(Stanford, CA) The season came to an end for Sun Devil Beach Volleyball as No. 6-seed Arizona State fell in the 2023 Pac-12 Championship 3-1 to No. 7-seed Arizona on Thursday afternoon at Stanford Beach Volleyball Stadium.
This dual proved how difficult it is to beat a good team three times in the same season as the Sand Devils (11-13) swept the Wildcats (21-11) in the regular season. The contenders-bracket dual was win or go home and Arizona came away the victor to move on.
In the first flight, which started with twos and fours, Arizona came out strong taking the first match of the dual over Anya Pemberton and Ivey Weber in straight sets. On court four, Taryn Ames and Sarah Waters grinded out a three-set victory that went to extra points in the third set (17-15) to tie the dual at 1-1 and to get their 14th win of the season, a team-best. For Waters, she ended her collegiate career with a victory and upped her career total to 43, good for eighth place all-time at ASU.
The Wildcats took the ones match over Lexi Sweeney and Kylie Wickley and the threes match over Carys Thomas and Rylie Kael to secure the dual victory.
Final Results (Order of Finish: 2, 4, 1, 3*)
- Parkhurst/Blacker (ARIZ) def. Lexi Sweeney/Kylie Wickley (ASU) 21-13, 21-15
- Russell/Shannon (ARIZ) def. Anya Pemberton/Ivey Weber (ASU) 21-10, 21-14
- Rennie/Cook (ARIZ) def. Carys Thomas/Rylie Kael (ASU) 21-12, 21-18
- Sarah Waters/Taryn Ames (ASU) def. Uhl/Gedikoglu (ARIZ) 21-17, 21-18, 17-15
- Buchner/Young-Gomez (CAL) vs. Kate Fitzgerald/Adriana Nieves Papaleo (ASU) 16-5, DNF
Press Release Sun Devil Athletics – Olivia Dowell