(Memphis, TN) Behind a season-high 13 aces, Sun Devil Volleyball swept the Little Rock Trojans (25-16, 25-14, 25-10) on Friday as part of the Beale Street Challenge, keeping the perfect start rolling.
Notable Stats
Arizona State is now 11-0 on the year, tied for the third-best start in program history. This is the best start by a new head coach in ASU history.
This is the eighth sweep of the season out of 11 matches and fifth in a row. This is the longest streak of sweeps since 2013 when that year’s team had separate streaks of five in a row and seven in a row.
ASU served 13 aces against Little Rock (3-7). This was not only a season high in aces, but it is tied fifth all-time. Fifth-year senior Shannon Shields had a career-high six aces, which is tied for 10th all-time at ASU, tied for fourth in the rally-scoring era. She also had match-high 33 assists, four digs and three kills.
The Sun Devils held the Trojans to a .047 hitting percentage, which is the third-lowest for an opponent this season. It’s the fourth time this season holding an opponent to below .100. Opponents have hit above .200 just twice.
The defense was led by graduate libero Mary Shroll with 16 digs to surpass 1,000 career digs, now at 1,007. She also added two aces and three assists as well.
Senior opposite Marta Levinska led all players with 11 kills, hitting .478 in the win. She also had five blocks.
Junior outside hitter Shania Cromartie notched a season-high eight kills on a .350 clip. She also had four digs and an ace.
Graduate middle blocker Maddie McLaughlin led all players in blocks with four, adding five kills as well.
Set One: ASU 25, Little Rock 16
The Sun Devils started the first set off strong, putting four aces up on the board. Leading through the first set, ASU brought the pressure to Little Rock and forced them to call a timeout with ASU up 17-13. The timeout did not aid the Trojans in their scoring after a kill by Shields and a service ace by Geli Cyr, the Trojans called for another timeout. The Sun Devils scored six in a row to make it 21-13. As the Sun Devils continued to bring the heat, Shroll put two aces on the board for the Sun Devils.The final point was a kill by Roberta Rabelo.
Set Two: ASU 25, Little Rock 14
To start the second frame, the teams were back and forth, both teams struggling to put together a string of points with seven ties and three lead changes. Cromartie served an ace to make it 7-5 in favor of ASU. A pair of aces from Claire Jeter pushed the advantage up to 15-12. Shields caught fire in the latter part of the set, serving Arizona State on a 10-0 run to win the set, 25-14. Levinska had three kills and a block in the run.
Set Three: ASU 25, Little Rock 10
The third set was all ASU. Shields served the team to seven-straight points to open the set, including three of her six aces in the match. Opening up the lead even more was Shroll at the service line, leading the team to a 4-0 run to make it 14-5. A kill and block from Jeter aided a 5-0 run to go up 19-5. Finally, a few Trojan errors completed the sweep for the Sun Devils, winning 25-10.
Up Next
The final match of the tournament is on Saturday at 8 a.m. MST/10 a.m. CDT against Southern Mississippi.
Click on Logo
