(Tempe, AZ) With many local elementary and middle school students in attendance, No. 14 Sun Devil Volleyball dominated in its home opener on Thursday afternoon, sweeping Prairie View A&M (25-7, 25-15, 25-17) in Desert Financial Arena to kick off the Webb-Burbridge Classic.
Notable Stats
Arizona State (9-1) kicked off its home slate with a bang by beating Prairie View (2-10). The Sun Devils held the Panthers to a .082 clip, the fourth time this season ASU has held its opponents to a sub-.100 hitting percentage.
The offense was evenly distributed for the Sun Devils as five had six or more kills, led by junior Bailey Miller with nine.
Graduate libero Mary Shroll had 20 digs, her 12th-straight match in double figures dating back to last season. This is tied for the longest streak of her career. With this match, she has now surpassed 1,500 career digs, now at 1,507. Additionally, this was her 11th match in her career with 20 or more digs, third this season.
Sophomore outside hitter Jillian Neal notched the first kills of her career, ending the afternoon with six. In the second and third sets, she played all the way around for the first time. She also had a career-high eight digs.
The setting duties were split between graduate Argentina Ung and redshirt-freshman Brynn Covell, with Ung taking the first two sets and Covell doing the last. Ung had 23 assists and four kills, while Covell had a career high in assists (nine) and digs (10).
Another sophomore saw significant playing time as middle blocker Hokulani Perez played for the second and third sets, earning a career-high six kills to go with her two blocks.
Graduate middle blocker Savannah Kjolhede had six kills and a game-high four blocks in the win.
This match was the Sparky’s Kids Go to College game where local elementary and middle schools had classes attend to cheer on the Sun Devils.
Set One: ASU 25, PVAM 7
The Sun Devils jumped out to a 7-1 run to start the opening set to force the Panthers into a timeout. ASU added to the lead, scoring ten to make it 17-5, including two kills from Miller and an ace from Covell. The Sun Devils then scored six in a row with two kills from Kjolhede and two aces from Geli Cyr to make it 23-6. Shania Cromartie capped off the first set 25-7 with a kill.
Set Two: ASU 25, PVAM 15
The second set began with close competition with the Panthers, tied at 9-9. ASU began to pull away, scoring six back-and-forth with the assistance of a kill from Kjolhede and a kill from Ung to make it 15-11 and force a timeout for PVAM. With the help of three kills and an ace from Neal, the Sun Devils made a 21-15 push. Up 22-15 and a timeout call by the PVAM shortly after, ASU had kills from Miller and Perez to get to set point, 24-15. An attack error on the Panthers gave ASU the set win, 25-15.
Set Three: ASU 25, PVAM 17
ASU reached a 7-2 lead over PVAM quickly, adding an ace for Covell and two kills for Perez. The Sun Devils then scored three to go up 10-4 with attacks from Roberta Rabelo and Neal. After kills from four different Sun Devil players and an error by the Panthers, ASU increased their lead 15-8. Kills from four different Sun Devils put ASU up 21-14, bringing a timeout from Prairie View. The Sun Devils would go on to win the game 25-17 after a kill from Cromartie finished it.
Up Next
Arizona State will play Memphis on Friday night at 7 p.m. MST in Desert Financial Arena. It will be live on ESPN+.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Kimberlie Haner
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