Volleyball feels 'sense of urgency'
Beavers know time is running out in Pac-10 season, hope to get first conference wins when they host defending champ Washington and Washington State
Lindsay Schnell
Issue date: 11/2/06 Section: Sports
Abby Windell knows the end of her volleyball career at Oregon State is coming.
"I definitely feel that sense of urgency," Windell said. "I'm not going to settle for being the team in the Pac[ific]-10 that doesn't get a win. I really think this is an opportunity for us to turn this losing streak around."
By "this," Windell means OSU's matches against No. 4 Washington and Washington State this Thursday and Friday in Gill Coliseum.
"We need to capitalize on being at home," Windell said.
First up for the Beavers (3-16, 0-10 Pac-10) will be defending national champion Washington (19-3, 9-2). The Huskies beat OSU in Seattle earlier this season, dominating in a three-game sweep, 30-14, 30-13 and 30-15.
UW is led by Christal Morrison and Courtney Thompson, two All-Americans who anchor the Husky offense.
After the Huskies come the Cougars (14-11, 2-9), who the Beavers took to five games in Pullman. In that match, freshman outside hitter Rachel Rourke tallied 20 kills and freshman Lexie Rathgeber had her best game as a Beaver with 12 kills and nine blocks. Despite the play at the net though, OSU fell to WSU 30-27, 17-30, 21-30, 31-29 and 15-13.
"We learned a lot from that match," Windell said of Washington State. "We fought so hard and left it on the floor. We just couldn't get a win."
The Beavers are hoping for different results this weekend, and will need the help of Rourke, who averages 4.17 kills per game. But OSU will also need offense from Windell and fellow senior Brittany Cahoon. Throughout the season, the Beavers have struggled with stringing together consistent scoring runs, something Windell said has become a focal point in practice.
"Too many teams get three and five points on us," Windell said. "And we need that too. We really emphasized that in practice this week: instead of just getting sideout, sideout, sideout, we need to score three and five points on teams too."
The win won't come easily, as three separate players average over three kills per game for Washington State, but the Cougars have dropped three straight matches.
OSU will take on Washington at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Washington State at 7 p.m. on Friday.
"I definitely feel that sense of urgency," Windell said. "I'm not going to settle for being the team in the Pac[ific]-10 that doesn't get a win. I really think this is an opportunity for us to turn this losing streak around."
By "this," Windell means OSU's matches against No. 4 Washington and Washington State this Thursday and Friday in Gill Coliseum.
"We need to capitalize on being at home," Windell said.
First up for the Beavers (3-16, 0-10 Pac-10) will be defending national champion Washington (19-3, 9-2). The Huskies beat OSU in Seattle earlier this season, dominating in a three-game sweep, 30-14, 30-13 and 30-15.
UW is led by Christal Morrison and Courtney Thompson, two All-Americans who anchor the Husky offense.
After the Huskies come the Cougars (14-11, 2-9), who the Beavers took to five games in Pullman. In that match, freshman outside hitter Rachel Rourke tallied 20 kills and freshman Lexie Rathgeber had her best game as a Beaver with 12 kills and nine blocks. Despite the play at the net though, OSU fell to WSU 30-27, 17-30, 21-30, 31-29 and 15-13.
"We learned a lot from that match," Windell said of Washington State. "We fought so hard and left it on the floor. We just couldn't get a win."
The Beavers are hoping for different results this weekend, and will need the help of Rourke, who averages 4.17 kills per game. But OSU will also need offense from Windell and fellow senior Brittany Cahoon. Throughout the season, the Beavers have struggled with stringing together consistent scoring runs, something Windell said has become a focal point in practice.
"Too many teams get three and five points on us," Windell said. "And we need that too. We really emphasized that in practice this week: instead of just getting sideout, sideout, sideout, we need to score three and five points on teams too."
The win won't come easily, as three separate players average over three kills per game for Washington State, but the Cougars have dropped three straight matches.
OSU will take on Washington at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Washington State at 7 p.m. on Friday.
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