk on the call. Sunday's match will be available to watch on the Colorado Live Stream. 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 16-26 record against weekend opponents.
• Against Utah, OSU holds an 11-13 record. The two programs last met on Nov. 27, 2019 in Salt Lake where the Beavers fell in three sets. The 2020-21 scheduled matches against the two programs were canceled due to COVID-19.
• In the last meeting, Maddie Goings led the Beavers with 18 kills and tabbed two blocks. Grace Massey finished with 12 digs, while Lindsey Schell added one kill. Mary Kate Lopez also finished with six assists and two kills in 2019.
• Against Colorado, OSU is 5-13. The Beavers last faced the Buffaloes to open the 2020-21 spring season in Boulder. OSU dropped both matches, the first in three sets and the second in four.
• In the first match, Goings led OSU with 10 kills, while Kateryna Tkachenko and Aliyah McDonald followed with seven and five, respectively. Massey had two aces, and Schell and Izzi Szulczewski both had two blocks.
• The second match, McDonald had 17 kills, while Goings and Tkachenko also finished with double-digit kills. Schell had four blocks, while three Beavers finished with double-digit digs (Massey- 20, Turner-13 and Goings-11).
 
RETURNERS
• Maddie Goings made her 2021 debut vs LSU and recorded a team-high 19 kills. After the Oregon match, she has 1,133 career kills to sit 12th all-time at OSU and has 3,509 career attacks to sit eighth.
• 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 124 kills off 278 attacks. She also has 37 blocks to average 0.88 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 349 assists on the season to lead OSU. She has posted six double-doubles this season to sit with 16 on her career. On the year, she has 33 kills, seven service aces, 31.0 blocks and 115 digs.
• Tkachenko made her debut vs LSU. She has recorded double-digit kills in six of the 10 matches she has seen time in this season, including a career-high 17 at Colorado State. On the year, she has 109 kills, 40 digs, four aces and seven 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 59 digs, three aces, three assists and two kills.
• Turner has played in six matches this season, starting one. She leads OSU with eight service aces, including four at Oklahoma. The Austin, Texas native also has 53 digs, three assists and one kill.
• 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 26 kills, 19.0 blocks, 11 digs and six aces. Bourne has 28 kills, 10 digs and 15 blocks through the first 12 matches of the season.
• Unal and Beaver made their first appearances in 2021 against Penn State. Unal has started six matches and has 19.0 blocks. She also has two aces, five assists, six 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 12 matches, seeing time in the last five matches as libero with Grace Massey being out. The Richland, Wash. native has 87 digs and five aces on the season.
• Coba was the final newcomer to see time this season. The Lodi, Italy native has appeared in six matches making one start with nine digs and three aces.
 
LAST TIME OUT
• Oregon State dropped a three-set bout (22-25, 19-25, 20-25) at Arizona on Sunday, Sept. 26.
• Tkachenko led OSU with 15 kills, two shy of her career-high 17 set earlier this season. Schell and Goings each added six kills.
• Szulczewski finished with her sixth double-double of the season with 27 assists and 10 digs.
• White finished with a career-high 15 digs to lead OSU.
• Unal and Turner were the lone Beavers to finish with an ace.
 
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).