Beavers Lose in Five to Washington State

Oregon State heads to the desert next week to face Arizona State and Arizona.

Salem-News.com Sports

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Sophomore Kiersten Sambrailo (Watsonville, Calif.) had a strong all-around match with five kills, six digs and a team-high seven blocks, but Oregon State fell to Washington State in five sets on Sunday afternoon.

Set scores were 17-25, 25-15, 25-21, 24-26, 12-15.

“We, if anything, did two things poorly – one, our hitters made too many errors and the other is that we didn’t control the ball like we should,” head coach Taras Liskevych said. “We are really up against the wall. But we just really have to get back in it and go after the Arizona schools and focus on the next match.”

Junior Rachel Rourke (Queensland, Australia) led all hitters with 23 kills, sophomore Jill Sawatzky (St. Andrews, Manitoba) added 21 and junior Lexie Rathgeber (White Rock, British Columbia) had 12.

Defensively, Rourke added four blocks, while senior Ashley Evans (West Linn, Ore.) had a season-high 26 digs with Sawatzky adding 17.

Eleven unforced errors hurt the Beavers in the first set forcing Oregon State to burn its first timeout at the 10-2 mark. Rourke hammered four kills to lead the team, but the errors stopped the Beavers from getting back into the set, despite a 6-2 run at the end behind Rourke’s tough jump serve.

Oregon State bounced back in the second set taking control from the start and limiting Washington State to nearly all sideout points. Rourke led the way for the Beavers with five kills, while Sawatzky added four and Rathgeber had three.

Coming out of the break, the Beavers took control again early, building a lead of as much as six, letting Washington State tie things up once at 3-3. Sawatzky and Rourke combined for nine of the team’s 16 kills and Evans dug up five balls.

In the fourth set, the Beavers led throughout the first half before the Cougars tied the score up at 18 all. Washington State took the lead, reaching 23 first with a three point lead. But two kills by Rourke and one by Sambrailo behind the serving of Ah-Hoy tied up the set for the fifth time. But Washington State tied things up at two sets each behind a pair of blocks, forcing the deciding fifth set.

Washington State took the lead quickly in the fifth set starting with a Jackie Albright kill and then a service ace for Amy Small. Oregon State battled back to within one, but a block put the set and match away in favor of the Cougars.

Washington State’s Albright led the Cougars offensively with 13 kills, adding 16 digs, while libero Bree Flach had a match-high 29 digs.

Oregon State’s record now sits at 14-13, 3-11 Pac-10, while Washington State is now 8-18, 1-14 Pac-10.

Oregon State heads to the desert next week to face Arizona State and Arizona. The Beavers will take on the Sun Devils first at 6:00 PM PT on Friday and the Wildcats on Sunday at 11:00 AM PT.

Oregon State Notes – Sophomore Jill Sawatzky recorded her second double-double of the season with 21 kills and 17 digs … Junior Rachel Rourke earned her seventh 20-plus kills match of the season with 23 … Senior Ashley Evans dug a season-high 26 balls.

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