After hosting and taking down their only friends left in the Pac-12, the Oregon State Beavers, in football Saturday, the Cougs are set to play them in volleyball in their house. The rank disparity is far greater than the one in football, with the Cougs entering as heavy favorites despite being on the road.
No. 7 WSU volleyball (12-1, 2-0 Pac-12) goes to Corvallis, Oregon, to take on Oregon State (5-7, 0-2 Pac-12) in their first extended road trip of the young Conference schedule. Currently holding a nine-match win streak against the Beavers, the Cougs look to hit a double-digit win streak against the program for the first time.
Since head coach Jen Greeny took over the program in 2011, the Cougs are 14-8 overall and 8-4 on the road against Oregon State. After starting 2-5 against the program, it’s been WSU dominance since the coach found her footing.
WSU is looking for its 50th win over Oregon State all-time, leading 49-25 against the program entering Thursday’s match. With a win, they also would notch win No. 25 against the Beavers on the road, overall sitting at 24-13.
The Beavers beat North Dakota, Oklahoma, Boise State, Nevada and UC Riverside in their non-conference play. Far from impressive wins, but proof that the team can get it done against seemingly lesser competition.
In their first two Pac-12 matches, they lost in sweeps to Oregon and USC, both matches occurring away from the Beavers home court. By hosting WSU, it will be the first time the OSU fans will see their team play at home against a Conference foe in 2023.
The 2022 Beavers struggled to get things going, finishing 7-23 overall and 2-18 in Conference play. They did perform better at home, 4-9 in Corvallis and 1-12 away. Both their matches against the Cougs were sweeps.
WSU, on the other hand, has started 2023 off strong and 2022 was no different, finishing 6-4 on the road in Pac-12 play, but like previously mentioned, having swept the Beavers on their home court.
Last season the two teams played in Pullman first and in Corvallis later in the season, with 2023 being the inverse of that.
In the first battle of the two schools, WSU swept the Beavers 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-19) in Bohler while hitting .356% to OSU’s .198. Pia Timmer led the Cougs in that win with 11 kills and Katy Ryan also had a strong showing with 10 kills and hit .304% on the match.
After nearly a month’s break, the second showing in Corvallis was only slightly better for OSU. WSU once against swept the Beavers 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-22). The Cougs only slightly fell down in terms of hitting, finishing with a .327% mark and limited OSU to hitting .160%.
Magda Jehlárová had 13 kills and hit .722% and had six blocks in the contest, leading the Cougs to victory with the help of Laura Jansen’s 14 kills and .375% hitting.
WSU began Conference play with a sweep of UW in Bohler and then traveled to Arizona and survived a scare to take down the Wildcats 3-2 to keep up their undefeated Conference record for now.
The Cougs and Beavs will serve at 7 p.m. Thursday in Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon, with the first half of the “Pac-2 Championship” on the line.
