OSU Serves Up Final Regular-Season Matches, Honoring Seniors Friday
CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State volleyball returns home this weekend, hosting its final matches of the 2021 campaign starting with Arizona State on Wednesday, Nov. 24 before welcoming Oregon Friday, Nov. 26 for its annual Rivalry Series match on Senior Night. Prior to the match against the Ducks, OSU will honor its three seniors in Maddie Goings, Grace Massey and Lindsey Schell.
THANKSGIVING TAP
• Oregon State (4-24, 2-16 Pac-12) returns home to conclude the regular-season, hosting Arizona State on Wednesday, Nov. 24 and No. 19 Oregon for its annual Rivalry Series with the Ducks on Friday, Nov. 26. Prior to the match against the Ducks, the Beavers will honor their three seniors in Maddie Goings, Grace Massey and Lindsey Schell.
• First serve against the Sun Devils is slated for 12 p.m. on Wednesday before the Beavers play their final game of the 2022 campaign on Friday at 5 p.m. Both matches will be aired on the Pac-12 Network with Ben Creighton on the call.
• This season the Beavers were no stranger to the road as OSU played 20 of its 30 matches in unfamiliar territory this season.
• The Orange & Black hosted No. 12 UCLA and USC for games seven and eight inside Gill Coliseum back on Nov. 12 & 14. 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 to watch on the Pac-12 Network with Ben Creighton on the calls. Live stats will also be 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
ALL THE GRAVY
• The Beavers 24-46 overall against Arizona State but have won six of the last ten matchups, including the last two during the 2020 season that was played this past spring. OSU defeated the Sun Devils in Corvallis back on Feb. 11 & 12 by scores of 3-2 in both games. In those two matches, Mychael Vernon collected 36 kills while Izzi Szulczewski dished out 83 assists and Grace Massed collected 53 digs during the weekend series to propel the Beavers.
• The head-to-head matchup with the Ducks is 71-44, in favor of Oregon. As of late, Oregon has owned the clash taking the last four including this year's earlier matchup in Eugene. Oregon State battled back in the third set but ultimately fell to 13th-ranked Oregon in straight sets. Kateryna Tkachenko led the Beaver offense with 11 kills while Ryan White grabbed a career-high 14 digs.
GOING GOINGS
• Maddie Goings has made a big impact during her four-year career with the Beavers. This season, the senior has appeared in 20 matches with 18 starts this season, missing out in eight due to injuries.
• In 2021, Maddie Goings made her debut vs LSU and recorded a team-high 19 kills. She has registered 10 double-digit kill games this season to go along with two double-double appearances.
• The outside hitter has led the Beaver offense on nine different occasions, including back-to-back 18-kill games against Utah and California.
• The Aledo, Texas native has 1,292 career kills to sit eighth all-time at OSU and has 3,965 career attacks to sit sixth.
• Goings also became the 17th Beaver in program history to surpass the 1,000th dig mark after collecting seven at No. 22 Washington State on Sunday, Nov. 21.
SCHELL'S STAT STUFFER
• The 2021 campaign marks the final season for Lindsey Schell, as the junior (athletic eligibility) is choosing to not return for her COVID season but the middle blocker has made her mark on the OSU program.
• This season, the Temecula, Calif. native is one of two Beavers that has started every match with 247 kills off 601 attacks, along with 85 blocks to average 0.90 per set.
• Schell led the OSU offense with her 14th double-digit kill game adding 10 at No. 22 Washington State on Sunday, Nov. 21.
• Schell tied a career-high 16 kills against LSU earlier this season and rejected a season-high seven blocks two times this year, including matches against Houston and Colorado State.
• She currently is 12th all-time in the record books for 325 career blocks and her 279 block assists sits 11th amongst all Beavers.
RETURNERS
• Szulczewski has been a crucial part of OSU's team with 796 assists on the season to lead OSU. She has posted nine double-doubles this season to sit with 19 on her career. On the year, she has 73 kills, 18 aces, 55 blocks and 235 digs.
• Tkachenko made her debut vs LSU. She has recorded double-digit kills in 13 of the 25 matches she has seen time in this season, including tying a career-high 17 at No. 19 Stanford. On the year, she has 261 kills, 74 digs, seven aces and 16 blocks.
• Vernon has been in and out of the lineup all season due to injuries. She 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, Vernon led the Beavers at the net with a season-high three blocks at No. 12 Washington on Friday, Nov. 19.
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 118 kills, 24 blocks and 22 digs on the year but missed a couple games as of late due to injury.
• 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 36 kills, 12 digs and 20 blocks through 26 matches this season.
• Unal made her first appearances in 2021 against Penn State. Unal has started 19 matches and has 54 blocks, including a career-high seven at California (11/5). She also has seven aces, eight assists, 22 kills and 24 digs on the season.
• White has appeared in 8 matches and every set this season, seeing time as both a defensive specialist and libero. With 10 starts under her belt, the Richland, Wash. native has 155 digs and six aces on the season.