Offensive Struggles Cost Beavs Against Utah

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Oregon State volleyball was unable to overcome a slow hitting afternoon, falling in three sets (25-17, 25-15, 26-24) to Utah on Sunday afternoon at Gill Coliseum.

Utah (12-9, 5-5 Pac-12) held the Beavs (7-13, 2-8 Pac-12) to just a .162 attacking clip, recording 10 blocks, while out-digging the Beavs, 43-41, on the afternoon.

Kateryna Tkachenko was the lone Beaver in double-figures offensively, finishing the match with 10 kills on 24 attempts, while Inna Balyko earned her second-straight and sixth overall double-double of the season, dishing out 30 assists to go along with 12 digs.

Both teams fought for separation the with Utah clinging to a lead through much of the early going in the first set. Up by a pair, at 14-12, the Utes took control of set one with a 7-0 run to push their advantage to nine. Utah finished the set hitting .448, while holding the Beavs to just .088 to take a 1-0 advantage in the match.

A quick 8-1 sprint in the opening portion of set two by Utah forced Oregon State into a timeout trailing 9-3. Holding on to a 15-10 advantage, the Utes used another big 7-1 push to stretch their lead to 11 and closed the Beavs out to go up 2-0 in the contest.

The Beavs jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead in the third stanza behind a pair of kills from Szulczewski. However, Utah answered back to tie the set at 11 each side. Kills by Kinley Swan and Balyko pushed OSU back into the lead, but another big 5-0 run by Utah gave the Utes the lead right back. Trailing 22-20, Tkachenko stepped up for Oregon State with a kill and stuff to draw the set back to even at 22 all. A rare kill by libero Ryan White, pushing the ball to the far-right corner of the court gave the Beavs set point, however Utah used a pair of kills from Lauren Jardine as part of a final 3-0 run to take the match in straight sets.

Oregon State returns to the road for a pair of matches next weekend, beginning with Arizona State on Friday.

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