(Tempe, AZ) With four earning double-digit kills, Sun Devil Volleyball defeated Washington in four sets (22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-16) and improved to 14-0 at Mullett Arena on Sunday afternoon, celebrating 50 years of the program in style.
Notable Stats
Arizona State moved to 14-0 (2-0 Pac-12) after beating Washington (9-4, 0-2 Pac-12) for the first time at home since 2018. This was the last time these two teams will face as members of the Pac-12 Conference.
The Sun Devils’ passing game stayed consistent against the Huskies, who are the second-best serving team in the conference behind ASU. UW had zero aces in the match, while ASU had five.
Two pin hitters notched their double-doubles of the season in the win. Senior opposite Marta Levinska had 19 kills and 10 digs, leading all players in kills. Junior outside hitter Geli Cyr collected 10 kills and 10 digs. Both had two blocks each as well.
Graduate setter Shannon Shields had 49 assists today, her eighth match in her career with 40-plus assists, fourth this season. Her two kills helped her surpass 100 career kills, now at 101.
Senior middle blocker Claire Jeter had a season-high 11 kills in the victory, her first match of the season with double-digit kills. Additionally, she led the team with four blocks.
In addition to Levinska and Cyr in double figures for digs, graduate libero Mary Shrollled the team with 14, her fifth match in a row in double digits.
The fourth Sun Devil in double figures in kills was senior outside Roberta Rabelo with 10 on a .333 clip. She also added two solo blocks.
Junior Shania Cromartie, primarily playing as a defender this season, collected a season-high eight digs today.
Today’s match had the sixth-highest attendance at an ASU volleyball game with 3,941.
During the match, Arizona State recognized the volleyball alumni who attended the match in honor of the 50th anniversary of the program.
The streak of consecutive sweeps came to an end at seven, which is tied for the longest in program history.
Quotes:
Arizona State Head Coach JJ Van Niel:
Opening Statement
“I’m always proud of these guys. I didn’t think we were playing very well in the first set. I was pretty disappointed. But to their credit, they just came out and crushed it after that. Jaden (Ravnsborg) came in and got us some real points. When we switched to serve, she started getting us some real points, and she’s flying around on defense. I think Marta, Geli and Mary all had double-digit digs. So we were flying around the court and again, putting pressure on them. So, good match, you get a win, you’re always happy, but I was more proud of how they responded after not playing well. I think that was the first set loss in a little while. So it’s cool to see that they had some resilience, they didn’t collapse, and they stepped up, kept playing their game.”
On hopes and prospects for this season
“It’s one match at a time. We set standards, both behavioral standards and cultural standards. We felt pretty confident as a staff and as a team that if we can meet some of these standards, the rest takes care of itself. Every team wants to make the tournament every year. We’ve made a good start, but it’s not done. We got 18 more matches to go, and you can’t let up. It’s just one match at a time. The only thing we’re worried about right now is Stanford. And then, after Stanford, we got a quick turnaround (at Cal) to worry about.”
Set One: UW 25, ASU 22
The first set was closely contested, with the Sun Devils and Huskies trading points. Washington built a late lead, going up 20-16 and eventually pushing it to 24-20, leading the Sun Devils to call a timeout. ASU pulled within two before Washington was able to close it out. Gyr led the Sun Devils in kills with four. The loss in set one snaps a historic streak of sweeps for the Sun Devils, having successfully swept their last seven opponents (tied for the most in school history).
Set Two: ASU 25, UW 19
ASU built an early lead in set two and never looked back. Shields earned herself a kill to push the advantage to 15-7. Levinska followed soon thereafter with a kill to make the score 18-11. The Huskies made an attempt to rally back late, bringing it with five down 20-15. The Sun Devils responded by winning five of the following nine points, taking set two, 25-19. Levinska laid the dagger for ASU, earning a set-point kill.
Set Three: ASU 25, UW 16
Set three began similarly to set one as the Huskies and Sun Devils traded points back and forth. With the set tied seven-all, ASU rallied, moving the score to 15-11 in their favor. The Sun Devils continued to be uber-effective, pushing the score to 22-14. Washington used the first of their two challenges to contest an out-of-bounds decision. They were successful, earning the point and their challenge back. Leading 22-16, the Sun Devils put their foot on the gas and rallied for three-straight points, capped off by a Cyr kill, taking set three, 25-16.
Set Four: ASU 25, UW 16
Set four was the Sun Devils’ most dominant set, comfortably leading throughout the outing. Shields had an incredible full-extension save, which led to a UW attack error, making the Sun Devil lead 22-14. Rabelo got her 10th kill on match point, becoming the fourth Sun Devil to notch double-digit kills, sealing ASU’s victory, 25-16.
Up Next:
The Sun Devils will head on their first Pac-12 road trip of the year, traveling to the Bay Area to face No. 4 Stanford and Cal on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Kimberlie Haner
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