(Stanford, CA) The No. 6-seed Sand Devils dropped their first dual of the 2023 Pac-12 Championship 3-0 to No. 3-seed Cal on Wednesday afternoon at Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium.
After an early April matchup saw three of the Sun Devils’ pairs bring the Bears to a third set, Cal brought their A-game for this Pac-12 Championship matchup. On court five, the junior/freshman pairing of Kate Fitzgerald and Adriana Nieves Papaleo dropped straight sets to a Cal pairing that boasts an 11-3 mark on the season.
On court three, Carys Thomas and Rylie Kael were the only pair to beat the Bears in the Sun Devils’ 4-1 loss on April 8, but the ASU pair couldn’t take them to a third set today after forcing the Bears to an overtime score of 24-22 in the first set.
Lexi Sweeney and Kylie Wickley dropped straight sets on court one to finish play for the Sun Devils on day one. That loss snapped a four-match winning streak for Arizona State’s top pair.
Final Results (Order of Finish: 5, 3, 1*)
- Caffo/Waters-Leiga (CAL) def. Lexi Sweeney/Kylie Wickley (ASU) 21-18, 21-15
- Delgado/Radell (CAL) vs. Anya Pemberton/Ivey Weber 21-10, 8-3 DNF
- Gessner/Fisher (CAL) def. Carys Thomas/Rylie Kael 24-22, 21-16
- McKeown/Dreibholz vs. Sarah Waters/Taryn Ames 21-17, 12-9 DNF
- Buchner/Young-Gomez (CAL) def. Kate Fitzgerald/Adriana Nieves Papaleo 21-10, 21-17
Up Next
Arizona State (11-12) will play in the contenders bracket on Thursday at 1:45 p.m. MST and will look to stay alive in this double-elimination championship. ASU will face either No. 7-seed Arizona or No. 9-seed Oregon. The Sun Devils have faced the Ducks twice this season, and earned 4-1 and 3-2 victories. In the 2022 Pac-12 Championship, Arizona State topped Arizona 3-1 in the contenders bracket and are coming off of a 3-2 comeback victory in Tucson just last week to complete the season sweep. All duals this week are live on the Pac-12 Network.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Kimberlie Haner
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