WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE…
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- The Washington State volleyball team (16-14 overall, 5-13 in Pac-12) battled back from a slow start but fell to Oregon State (21-9, 11-7) with set scores of 25-17, 25-21, 6-25 and 25-22 Sunday afternoon at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis.
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Junior
Taylor Mims led the match with 23 kills while hitting .288, and served one ace, had 15 digs and six blocks.
Ella Lajos contributed nine kills (.300) and nine blocks.
Savanah Smith had six kills and
Jocelyn Urias added five kills.
Ashley Brown had 33 assists, three kills and one ace.
Alexis Dirige had a match-high 21 digs, and
Olivia Coale had 11 digs.
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Claire Martin led the match with her season-best 10 blocks as WSU tallied 14.5 blocks, nearly triple the 5.0 blocks for OSU.
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In team statistics, Oregon State, a team receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, landed 52 kills on 166 attacks for a .187 hitting percentage while WSU had 49 kills on 150 attacks for a .220 hpct. The Cougars had the edge in digs, 76 to 74 as OSU landed four aces to WSU's three.
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WHY & HOW...
WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said, "I thought for the most part we did a nice job. Definitely in that first set we started really slow but then we were able to settle in a little bit. We were definitely better the second half of that first set. Then just battled in the second. Oregon State is a great team. They have a lot of different weapons and they move their players around quite a bit. Just a solid, solid team defensively and passing so it's hard to find some cracks. We came out on fire in that third set and that's not showing what kind of a team Oregon State is either. We were getting the ball to bounce our way and serving tough. We couldn't hang on there in the fourth to be able to push it to a fifth set."
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On getting the block going Greeny said, "We did a nice job serving and making them a little more predictable as the match went on. Then we got stuck in a couple of rotations and they ran off a bunch of points. It was nice to see our block get going especially in that third set, we were just on fire. We have to be more consistent throughout the entire match."
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On the final regular season matches Greeny said, "Two more left. We definitely need one if not two more wins to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Hope a lot of the Cougars faithful, season ticket-holders and families who are still in town to come to Bohler Gym Wednesday and support those seniors and the team."
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Junior middle blocker/opposite Claire Martin said, "I believe that with our tough serving, their offense was easier to read which helped us blockers find our hitters better. I just kept telling myself to be big and press over! For these upcoming games, we need to play with the same energy and intensity that we know we can play and I think playing at Bohler Gym, with our fans' support, will help us play better."
NOTES…
- WSU led the third set from the first serve, with no ties, just as OSU did in the opening set.
- WSU scored 16 of first 17 points of set three.
- Cougars mounted an 11-4 run in set four for a 19-16 lead.
- Junior Claire Martin moved into third place on WSU's all-time career block assists with 374 while junior Taylor Mims' 320 career block assists is 10th-best.
- Sophomore Alexis Dirige has 996 career digs, 12th-best in WSU's all-time records.
- Attendance: 1,185
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR…
Washington State (16-14 overall, 5-13 in Pac-12) host Arizona State (10-20, 0-18) Wed., Nov. 22, at 7 p.m. in Bohler Gym. The Cougars travel to Seattle for the Fri., Nov. 24 Apple Cup Series as presented by Boeing match at No. 10 Washington (22-7, 12-6 pending 11/22 vs. Arizona). The 8 p.m. match at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmondson Pavilion will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
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