Beavers Turn Tables On Dawgs

SEATTLE – Everything clicked in the first set for the Husky volleyball team. A 25-12 win back in front of the home Alaska Airlines Arena crowd in the final visit from Oregon State as conference rivals. But the Beavers suddenly hit back and Washington never regained its footing, falling in four sets to drop to 13-9 and 4-7 in conference play.
 
Oregon State took sets two through four by 25-18, 25-7, and 25-16 counts, building early leads and resisting any Husky rallies with more aggressive swings and serves. Washington hit a season-low .111 and the Beavers (8-13, 3-8 Pac-12) hit .316. OSU had an 8-5 edge in aces. After UW had served up four aces in the first set, it got just one the rest of the way. Blocks were 10.0 4.0 in favor of the visitors.
 
“In the first set we were hitting our serves, we had good offense, we were hitting .400,” said Head Coach Leslie Gabriel. “Obviously Oregon State picked it up, and they were able to get their block in front of us, a lot tighter than we were. We were more predictable and they were able to get there and take away spaces to hit that we had in the first set. I think our hitters started to press a little bit, everyone was trying to do something to make a difference and never could get a bead on it.”
 
Washington had a 10-match win streak against Oregon State snapped in the final meeting between the two in the Pac-12.
 
Madi Endsley had 12 kills and Kierstyn Barton had 11, while Grace Zilbert had 17 digs. Molly Wilson had 26 assists and 11 digs. Katy Wessels had three blocks.
 
UP NEXT: The Huskies will have to bounce back quickly as 9^th-ranked Oregon comes in to Alaska Airlines Arena this Sunday at 12 noon in a nationally televised match on ESPN.