CORVALLIS - Taras Liskevych's coaching philosophy consists of three tenets.

"The first is skill," the fifth-year Oregon State volleyball coach said after the team's first practice of fall camp two weeks ago. "Then it's physical training and conditioning. The third is mental."

The Beavers will need to be mentally tougher to improve on last season's performance.

They were ranked for the first time since 1996 after upsetting No. 4 Southern California at home and losing in five games to No. 5 UCLA.

Things continued to look up for OSU after sweeping a tough Arizona squad two weeks later. But the Beavers got swept by Arizona State in their next match, starting a tailspin.

They lost nine straight Pac-10 matches to end the season 3-15 in Pac-10 play.

"We were close, ranked for the first time since 1996 and we were right there in the driver's seat," Liskevych said. "The second half of the season, we controlled our Pac-10 destiny and just let a few matches slip away. I think we just need to be a lot tougher mentally knowing that."

The team is working with OSU sports psychologist Dr. Allison Arnold to address that and it appears to be working. Senior Bree Knitter said Dr. Arnold has helped the players clear their minds and get them on the same page.

Added junior Jill Sawatzky: "Consistency is the big thing. We tend to have slow starts and kind of pick up at the end when we don't have much time."

Team chemistry will play a big role in how consistent the Beavers are, considering they have six freshmen on the team.

It's the most freshmen the program has had during Liskevych's tenure and is another reason the team is working with Arnold this year.

With such a large group of freshman, depth shouldn't be as much of an issue as it was last season. Both Knitter and Sawatzky said having a deeper bench will keep players fresh and allow the Beavers to not miss a beat if a player is struggling and taken out.

"One of strengths is going to be that we are really deep," Knitter said. "That will push us in practice and if someone is having a bad game we can let them take a break."

Liskevych said the Beavers need to get better at their team passing and serving, especially before they open Pac-10 play on Sept. 25 against Washington State.

"We really need to work on our serve/receive," Liskevych said. "So we can give our setter a chance to set up and get our offense going."

There's no question who the team's go-to player will be this season. Senior Rachel Rourke was an All-Pac-10 selection last season after averaging 4.4 kills per game.

In addition to Knitter, who Liskevych calls one of the best hitters in the conference, co-team captains Lexie Rathgeber and Camilla Ah-Hoy and Brittney Belshe are the squad's other seniors.

Liskevych knows this is a big year for the program. For the first time at OSU, he's coaching only players that he recruited.

That's one of the big steps in program building to him, because the seniors can be role models for the younger players. Most importantly, the Beavers want to keep moving up.

"They know what it takes to be good," Liskevych said.

"They have one goal in mind, to qualify for the NCAAs. I think they have been through beating some very good teams the last three years. Now they just have to sustain that through out the season."