(Tempe, AZ) With a sell-out crowd cheering them on, Sun Devil Volleyball had a home opener to remember, sweeping in-state rival Arizona (25-22, 25-21, 25-15) in the first volleyball match ever held in Mullett Arena on Thursday night.
Notable Stats
- Arizona State is now 13-0 (1-0 Pac-12), the third-best start in program history. This was the seventh sweep in a row, tied for the longest streak in ASU history (also 2013 and 1987).
- This was the first home win over the Wildcats (5-7, 0-1 Pac-12) since the 2020-21 season and the first sweep against them since 2019 at home.
- Tonight’s match kicked off the Territorial Cup Series between the two schools, with ASU getting a half point for the win.
- Senior opposite Marta Levinska notched 19 kills in the win on a .400 clip. She moved into 13th place in the ASU record book for career kills, now at 1,190 and passing Terri Cox (1994-97).
- The ace differential continued to be a factor for the Sun Devils, serving up six to the Wildcats’ one. Shania Cromartie and Mary Shroll both had a pair of aces to lead the effort.
- The defense was on another level in the victory, with two reaching double-digit digs. Graduate libero Shroll had 11 while junior outside hitter Geli Cyr collected 12 to go with her seven kills, two blocks, three assists and an ace.
- Graduate setter Shannon Shields had 36 assists to pace the offense. She also had six digs and five kills, the latter being a season high.
- Senior middle blocker Claire Jeter led all players in blocks with four. She also added five kills in the win.
- The attendance was 4,816, which is the third-highest in Sun Devil Volleyball history, surpassing 4,000 for the first time since 2015.
Quotes
Sun Devil Head Coach JJ Van Niel
Opening Statement:
“Any win against your rival is a good night, and I was proud of the team. We talked a lot about just playing steady. Even when they got a point or two, we just kept siding out, siding out and then you score. I’m really proud of all the contributions of the whole team. Geli (Cyr) at the beginning wasn’t hitting great. She got like two kills and had a couple errors, but she was passing really well and she was defending really well. Those are really big deals because when part of your game isn’t working, you step up in other ways and you help your team. Our whole team did that. Our middles were up all night long and that created openings for Marta (Levinska). She was basically one-on-one the whole night because our middles were getting up and as soon as you set the middles they scored. I’m really fired up about our team and our execution.”
On the home opener and feeding off the energy of the fans tonight:
“Everyone was fired up. It was fun. I’m sure there were nerves for them at the beginning of the game because there were a lot of people and we hadn’t played in front of a lot people yet. I think our biggest crowd so far was the Maroon and Gold game. So that was the biggest crowd we had faced. I’m sure there were some nerves, it took us a while to get our serving going, but they settled in. I was fired up, I was really appreciative of all the fans that came out and they were into it. It was really fun.”
On the 50th anniversary of the program:
“Every club in the Valley is run by or has many coaches that played here. I’m fortunate that I’ve gotten to know them while here and I knew some of them from before. I think it’s super humbling. Fifty years is amazing and I’m really excited that on Saturday we’ll have a lunch with alumni. I’ll get to speak for a couple minutes, Shannon (Shields) will speak, but our whole team will be there. They get to interact and those are powerful moments. That’s the kind of special thing is they get to interact and be around them and that all of them are coming back. Everyone that’s been involved in it has done a phenomenal job of setting us up. I’m really fired up because there’s a bunch of people, coaches coming back. I saw the list and I was shocked. Usually these things, whenever I’ve been involved in them, you think there’s going to be a lot and there’s 20 people. There’s a lot of people coming back and I think they’re all really excited. I’m really excited for the kids to go hang out and interact. It’s really special.”
Senior Opposite Hitter Marta Levinska:
On playing inside Mullett Arena tonight and the friendly environment:
“It’s super exciting. We’ve been on the road for five weeks so we’re super excited to just be home and seeing all the fans and our families. Everything just feels homey and comfortable. The support was great and I loved it.”
