(Fort Myers, FL) Sun Devil Volleyball completes their perfect weekend at the FGCU Invitational on Sunday morning, sweeping Ole Miss (25-18, 25-15, 25-13) to become tournament champions.
Senior opposite Marta Levinska was named the tournament MVP for her efforts, reaching double-digit kills in every match. Graduate libero Mary Shroll and junior outside hitter Geli Cyr were named to the all-tournament team.
Notable Stats
This is the first time Arizona State has started the season 3-0 since 2019. The last time ASU has started with three sweeps was in 2017.
Not only did the Sun Devils sweep all three opponents this weekend, but they did not let a team reach 20 points. The highest opponent point total in a set was 19.
Errors were the big difference in the match against Ole Miss (0-3), as the Rebels had 21 attack errors to just six from the Sun Devils.
Tournament MVP Levinska notched 11 kills, six digs, four blocks and three aces in the win. Dating back to last season, she has 15 matches in a row reaching double figures in kills. With her three aces in today’s match, Levinska already has 10 aces this season.
Cyr continued her strong start to the season, notching a match-high 14 kills on a .429 clip as well as nine digs for a near double-double. This was her second match this weekend reaching double-digit kills.
Fifth-year senior setter Shannon Shields continues to pace the offense, notching 26 assists today. She also had a team-high 12 digs for her first double-double of the year, 11th of her career.
At the net, senior middle blocker Claire Jeter had four blocks, tying with Levinska for a match-high. Graduate middle blocker Maddie McLaughlin added three blocks of her own.
Quotes
Head Coach JJ Van Niel
“I’m proud of our team this weekend. Today we continued to win the serve and pass battle, which we have done a really nice job of all weekend. We had contributions from all over the court in every match and we look forward to getting back to working hard this week in preparation for next weekend.”
Set One: ASU 25, Ole Miss 18
After some back and forth to start the match, ASU scored three in a row with two kills and an ace to go up 8-5. However, Ole Miss responded and tied it up until a kill from Cyr gave Arizona State back the lead, 10-9. Behind an ace and a kill from Levinska, the Sun Devils went on a 3-0 run to extend the lead to 14-10, forcing a timeout from the Rebels. A 4-0 run for ASU was capped off by a block from Roberta Rabelo and McLaughlin, making it 21-13. Ole Miss made a late push on a 4-1 run, but a kill from Jeter won the set at 25-18. ASU had five blocks in the opening frame.
Set Two: ASU 25, Ole Miss 15
The Sun Devils dominated the second set. ASU opened with a 4-0 run, which became a 10-1 run. That run contained two kills and a block from Levinska, as well as five Ole Miss errors. The Rebels put together a 6-1 run to make it 14-8, but the Sun Devils were far out of reach. An ace from Estella Zatechka doubled up Ole Miss at 18-9, but right after that, the Rebels scored four-straight to make it 18-13, forcing an ASU timeout. But the Sun Devils finished out the set strong, winning on a 6-1 run at 25-15.
Set Three: ASU 25, Ole Miss 13
ASU jumped out to a 5-2 lead to start the third frame, with three early kills from Cyr. Two more kills from Cyr, two aces from Levinska and a Rebels error pushed the lead to 10-3. After another kill from Cyr and a Rebels error, the ASU advantage extended to 17-9. Errors plagued Ole Miss down the stretch, keeping the set out of reach. A kill from Levinska clinched the sweet and the set, 25-13. Cyr had seven kills this set.
Up Next
Arizona State will play three more teams next weekend to continue non-conference play, partially part of the NMSU Invitational and one match in El Paso, Texas.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Kimberlie Haner
Click on Logo
