Buffs Upset In Four At Oregon State
CORVALLIS, Ore. — The University of Colorado women's volleyball team hit .308 here Friday night, but still fell to Oregon State in four sets (25-19, 25-17, 25-19, 25-20).
The defeat breaks the Buffaloes (13-6, 5-4 Pac-12) four-game win streak over the Beavers (7-12, 2-7 Pac-12).
Three Colorado players recorded 10 or more kills. Maya Tabron led the team with 12 kills, followed by Meegan Hart who notched 11 with a .500 attack percentage. Lexi Hadrych rounded out the team's double-digit offense with 10 kills and a .292 hitting percentage.
Libero Katie Lougeay earned an impressive three aces for the Buffs and posted nine digs, tied defensively with Brynna Deluzio and Tabron.
Oregon State led the match offensively, hitting .398 on 63 kills to CU's 41. Mychael Vernon was a major driver for the OSU offense with 22 kills and was trailed closely by teammate Izzi Szulczewski who earned 18.
The Buffs will look to recover as they continue their road trip against No.20-ranked Oregon on Sunday at 1 p.m. MT. A CU victory would snap a four-game losing streak against the Ducks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE
The Buffs were unable to shut down Oregon State's offense in the first set as the Beavers hit .533. Oregon State's aggressive service pressure kept the Buffs out-of-system and also allowed the Beavers to earn four blocks while holding the Buffs to none. An early ace by the Beavers set the tone for the set. After battling back and forth, two consecutive blocks by the Beavers put them up 7-2. Another kill by Oregon State forced the Buffs to take their first timeout of the set at 8-3. The Buffs quickly responded with a kill from Kuehl, but couldn't keep the momentum as an overpass by Colorado gave Oregon State the side out, putting the score at 9-4. From there, CU could never fully recover and an ace by OSU gave them a 16-7 lead. The Buffs attempted to rally late in the set, earning four consecutive points on a Tabron service run, but another clean kill from Oregon State ended the Buffs' momentum. Set point came at 24-19, with the Beavers earning another ace.
SET TWO
The second set was all Buffs as Colorado held off the Beavers from gaining a lead at any point in the set. After exchanging early points and being tied at 3-3, CU went on a three-point run, putting them up 6-3. CU earned their first block of the match at 18-9. Entering the match, CU was ranked fifth for blocking in the nation. Colorado's second stuff block came from Hart and Schneggenburger to give CU a significant 20-13 lead. The Buffs earned the set from a back-row attack error by OSU.
SET THREE
Colorado jumped to an early lead at 3-2, but the Beavers quickly recovered. Kateryna Tkachenko gained two consecutive kills to put OSU up 7-4. Two consecutive blocks by the Buffs closed the gap and put Colorado at 15-12, but Oregon State quickly extended their lead to 21-15 and forced CU to take their second timeout. Tabron earned her 11th kill at 23-18, but a Vernon kill gave the Beavers set point. A kill from Hart held off set point for the Beavers, but Vernon closed out the game with her 15th kill at 25-19.
SET FOUR
Colorado started off strong with a block from Tabron, her second of the match. However, OSU quickly found their way past CU's defense as Vernon notched her 19th kill of the match to put the Beavers up 5-3. Oregon State began to pull ahead with a kill by Szulczewski at 10-7, but the Buffs rallied back and a service ace by Taylor Simpson put the Buffs within one. Another ace from Lougeay, Colorado's seventh of the match, gave CU a 17-16 lead. OSU rallied back and Vernon's 22nd kill tied up the set 20-20. From there, OSU took the next five points, ending the set 25-20 with a final kill from Szulczewski.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jesse Mahoney
On The Overall Match
"Credit to Oregon State, I thought they played a really good match certainly offensively. We haven't had a team hit for that type of percentage against us all year. We're typically a really good blocking team. I think we finished with one or two blocks on the night which is unlike us. Our serve pass game is fine and we got them out of system and couldn't stop their left side who scored against our double block and defense really well and that was the match. We hit .300 on our side and offensively we weren't doing bad things. Just an off night for us defensively. It's unfortunate because those are the type of matches in this league that we have to win. And it gets tougher on Sunday.
On Effort
"I think they hit .550 In the first set. It's not an effort thing, we just weren't in a very good groove defensively. We came back and played well in the second set and then I felt like okay, we're going to settle in and that didn't really happen. We gave them some free points, certainly from the service line, in set four to make them comfortable every time we had a mini-run, we let them off on our own."
On Pac-12 Play
"Everyone in the Pac-12 is good, regardless of their record and we've got to understand that. When we're in at anybody's house, we have to come ready to play whether they're at the top of the standings or the bottom of the standings. For where we are and what we want to accomplish this season, this just means we've got to steal one. We've got to win one at the top half if you lose one in the bottom."