Cougar volleyball (13-7, 2-6) fell in another conference game, this time to Oregon State (13-7, 3-5) by a score of 2-3 Sunday. The Cougars now have a three-game losing streak for the first time this season.

“Oregon State is a good team, but I didn’t think we played extremely well,” WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny said. “We have to hit better, we have to serve better, we have to dig better, we have to do everything better.”

Cougar volleyball players were looking to rebound off a pair of home losses against Utah and Oregon, while the Beavers were coming off a ranked road victory against No. 14 University of Washington.

It was a back-and-forth game from the first serve, but the Beavers rallied halfway through the set to take a six-point lead. Oregon State never looked back as it won the first set 25-17, with OSU senior outside hitter Mary-Kate Marshall racking up 11 kills.

Late in the second set, the Cougs went on a 5-0 run to win 25-20, tying up the match at 1-1. WSU Junior outside hitter Taylor Mims had eight kills, but the Cougars lost three challenge calls in the set.

“[Those calls] are tough because they swing momentum a little bit,” Greeny said. “That’s something that you can’t quite control — the officials. So, we just have to go with it.”

Oregon State took the third set by six points. In a set where the Cougars never held a lead, they posted their lowest attacking percentage of the game.

WSU responded with points, going on an 11-1 run to open up the fourth set, winning by a score of 25-14. The game was forced to a deciding-fifth set.

“[I told my team that] it needed to be a fight,” Greeny said. “And we came out and served well.”

The Cougars carried their momentum into the fifth set, getting out to an early five-point lead that was ignited by sophomore defensive specialist Alexis Dirige’s energy. She laid out for digs, getting the crowd riled up.

The teams continuously traded leads. On Oregon State’s game point, Mims’ spike was denied, winning the set 15-12 and sealing the victory.

“We can only get better from here, we can just focus on more things in practice and work on how we can execute and finish better,” Mims said. “We had a great start to the fifth set, but we need to learn how to carry that out and finish the game.”

Mims had career highs in kills with 25 and digs with 18.

The Cougs will look to get back on track at 7 p.m. Friday against University of California, Berkeley at Haas Pavilion.

Correction: University of Washington was ranked No. 14 last week.