CORVALLIS, Ore. – A well-balanced attack led the Oregon State volleyball team to their third consecutive win – and third-straight sweep – over Boise State on Sunday inside Gill Coliseum.
“(I’m) super proud of this team,” noted head coach Lindsey Behonick. “It started from our block of training that we had leading up to these matches and we were hungry and not satisfied with how (the) Montana State (tournament) went. We wanted to get better and we showed it this weekend. We wanted streak well and streak some wins and we’re looking forward to keeping this pace of play up.”
18 assists from Amanda Burns and a combined 31 kills from Mychael Vernon (9), Lauren Rumel (8 – a career-best), and seven apiece from Burns and Megan Sheridan helped propel the Beavs to the 25-21, 25-15, 25-16 result.
After splitting the first set’s first six points, the Beavers took control with five unanswered for their biggest lead of the frame at 8-3 behind an Ava Pitchford ace. When Boise State closed the gap to just a point, the Beavs rattled off another five consecutive from timely blocks from Aliyah McDonald, a Burns kill and some Boise State errors. Sheridan sealed the set with a kill from a Burns assist to cap the scoring at 25-21. In addition to her ace, Pitchford helped with seven assists to help push the squad.
Similar to the first set, the second started as a back-and-forth affair until the Beavs put together a nine-point outburst after being down 15-14. Bronco errors and blocks from Burns, McDonald and Vernon and McDonald and Vernon kills helped push it to the OSU favor. The Beavs sealed the set with a Burns block and a Peyton Suess kill to push the visitors to the brink. Sheridan led the team with three kills while Burns helped with a handful of assists in the set.
Keeping consistency in the early part of the set, the Beavs used two 5-0 runs after a deadlock at 10-10 and stretched to a 21-12 lead to go for the set – and match win. Following the second 5-0 run to get to 21-12, the Beavers kept the pace up and only saw their lead dip down to just seven until a Burns kill sealed the match – and weekend sweep.
Oregon State will venture south to the Golden State for a three-match set in Riverside, California starting Friday. The Beavs will face Nevada on Friday, September 8 at 11 a.m. PT.
