Volleyball postseason hopes hinge on Civil War

With their season on the verge of coming to a halt after a four-game losing streak, the Oregon State University volleyball team delivered in a big way by knocking off the highest-ranked opponent in school history, No. 3 University of California Berkeley.

The victory puts the Beavers two wins away from nine conference wins, which would likely earn them an invitation to the NCAA Tournament.

Luckily for the Beavers, they have two matches remaining and are playing some of their best volleyball to date.

"We had a great weekend, I think we're playing at a high level," said Oregon State head coach Terry Liskevych. "We played well against Cal and Stanford, and have big matches coming up."

Oregon State has two big matches remaining that will determine their fate: both against their Civil War rival, No. 15 Oregon.

At 7 p.m. tonight, they'll face Oregon at Gill Coliseum. Friday, the two teams will square off in Eugene in the regular-season finale.

"We're really looking forward to playing the Ducks; they're a very good team, a well-coached group and have had a very good season," Liskevych said.

Unfortunately for Oregon State, the University of Oregon is coming into the Civil War matches riding a confidence high, as they have won three of their last four matches, all three wins coming against opponents ranked in the top five in the nation.

The Ducks benefit from being able to spread the ball around on offense effectively, as they are led by sophomore setter Lauren Plum, an All-Pac-10 freshman performer last season.

"She is a great setter, one of the top in the Pac-12 and nation," Liskevych said. "They have a very good offense and an arsenal of four to five really good hitters."

A key for the Beavers over the weekend was playing with a sense of urgency, which they will certainly need as they prepare to square off against the Ducks.

"We knew we had to win one of those or else it's over," Liskevych said. "Now it makes these matches meaningful and you've got to take these matches one at a time."

Oregon State has benefitted from the recent emergence of freshman Arica Nassar as the team's third hitting weapon.

Nassar contributed 17 kills and led the team in hitting percentage at .469 in the upset victory over California.

"Arica's played well the last five, six matches," Liskevych said.

The Beavers have also taken advantage of playing junior setter Megan McBride in more of a hitting role and allowing redshirt freshman setter Tayla Woods to see an increased setting role.

"Everything bodes very well for this week and for the future," Liskevych said. "We're only going to get better."

Scott Campbell, sports writer

sports@dailybarometer.com