On if they are surprised with the 13-0 start to begin the season:
“The starters are a lot of the same people that we have had before, so we always knew that we had it in us. I think JJ (Van Niel) and all the people he brought in as well completed that circle in a way. I knew that we could do it, I’m really happy that we were able to be that consistent and I think that is something that we lacked before, but now the consistency, that really is working well for us.”
On how winning on the road has gave them confidence for playing at home:
“I think it makes us more resilient and adapt to different environments. Being in all these different situations makes you a more resilient and experienced player and team. That made us more confident because we went through all that.”
Graduate Setter Shannon Shields:
On playing inside Mullett Arena tonight and the friendly environment:
“The fans made the difference, they’re on our side this time. And we have an abundance of them! I think that was the big difference for me. I feel like we played pretty steady in any type of situation or gym so I don’t think it changed our attitude or the way we played.”
On the team defense and making key digs to take momentum in railles:
“It kind of tears down their system. So if we keep getting up balls, that hitter is going to do something different, change the way they’re swinging or give us an easy tip so we could get in our system. So I feel like our defense tonight was really good. Mary (Stroll) and Geli (Cyr) were digging great balls, so it does tear them down.”
On if they are surprised with the 13-0 start to begin the season:
“Not for me, I knew we were going to be great this year. I got asked this question a couple days ago and they asked, ‘Are you surprised by your success?’ And I said no, because we worked so hard, we changed our offense completely. We were aggressive with our serves. And we’re all bought into each other. So I think our success is from who we are and our goals.”
On how winning on the road has gave them confidence for playing at home:
“We had a team retreat before all of our travel trips and we were like, ‘We’re going to be so confident, this is our time’ and we came up with all of these goals at the beginning. And I think when we went on travel trips, we were ready to go. We had no fear, we had nothing to lose. We’re going to try this new offense. We’re going to be that team. It just made us resilient.”
Set One ASU 25, Arizona 22
The Sun Devils maintained the lead over the Wildcats throughout the first set. Levinska got an early kill for ASU’s first point on the board. A kill from Roberta Rabelo pushed the lead up to 10-6. A block from Jeter and Cyr made it 21-17, causing Arizona to call a timeout. The break did not aid the Wildcats in point recovery when a kill from Jeter and an error from Arizona caused the visitors to use a second timeout the score at set point, 24-20. The first set ended on another error by Arizona allowing the Sun Devils their first set win, 25-22. Levinska had six kills in this set alone.
Set Two: ASU 25, Arizona 21
ASU got the first point on the board with a kill from Rabelo, continued to maintain a one-point lead until tied with Arizona 4-4. Arizona got on top by one, but it did not last long when Cromartie tied the game on a serve, 10-10. That was followed by a kill from Cyr, bringing the Sun Devils ahead 11-10. With the Wildcats continuing to bring pressure to the Sun Devils, they responded with a block from Cyr and Jeter tying ASU again with Arizona, 20-20. Shroll’s serve trickled over the net for the ace, putting the Sun Devils up at 21-20. She served the team on a 6-0 run to take and extend the lead to 24-20. Levinska’s kill sealed the win, 25-21.
Set Three ASU 25, Arizona 15
The Sun Devils started the third set back and forth with Arizona with Levinska putting up ASU’s first point on a kill again. With a 4-1 run capped off by Shroll’s second ace, the Wildcats called a timeout at 12-9. The Sun Devils continued playing hard when the Wildcats head coach challenged the call, causing a lengthy delay and getting the visitors the point, down 19-15. But Rabelo immediately responded with a kill, sparking a 6-0 run to end the set 25-15 and complete the sweep.
Up Next
The Sun Devils will take on the Washington Huskies for the 50th anniversary celebration in Mullet Arena this Sunday, September 24, at 1 p.m. MST.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Kimberlie Haner
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