Kressl’s All-Around Performance Leads Volleyball in Win over Washington State

Oregon State heads to No. 1 Stanford on Friday, Oct. 1 for its next Pac-10 match-up

Corvallis, Ore. - Freshman Mona Kressl (Langenzenn, Germany) had a solid all-around performance for the Oregon State volleyball team (8-8, 1-1 Pac-10) as it won 3-1 (25-15, 24-26, 25-22, 25-15) over Washington State on Saturday evening in legendary Gill Coliseum.

"The key was that we really let that second set go," head coach Taras Liskevych said. "Washington State did a great job blocking us at the end of the second set, but we didn’t lose our composure. We came out and played very well in set three and played outstanding in set four. In set four we sided out as well as we have all year.

There was some really good play by Tami [Brown], Dre [Shaw] and Camille Saxton. And I thought we did a great job serving. It puts us in the hunt for the next couple of weeks in the Pac-10. We need to take it one match at a time."

Kressl earned three of the team's eight service aces, while adding seven blocks – two solo – and six kills with two digs. Senior Jill Sawatzky (St. Andrews, Manitoba) led all hitters with 16 kills, adding seven digs and three blocks, while sophomore Camille Saxton (Balzac, Alberta) had 11 kills, hitting .421, with four blocks and six digs.

Oregon State easily coasted to an early 1-0 lead after scoring the first eight points of the match, chalking up seven of those points on Cougar errors behind the serving of Kressl, who earned a pair of aces in that run. Freshman Becky Defoe (Bend, Ore.) wrapped up the set with a pair of aces of her own, and Saxton put the final kill down to take the set.

The second set was a different story as Washington State put up five big blocks including scoring four of the Cougars last five points as it tied up the match at one set each. The two teams traded four leads and tied the set up 10 times en route to the extra-point set. Sawatzky led the attack for the Beavers as she earned six of the team’s 14 kills.

Despite two lead changes and eight tied scores in the third set, Oregon State led through most of the third set. And in spite of a late Cougar surge, the Beavers regained the lead heading into a decisive fourth set. But Oregon State easily earned a fourth set victory behind nine team blocks and four kills each by Saxton and Sawatzky.

Defoe led the Beavers' backcourt defense with 10 digs, while sophomore Ashley Eneliko (Seattle, Wash.) and sophomore Megan McBride (Auburn, Wash.) both had four blocks each.

Washington State’s Oceana Bush and Meagan Ganzer paced the Cougar offense with 12 kills each, while libero Kaleinani Kabalis dug a match-high 15 balls.

Oregon State heads to No. 1 Stanford on Friday, Oct. 1 for its next Pac-10 match-up at 7:00 p.m.
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