HONOLULU – Offensive woes hampered the Oregon State volleyball team as they fell in the opener of the Outrigger Invitational, 3-0 (22-25, 18-25, 20-25) to Texas State on Thursday.
The Beavers (1-5) were held to a .216 hitting percentage with only two – Annika Hester (10) and Zaria Thornton (10) – reaching double-digits in kills on the evening. Emma Lilo – playing collegiately for the first time in her home state – led the Beavers with 19 assists while Alara Doganyuz led the defense with nine digs. Lilo, the Beavers’ leader in assists, has now hit double-digits in all six matches of the season.
Oregon State and Texas State opened the match with a back-and-forth first set, essentially trading scoring runs throughout. The Beavers battled off multiple 3-0 runs from the Bobcats and had a 3-0 run of their own to make it 21-18 late but Texas State countered with seven of the final nine points to take the set.
The Bobcats stretched their second set-opening lead to 9-3 and didn’t look back. Despite the result, the Beavers closed their deficit to two on two occasions but Texas State responded to put the Beavers on the brink. Oregon State was held to a .108 clip and combined for just 11 kills on the way to dropping the set by the seven-point margin.
Trying to push the match to at least four, Oregon State closed early deficits to as little as two but like in the second, Texas State responded with runs to put the match away. With the Beavers down just 20-18, the Bobcats countered a 4-1 OSU run with a 5-2 one of their own to secure the set and match win.
A matchup with hosts, Hawaii, will close out the trip to Honolulu. First serve against the Rainbow Wahine is set for 10 p.m. PT and can be seen on ESPN+.
