PULLMAN, Wash. – The Oregon State volleyball team secured its first top-ten upset of the Lindsey Behonick era with a five-set thriller over No. 6 Washington State (21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 18-25, 15-13) on Sunday afternoon.
“Wow,” said head coach Lindsey Behonick. “This team is something else. As a first-year head coach, I couldn’t have asked for a better group. We are doing something really special here. Congrats to Ryan (white) on career high digs. It’s been great to see that in this last week of training, our work towards a setter-middle connection shined. I couldn’t be more grateful for this team and my staff to be doing this in my first year as a head coach. Let’s keep this going!”
Competing in her home state, Ryan White had a career-best 29 digs to help the Beavers (9-13, 4-8 Pac-12) secure the win. On the offensive front, Peyton Suess led with 18 kills, followed by Mychael Vernon with 17 and Megan Sheridan adding 16. Vernon put together a double-double with her 13 digs. Amanda Burns – adding to the day’s offense, used 31 assists to her 11 digs for her second double-double of the weekend. Elizabeth Schuster added 26 assists to the offensive effort.
Washington State took the early momentum with a 25-21 first set that did not have much separation. The Cougars used a 4-1 run when they held a slight 15-14 lead to pull away for the four-point frame win. Sheridan led the OSU offense in the set, where she tallied five kills while White dug out six. Despite the set loss, the Beavers out-hit the Cougars by .043.
Evening the affair at a set apiece, Oregon State found the needed separation off a Katy Ryan attack error for a seven-point lead at 21-14. Needing just a pair of set point opportunities, Suess clinched things at 25-20 after using a 6-1 run. The Beavers turned in a .324 clip when Vernon and Suess finished the frame with six kills apiece while Schuster was up to seven assists.
Putting the hosts on the brink, the Beavers used an identical 25-20 set win to secure the 2-1 set lead. Tied at 10, OSU used a 15-10 over the stretch to take the win. When the score was 17-16 in favor of the Beavs, kills from Vernon and Aliyah McDonald sandwiched key Cougar errors to help push across. For the consecutive set, a Suess kill clinched things and Schuster helped things with seven more assists.
Flipping the match’s momentum, Washington State held the Beavers to just a .075 clip as they forced a fifth set and put a hold on the Beavs’ bid. Starting out as another back-and-forth set, a 10-10 tie was flipped to a 25-18 win for the hosts. 10 errors by the Beavers aided the Cougs’ attack as they forced a fifth set. White was a highlight in the set for the OSU defense as she tallied eight digs.
With the sides trading punches in the final set, kills from Lauren Rumel and Suess secured the biggest lead for either team as the Beavs held onto a 14-12 lead. Despite the Cougars killing off the Beavs’ first match point attempt, a Suess kill sealed the upset and 2-0 weekend.
Suess and Vernon led the attack in the fifth with each tallying five kills while Burns helped with seven assists. Putting an exclamation point on her career day, White dug it eight times for the win.
Oregon State will open the penultimate two-match homestand by welcoming Colorado to Gill Coliseum on Friday, November 3. First serve against the Buffaloes is set for 7 p.m.
OUR MISSIONOregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS)
