Volleyball Treks to Bay Area Facing Cal and No. 19 Stanford
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State volleyball hits the road this weekend for a pair of matches in the Bay Area, beginning at California on Friday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. before concluding the road trip at No. 19 Stanford on Sunday. First serve inside Maples Pavilion is slated for noon while both matches will be available on from the home team's live stream.
ON TAP
• Oregon State (3-19, 1-11 Pac-12) returns to the road, facing two Bay Area school on Friday, Nov. 5 and Sunday, Nov. 7.
• First serve for Friday's match at California is slated for 7 p.m. before the Beavers wrap-up weekend action at #19 Stanford on Sunday at 12 p.m. Both games will be streamed by the home team institution's live stream.
• OSU has played 16 of its 22 matches in unfamiliar territory and looks to sweep the series with California on Friday.
• The Beavers hosted Colorado and No. 19 Utah last weekend for game four and five inside Gill Coliseum this season. Oregon State was the last Power Five school to host a home competition after having the tournament scheduled for the second week of preseason cancelled to force OSU on the road to Penn State.
• Before hosting Stanford on Oct. 8, OSU came off a 14-match road stretch to begin the 2021 season that included four tournaments and the first two weeks of the Pac-12 schedule. During this stretch, OSU traveled more than 18,400 miles.
• 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
• Both matches will be available on to watch on Cal and Stanford's Live Stream with live stats also available.
• To access live stats and the link to watch the matches 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
AGAINST THE FIELD
• The Beavers head into Berkeley, Calif. for the first time during the 2021 campaign and hold a three-match winning streak against the Bears. Earlier this season, the Beavers sealed their lone conference victory of the season after sweeping the Bears inside Gill Coliseum on Oct. 10. Kateryna Tkachenko led the Beaver offense with 16 kills after hitting .625 to go along with three digs and a block to propel the Orange & Black.
• Oregon State aims to claim its first victory over ranked Stanford, having gone 0-70 against the Cardinal. Last time OSU played in Maples Pavilion was back on Nov. 1, 2019 as Stanford swept the Beavers. Oregon State hosted Stanford earlier this season for the Beaver's first home match of the season on Oct. 8. Freshman DiLara Unal recorded a season-high three blocks while it was the first time this season that every player recorded at least one dig.
MASSEY'S MILESTONES
• Oregon State 2020-21 roster is highlight by the return of senior Grace Massey for a fifth season.
• Massey became the OSU's all-time digs record holder against Colorado on Friday, Oct. 29, surpassing the previous record of 2,029 that was set by Becky Defoe in 2013. The Beaverton, Ore. native needed 12 against the Buffs and collected 16 on Friday night in front of Beaver Nation and now has 2,045 digs and counting.
• So far in 2021, Massey has 267 digs. In her first three season in the Orange and Black, Massey finished in the top-10 for each grade (Freshman: 2nd with 433; Sophomore: 1st with 560; Junior: 3rd with 524). As a sophomore and junior, Massey's numbers rank her third and fifth, respectively, on OSU's single-season digs record list. Massey also holds a top-10 spot on digs per set each year she has been a Beaver.
• Against Southern Illinois Edwardsville, Massey set the three-set match record for digs in a set with 33 - tying a career-high that was previously set against Arizona on Nov. 17, 2019.
• Currently, Massey sits fifth in the Pac-12 for digs per set (4.17) and eighth for total digs. She is also 26th in the NCAA for career digs amongst active players.
• On top of her success on the court, Massey was also selected as one of 30 candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award.
RETURNERS
• Maddie Goings made her 2021 debut vs LSU and recorded a team-high 19 kills. After the Oregon match, she has 1,253 career kills to sit ninth all-time at OSU and has 3,852 career attacks to sit sixth.
• Junior Lindsey Schell returns for another season in the Orange and Black. This season, the Temecila, Calif. native has 200 kills off 482 attacks, along with 63 blocks to average 0.84 per set.
• Szulczewski has been a crucial part of OSU's team with 645 assists on the season to lead OSU. She has posted eight double-doubles this season to sit with 18 on her career. On the year, she has 62 kills, 11 aces, 45 blocks and 191 digs.
• Tkachenko made her debut vs LSU. She has recorded double-digit kills in eight of the 17 matches she has seen time in this season, including a career-high 17 at Colorado State. On the year, she has 196 kills, 489digs, six aces and 13 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 but has missed every match since due to injury.
NEWCOMER POWER
• The freshman class has hit the ground running since joining the squad.
• All-seven true freshman have seen time in at least seven 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 112 kills, 24 blocks and 21 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 36 kills, 26 blocks, 15 digs and six aces. Bourne has 31 kills, 12 digs and 16 blocks through 22 matches this season.
• Unal made her first appearances in 2021 against Penn State. Unal has started 13 matches and has 34 blocks. She also has four aces, eight assists, 14 kills and 13 digs on the season.
• White has appeared in 22 matches and every set this season, seeing time as both a defensive specialist and libero. With eight starts under her belt, the Richland, Wash. native has 1137 digs and five aces on the season.
LAST TIME OUT
• Oregon State dropped both matches at home last weekend against Colorado and No. 19 Utah in just its fifth and sixth matches in Corvallis during the 2021 campaign.
• The Beaver's took the first set against Colorado on Friday night but weren't able to seal the victory in front of Beaver Nation. Senior Grace Massey claimed the top spot in OSU's record book for all-time digs with 2,030 in the loss. Sunday, the Orange & Black connected on a season-high 61 kills and 60 assists but it wasn't enough to beat their nationally-ranked opponent Utah.
NEXT UP
• Following this weekend, Oregon State returns home to host No. 13 UCLA on Friday, Nov. 12 at 5:00 p.m. before welcoming the Trojans of USC inside Gill Coliseum on Sunday, Nov. 14. with first serve slated for noon. Season and single game tickets are available by visiting BeaverTickets.com/volleyball or by calling 1-800-GO-BEAVS.streamed by the home institutions.