Sept. 7, 2008
Box Score
Corvallis, Ore. - The Pacific women's volleyball team put a scare into No. 17 Colorado State, taking the first set 25-20, but eventually gave way to the Rams, 3-1, on Sunday, Sept. 7 in the final match for both teams at the Oregon State / Asics Classic.
Set scores for the match: 20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-21.
The loss dropped the Tigers to 0-5 on the season, while Colorado State moved to 5-1 overall.
Continuing to play one of the toughest schedules in the country, the Tigers got off to a strong start against the 17th-ranked Rams. Down 8-6 early in the first set, Pacific rattled off five straight points to take a 11-8 lead. The Tigers started the rally by forcing Colorado State into consecutive attack errors, then seniors Alexa Anderson (Los Gatos, Calif.), Natalia Tomaszewska (Marklowice, Poland) and Kara Uhl (Long Beach, Calif.) each chalked the scoreboard. Anderson went first on a cross-court kill, Tomaszewska followed on a service ace, then Uhl capped the run via a roll-shot kill.
The three points of separation was all Pacific needed to claim the first set, never relinquishing the lead. The Tigers forced Colorado State into seven attacking errors in the set and posted a .400 hitting percentage (16 kills and two errors on 35 attempts) to cruise to the 25-20 win.
Colorado State matched Pacific's strong play in a very competitive second set. Neither team created more than two points of separation in the set, while battling through 12 ties and three lead changes. Knotted at 20-20, Pacific made their claim on the set behind a klll from junior Mallori Gibson (Bakersfield, Calif.) and an attacking error by the Rams to take a 22-20 lead. Colorado State, however, closed the set with five of the final six points to even the match at one set with a 25-23 win.
The fierce battle raged on during the third set as Pacific and Colorado State were tied at every point from one to 16. The Rams, however, were able to break away from Pacific on a four point explosion to take a 20-16 edge. The Tigers got no closer than three points the rest of the way, falling 25-18. Pacific posted its lowest hitting percentage of the match in the third set at .103 (nine kills and six errors on 29 attempts).
As the fourth set got underway, the Tigers struggled early and quickly found themselves down 11-5. With every reason to fold, Pacific performed like champions. The Tigers answered Colorado State's challenge by scoring eight of the next 10 points to take a 13-12 lead. Senior setter Shannon Krug started the Tigers rally with a full swing kill on a Rams overpass. Fellow senior and roommate Alexa Anderson (Los Gatos, Calif.) saw the urgency displayed by her teammate and delivered a kill to make it 11-7
The seniors' energy filtered down to the juniors as one point later, junior Masha Vaysburg (Livermore, Calif.) posted back-to-back kills. The ensuing play saw Vaysburg and Gibson roof Colorado State's Mekana Barnes to cut the deficit to two at 12-10. Freshman Rebekah Torres (Waihawa, Hawaii) got in the act with her first kill of the set, then the Tigers forced a Ram attacking error to pull even at 12-12. Gibson capped off the Tigers 8-2 run with a cross court kill from the right side, giving Pacific a 13-12 lead.
Colorado State, however, came right back with six of the next seven point to reclaim control of the set at 18-14. The Rams went on to take the set and the match, 25-21.
Gibson led the Tigers with 17 kills, while Anderson finished with 15 kills and Vaysburg tied a career-high with nine kills.
Colorado State's Barnes led the Rams with 17 kills.
After the match, Gibson was named Pacific's representative on the All-Tournament. Mallori finished the tournament with a team-high 53 kills and notched 26 digs.
Pacific returns to the floor on Thursday, Sept. 11 as the Tigers face No. 9 Washington at 8 p.m. (PT)
