CORVALLIS, Ore. – Opening up year two of the Lindsey Behonick era of Oregon State volleyball, the Beavers will start the 2024 campaign in Phoenix at the GCU Invitational this weekend.
Oregon State, coming off an exhibition with rival – and 10th-ranked Oregon – will meet Fresno State, Grand Canyon and Montana in the multi-team event, taking place from Friday to Sunday.
The Matchups
August 30 vs. Fresno State 4:30 p.m. PT
August 31 at Grand Canyon 7 p.m. PT
September 1 vs. Montana 11 a.m. PT
The Beavers and Fresno State will face off for the 18th time in a series they lead by an 11-6 margin back in 2017 during a neutral meeting in Portland. Saturday’s matchup with the host Lopes will mark the first meeting between Oregon State and Grand Canyon, while Sunday’s match with Montana will be the 17th time against the Grizzlies but first since 1993.
All three games will be shown on ESPN+ and have live stats via StatBroadcast.
The 2024 squad features key returners such as Ryan White, Amanda Burns and Rumel while the coaching staff signed seven freshmen – Alondra Paz, Zaria Thornton, Emma Lilo, Regan Shields, Yasemin Narlioğlu, Alara Doganyüz, and Alexis Rodriguez – who will look to make an instant impact. From the transfer portal, the team added Hester (San Diego), Elly Schraeder (San Diego State) and Kalli Schoening (Eckerd).
coaching connections
• AHC Abbie Wright led the Fresno State team during the 2022 season following time as the Bulldogs’ associate head coach.
• AC Aaron Samarin served as an assistant coach on Wright’s staff in 2022.
let’s start strong
• Oregon State will look to win the opener for the sixth time in the last eight non-COVID-impacted campaigns.
• It will mark the first time in program history that OSU will start a season in Arizona.
Oh, we definitely dig it
• Ryan White will look to be the 18th Beaver to hit the 1,000-dig mark and first to meet the threshold since the 2021 season.
• The senior from Richland, Wash., led the Beavers in both digs (448) and digs/set (3.73) in 2023.
welcome welcome!
• The 2024 squad has 10 new members, seven freshmen and three coming via the transfer portal.
• A pair – Hester and Schraeder – come to Corvallis with prior experience in the WCC.
• While Schraeder joins from San Diego State, she and Hester were also teammates at WCC foe, San Diego during the 2021 campaign.
• Schoening – a Eugene native – will play her final year of college volleyball in orange and black. She returns to the Beaver State from Eckerd College, a Division II school in St. Petersburg, Fla.
• Schoening helped lead South Eugene HS to a district championship in her senior season and was twice an all-conference selection.
• The seven freshmen are: Paz (Woodburn, Ore.), Thornton (Carson, Calif.), Lilo (Kailua, Hawaii), Shields (Ladera Ranch, Calif.), Narlioğlu (Kadikoy, Turkey), Doğanyüz (Ankara, Turkey) and Rodriguez (Mililani, Hawaii).
League honors
• Oregon State’s pair of preseason WCC-honored student-athletes were Hester and Rumel.
• The Beavers were picked to finish fourth in the conference by the league’s coaches in the preseason poll.
• The fourth-place selection is the highest for the Beavers in the Behonick era.
THE WORLD TO CORVALLIS
• For the second consecutive year in the Behonick era, the Beavers will have three international student-athletes.
• OSU has a pair from Turkey – Doğanyüz and Narlioğlu – along with Coba (Italy).
• Oregon State is one of five WCC schools with at least three international student-athletes.
ALOHA STATE TO BEAVER STATE
• For the first time since the 2019 season, the Beavers will have at least one from the state of Hawaii.
• The 2024 squad has two, both of which are in the freshman class: Lilo (Kailua) and Rodriguez (Mililani).
•For just the fourth time in program history, the Beavers will compete in the 50th state when they’ll participate in the Outrigger Invitational in a few weeks.
OUR MISSIONOregon State Athletics strives to Build Excellent Authentic Visionary Student-Athletes (Go BEAVS)
