San Diego, Calif. - Behind an epic performance out of their ace on the outside Lexi Elman, the Tigers ran over Oregon State in four sets on Saturday afternoon to close out play at the SDSU/USD Challenge. The win for the Tigers finished off a 3-0 weekend for Pacific as the team improved to 5-1 on the season while the Beavers fell to 1-3 on the year after sustaining their second-straight defeat to the WCC after losing to San Diego the night prior.

Set scores for the match were: 25-19, 23-25, 25-19, 25-17.

Dominating the day from the outset, the Tigers' offense came alive like never before thanks to a career-day out of Elman on the outside. Facing the big block of the Beavers, Elman used her speed to beat Oregon State to the spot throughout the entire match en route to tagging the Beavers for 28 kills on .408 hitting. Her 28 kills were the most for the Tigers since a 28 kill performance out of Svenja Engelhardt in 2010 against Long Beach State.

Elman got her day started in fine fashion as the junior came out on fire to the tune of eight kills on just 11 attacks in the opening set. In the first 10 points of the set, the Tigers scored eight of them as Elman produced three of her eight kills to go along with a block while tag-teaming with seniors Holland Crenshaw and Kimmy Whitson. The big lead built early by the Tigers was enough for Pacific to hold off a late run by the Beavers as Oregon State closed to within two late before the Tigers out-sprinted the Beavers 5-1 to close out the frame.

For the Tigers and the Beavers the second set played out in almost the same exact fashion as the Tigers built a big early lead forcing the Beavers to play catch-up. Leading by four late in the set, Pacific saw the Beavers mount another rally that proved to be too much for the Tigers to handle. Using a few mistakes by the Tigers and a block that found its mark late, Oregon State stole the second set out from under Pacific behind an 11-4 run that evened the match at one set a piece.

Undeterred by the upheaval at the end of the second set, the Tigers buckled down and put Oregon State behind with another early offensive onslaught. Building a seven point lead at 14-7, the Tigers maintained their advantage over the Beavers the rest of the way despite a late set rally that brought Oregon State back to within two at 21-19. However, the Tigers would not be denied as Elman put the match away with two more kills to finish the set with eight more kills in the frame.

Back in control, the Tigers used the same formula for success that had put them in total control of the match throughout the day as Pacific went to Elman early and often to establish a quick lead over Oregon State. Unlike the script that had played out in the first three sets of action, the Tigers would not let the Beavers back into the set as Pacific never let up, burying Oregon State. The Tigers put the finishing touches on their victory with a service ace from their captain, senior Kimmy Whitson, as she dropped a serve short ending the night without a fight.

In all, the Tigers controlled the night against the Beavers at the net and along the backline. Along with her 28 kills, Elman came up with a team-best 14 digs to pace the defense that came up with 54 total digs and held the Beavers to .206 hitting as a team. Alongside of Elman, senior Mia Feiner came up with 13 digs while sophomore Katrin Gotterba added 11. Offensively, sophomore Maycie LaBass tied her career high in kills with 10 on the night while adding seven digs in an all-around effort. Pacific added 7.5 blocks thanks to four each from Crenshaw and Whitson while junior Alicja Wilk, who returned from injury to start the match, added three blocks and eight kills (.444). 

The Beavers were led by Mary-Kate Marshall as the sophomore posted 15 kills on 41 attacks to go along with four blocks. Right behind Marshall, Katelyn Driscoll tallied 10 kills on 27 attacks to go with a pair of blocks. As a team, the Beavers produced 10.0 blocks led by Haley Clarke's five block day.

The Tigers will next head to Omaha, Neb. to take part in Creighton's Bluejay Invitational next weekend as Pacific plays three matches on from Sept. 13-14.