(Corvallis, OR) Despite career highs from a handful of players, No. 19 Sun Devil Volleyball came up short at Oregon State in a five-set battle (20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 13-25, 15-11) on Friday night.
Notable Stats
Arizona State (17-2, 5-2 Pac-12) lost its second contest of the season in a five-set match at Oregon State (6-11, 1-6 Pac-12). This was the third five-setter in the last four matches for ASU after playing in none prior to October 1.
Senior opposite Marta Levinska earned a match-high 22 kills, her fourth match of the season with 20 or more, 12th time in her career. She moved in 11th place in the ASU record book for career kills, now at a clean 1,300 and 12 kills from cracking the top 10. She also had four blocks and eight digs.
Graduate setter Shannon Shields had 49 assists and 10 digs, her fourth double-double of the season, 14th of her career. This was her seventh time of the year collecting 40-plus assists, 11th in her career. She added three aces as well as six blocks.
At the net, graduate middle blocker Maddie McLaughlin earned a new career-high in blocks with eight. She also had four kills.
Graduate libero Mary Shroll tied her career high in aces with four while also leading the team in digs with 17. It was her 10th-straight match with double-digit digs.
The two outside hitters had solid outings. Junior Geli Cyr had 12 digs, eight kills and three aces, the latter of which matches her personal best. Senior Roberta Rabelo had 10 kills, the only other Sun Devil double figures in that category.
Set One: ASU 25, OSU 20
The Beavers scored four in a row early to lead 4-2, but the Sun Devils got back on top 6-5 after a block from Claire Jeter and Shields. Three-straight points from the home team put ASU down 14-11, forcing a timeout. Arizona State battled back, going on a 5-0 run with Shroll serving to make it 20-18. Two kills from Cyr down the stretch got ASU to set point and Jeter’s kill finished it, 25-20. Down 18-16, the Sun Devils ended the set on a 9-2 run
Set Two: OSU 25, ASU 23
The second set was close, neither team able to create separation. OSU led for the first part until a 4-1 run put ASU up 10-9, a run capped off with a block from Rabelo and McLaughlin. The Beavers crawled back into it after a few Sun Devil errors, taking the 18-17 lead. An OSU error and a kill from Jeter got ASU within one at 23-22 before the Beavers got to set point. Jeter and Shields teamed up for a block to hold off the first set point, but Oregon State would win on a kill.
Set Three: OSU 25, ASU 18
The Beavers got ahead early after they scored five in a row to go up 10-6 before a kill from Levinska ended that drought. But another 5-0 run from OSU pushed the team’s lead up to 17-9. The Sun Devils battled towards the end, going on a 3-0 run to get within four, 22-18, but the Beavers ended with three-straight points to go up 2-1 in the match. Arizona State was plagued with errors in this frame, hitting .049 in the set.
Set Four: ASU 25, OSU 13
The fourth set was all Arizona State. It opened with three-straight points for the Sun Devils before a 4-0 run later pushed the lead to 9-4. That run saw two aces from Shields. The Beavers scored three in a row later to cut into the deficit, but back-to-back kills from Rabelo extended the advantage to 17-10. Shields led the team on another big scoring run when she came back around to serve, scoring six in a row to make it 24-12. That run saw two blocks from the M&M block of McLaughlin and Levinska. A huge swing from Rabelo on set point won it, 25-13.
Set Five: OSU 15, ASU 11
With kills from three different Sun Devils, ASU jumped out to a 4-1 lead, forcing an early timeout from OSU. The Beavers responded with a 4-2 run to tie it at 6-6, but a block from Cyr and McLaughlin held them off. Levinska’s kill put ASU ahead 8-7 to get the switch and get a timeout out of OSU. The home team responded with a 5-1 run to go up 13-10. Levinska got another kill, but it wasn’t enough as ASU lost 15-11.
Up Next
Arizona State will face No. 5 Oregon in Eugene on Sunday at noon MST/PDT. It will be live on the Pac-12 Network.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Kimberlie Haner
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