Oregon State split its matches this weekend, losing to No. 2 Washington 3-0 on Friday and defeating Washington State 3-1 on Sunday.
Before defeating Washington State, the Beavers had been on a three-game losing streak; losing to Cal, Stanford and Washington.
When Oregon State (13-7, 3-5 Pac-12) took the court on Sunday to play Washington State, the Beavers came out with an energy that showed they were seemingly determined to put an end to their losing streak.
?We needed to get this win today in order to get to the NCAA tournament,? said freshman Sara Almen, who played her best collegiate game to date with a career-high nine kills.
Oregon State defeated Washington State (10-9, 0-7) three sets to one. The Cougars tied things up in a very close 25-23 second-set win.
However, losing the second set may have been the spark the Beavers needed in order to defeat Washington State. The third set was back and forth the entire time. Almen really stepped up, landing three kills in a row to keep the Beavers within striking distance.
The fourth set belonged to the Beavers after taking an early 7-3 lead. The Cougars never recovered from the early deficit and the Beavers kept them at arm?s length for the remainder of the match, eventually winning 25-17.
Finally getting in the win column after their three-game skid was crucial for OSU being able to get back on track.
Head coach Taras Liskevych described the match as a ?a big, big win for us.?
Senior Camille Saxton led the Beavers offensively with 14 kills, junior Becky Defoe led defensively with 16 digs and senior Megan McBride controlled the tempo of the game with 43 assists.
But it was the unexpected play of freshman Almen ? who was the consensus player of the game according to her teammates and coaches ? that may have led the Beavers to victory.
?She really took advantage of the opportunity that she got,? McBride said. ?That?s what we need, the younger players stepping up, and that?s what she did.?
Almen had the third-most kills for the Beavers with nine, scoring four of those in the fourth set.
With Almen performing well, it takes a lot of pressure off Saxton and sophomore Arica Nassar, who are the Beavers? primary offensive options.
?I was just trying to do whatever I could for the team,? Almen said.
With the Beavers having four consecutive games on the road, Almen will find herself with many more opportunities to continue to improve, as well as expand her role on the team.
***
Friday was a different story as Oregon State came into the match against No. 2 Washington, a team that proved to be too much to handle for the Beavers.
The Huskies controlled the momentum for the majority of the match, holding the Beavers to under 15 points during both the first and third sets.
?We need to play the entire match like we did in the second half of the second set,? Liskevych said. ?The urgency, the digging and attacking the ball, was just different.?
The Beavers came within a hair?s breadth of victory in the second set, scoring 22 points before being blocked at the net for Washington?s final point.
Oregon State is back on the road again for the next two weeks, beginning with a weekend series at Arizona State on Friday and Arizona on Sunday.
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Darryl Oliver III, sports reporter
On Twitter @oliver_darryl4
sports@dailybarometer.com
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