The Beavers women’s volleyball team secured a clean sweep 3-0 victory against the University Portland Pilots Wednesday night at Gill Coliseum, making a comeback in the final weeks of the season.
Having already played Portland this season, they were able to match their previous 3-0 score again tonight.
The first set had the pilots coming on strong, but after a few intense rallies, the Beavers brought the score to a tie, carrying a neck-to-neck score most of the way through. In the end, they pulled through with a series of kills, and setter Amanda Burns ultimately scored the set point.
Burns kill brought it to a score of 25-19.
Staying calm when pressure mounts, the first timeout in the first set we all talked about taking a deep breath and reset, We didn’t need to find something too high or too low, our good is good enough,” said head coach Lindsey Behonick on the key to continuing momentum.
The second set proved to be another comeback for the Beavers, as the Pilots came out strong once again, but were ultimately defeated by the Beavers’ comeback of 25-19, with the last ball tipped over the net by Lauren Rummel.
Throughout the game, the Beavers were able to come back from behind in the first two sets, not letting the score affect their composure or ability to communicate as a team.
“A big key for us in the last two weeks is scoring the first point because when we start with a lot of energy we usually continue throughout the match which we saw in the last set, that’s our mentality not to let go of that first point,” Burns said.
This energy was carried out with a huge success in the last set for the Beavers. They started strong with points led by a kill from Vivian Light, a block from Rummel and Annika Hester, and another kill by Rummel.
The Beavers came through strongly in this last set with a 17-0 score run, finishing the game 25-4.
As the season nears the end with only one home game left, Behonick comments on keeping the energy up for the home game against upcoming Washington State.
“Washington State is a good team. Last game against them we played well, feeling short in a few statistical areas…Pressure over time and winning the transition battle will help us as well as slowing down their right side, Katie Ryan, and their outsides,” Behonick said.
The Beavers will play next Friday at 7 p.m., at Gill Coliseum. They then travel to Los Angeles to play their last games of the season against LMU and Pepperdine on Nov. 27 and 30.