(Lexington, KY) No. 2 seed Sun Devil Volleyball’s NCAA Tournament run came to an end in the round of 16 after falling to No. 3 seed Creighton in four sets (24-26, 25-19, 13-25, 18-25) on Thursday afternoon.
Notable stats
Arizona State (28-4) came up short to Creighton (28-5). ASU was in the regional semifinal for the second time under head coach JJ Van Niel (three seasons) and the fourth time in history.
Junior opposite Noemie Glover led the team in kills with 17 on a .517 clip. She hit over .500 in all three NCAA Tournament matches. This was her 21st match in a row with double-digit kills.
Two pins were one away from double digits in kills: senior outside hitter Bailey Miller and redshirt freshman opposite Kiylah Presley. Miller also added eight digs.
Sophomore libero Faith Frame had a team-best 15 digs for her sixth match in a row in double figures.
Senior setter Sydney Henry had a team-high 26 assists with six digs and an ace. Redshirt sophomore Brynn Covell had 16 assists, five digs and two aces.
Set one: Creighton 26, ASU 24
The Sun Devils trailed by a few early after the Bluejays went on a 3-0 run to lead 7-5. After some back and forth, Arizona State went on a 4-0 run behind two aces from Covell to take the 15-13 lead heading into the media timeout. The teams traded points for a few rallies until Creighton scored three in a row to regain the advantage, forcing an ASU timeout down 20-18. The Sun Devils responded with three-straight points of their own, going back up by one, 21-20, and bringing a Bluejays timeout. The run trading continued with Creighton earning three in a row again, taking back the lead at 23-21 and seeing Arizona State’s second timeout. Kills from Parrott and Glover extended the set to extra points, but the Bluejays took it, 26-24.
Set two: ASU 25, Creighton 19
An ace from Jillian Neal tied it early at 3-3 before Creighton later went on a 3- run to lead 7-4, a block from Presley and Lomigora ending that streak. A 4-1 ASU run made up completely of kills from Glover tied the set at 12-12. Two kills from Presley helped the Sun Devils score four in a row to make it a 17-14 lead. Presley stayed hot, getting her seventh kill to push it to 19-15, forcing a timeout from the Bluejays. Creighton cut the deficit to 20-18, bringing an ASU timeout. A Glover kill and a Bluejays error pushed the Sun Devils’ lead back up to 22-18 before a second timeout from the Bluejays. Glover’s 11th kill and two-straight blocks for Arizona State won the set at 25-19 to even up the match.
Set three: Creighton 25, ASU 13
Despite a few early kills from Miller and Parrott, Creighton took an early 10-3 lead after a run of five, forcing an early timeout from Arizona State during that run. The teams traded points for a long time, the Sun Devils not able to string together a run to cut into the lead, but the Bluejays put together five in a row to make it 21-10, bringing ASU’s second timeout during that stretch. The Sun Devils were unable to come back, falling 25-13.
Set four: Creighton 25, ASU 18
The Bluejays scored the first three points in the set before a kill from Miller and ace from Henry closed the gap to 3-2. After trading points, Creighton scored four in a row to make it 11-6 until a kill from Miller got the sideout. A kill from Colby Neal made it 14-10, but the Bluejays got the sideout for the 15-10 lead into the media timeout. Another run of three for Creighton made it 19-12 before Miller got the sideout with a kill. Despite three late kills from Glover, the Bluejays held on to win 25-18 and take the match.
Quotes
Arizona State Head Coach JJ Van Niel
Opening Statement…
“Hats off to Creighton, really clean volleyball. They put a lot of pressure on us from the serving line and we weren’t able to find the right answers.”
On the adjustment Creighton made in the third set…
“They just spun the rotation just slightly, and they were getting their really, really good servers on the line. They mixed up really well, and they got us in some trouble there. They were playing really clean volleyball, and we’re patient, and we block a ball, and they cover it, and they just kind of kept chipping away and chipping away. They’re really, really scrappy, so that was probably the big adjustment.”
On what surprised them about Creighton…
“Honestly, nothing. I mean, they played their game, and they’ve got some really nice players. Their middle we knew was going to be tough to stop, and 15 kills in four sets is pretty impressive. I thought we’d be able to get them in a little more trouble, which in the second set, we really did. We were getting them off the net, and it makes a big difference because then they have to become a little more reliant, but I don’t think there’s anything that surprised us. They’ve been playing great volleyball all year. They probably don’t get the credit because they’re not as tough of a conference, but they were really good in the preseason. I think in any conference, going undefeated is an impressive feat, and they did it, so I wouldn’t say there’s anything they did in particular was any different. They executed really, really well.”
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Kimberlie Haner
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