ASU volleyball suffered a sweep in its third straight series against Oregon State in Corvallis, Oregon, losing both games on Thursday and Friday by scores of 3-2.
Thursday (28-26, 16-25, 25-18, 27-29, 11-15)
Freshman outside hitter Marta Levinska led the Sun Devils offensively in the first game with 20 kills, which set a new single-game career-high in kills. Sophomore libero Annika Larson recorded 26 digs, setting a single-game career-high in digs.
After both teams traded runs early in the first set, ASU went on a 5-0 run to take an 18-14 lead, only for Oregon State to respond with a 4-0 of its own to tie the set.
Oregon State eventually forced set point at 24-23 after scoring consecutive points, but ASU tied the set and scored four of the set's last five points to win it 28-26.
Oregon State broke away from ASU in the second set with two 4-0 runs. The Sun Devils never scored more than two unanswered points in the set and lost it 25-16.
ASU took a commanding lead in the third set with a 14-2 run, including seven unanswered points. The Sun Devils later allowed the Beavers to produce multiple runs, but the 12-point lead they built was too much for the Beavers to overcome, winning the set 25-18.
After the Sun Devils built a 22-18 advantage in the fourth set, the Beavers produced a 5-0 run to take the lead. ASU forced match point at 24-23 with a kill and an ace, but a kill from Oregon State freshman middle blocker Aliyah McDonald kept the match going.
After ASU and Oregon State traded points up until the score of 27-26, Oregon State scored three straight points to force a fifth set.
ASU fell behind in the fifth set 11-7 but produced a 4-0 run to tie the score at 11 points apiece. Oregon State then scored four straight points of its own to win the set and the match.
Friday (25-18, 23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 19-21)
ASU and Oregon State again played to five sets, with Oregon State again defeating ASU 3-2.
Levinska recorded 20 kills for the second straight match, senior middle blocker Megan Beedie scored 12 kills and freshman setter Ella Snyder tallied 43 assists.
ASU produced an 8-0 run early in the first set to take a 13-5 lead. The Sun Devils later went on a 5-0 run to end the set and win it by a score of 25-18.
Runs by both teams defined the second set. The Beavers broke an 8-8 tie with a 5-0 run, the Sun Devils followed it up with a 6-0 run of their own and the Beavers immediately countered with another 5-0 run. ASU never tied the score for the remainder of the set, losing it 25-23.
Oregon State produced multiple runs in the third set — two 4-0 runs and three 3-0 runs — to win it 25-20.
ASU built a lead as large as seven points in the fourth set, helping the team eventually force a fifth set.
After ASU forced match point in the fifth set at 14-12, Oregon State scored two straight points to tie the set and keep the match going. The two teams subsequently tied the score five more times, but Oregon State scored the set's final two points to defeat ASU 21-19.
ASU's next series will be in Tempe against UCLA on Feb. 19 and 21.
Reach the reporter at njpietrz@asu.edu and follow @NPietrzycki on Twitter.
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