(Nashville, TN) No. 17 Sun Devil Volleyball kicked off the Big 12 era with a win over Butler in four sets (23-25, 25-7, 25-20, 25-17) in the first match of the season at the LUV Invitational at Lipscomb on Friday afternoon.
Notable Stats
For the 14th year in a row, Arizona State (1-0) won its season opener. ASU also improves to 3-0 over Butler (0-1) all-time. The Sun Devils out-hit the Bulldogs .346 to .140.
Two returning starters led the team on offense. Senior outside hitter Geli Cyr got her year off to a strong start, reaching double figures in kills with a team high of 15 (one away from her career high) and adding a career-high five aces. Graduate middle blocker Claire Jeter hit a blistering .714, a career high, and had 10 kills. Jeter’s hitting percentage is the fifth best in ASU history in the rally-scoring era.
The three transfers all saw time for ASU in the match. Graduate setter Argentina Ung paced the offense, dishing out 34 assists and adding seven kills of her own. Graduate middle blocker Savannah Kjolhede was a force at the net, collecting nine blocks to lead all players and adding five kills. Junior Bailey Miller had six kills and five blocks in her Sun Devil debut.
A few Sun Devils made their collegiate debuts in the match. Redshirt freshman Brynn Covell saw action for the first time in her career, playing as a defensive specialist and notching eight digs. Her serve was on fire to start the match, earning three aces in the first set. Freshman Bella Faria made her collegiate debut, starting the match as a defensive specialist and getting two digs.
Graduate libero Mary Shroll had her third-straight match with double-digit digs, dating back to last season, with 12 in the win. She added five assists.
Set One: Butler 25, ASU 23
ASU got off to a hot start, scoring six in a row behind three aces from Covell to make it 8-1 early. The Bulldogs responded, putting together an 8-2 run to make it 10-9 in favor of the Sun Devils. Butler took the lead at 16-15, forcing an Arizona State timeout. After taking back the lead at 20-18 with a block from Jeter and Miller, it was back and forth between the squads. Ultimately, the Bulldogs barely got the win, 25-23.
Set Two: ASU 25, Butler 7
Two-straight kills from Jeter put ASU up 6-2, forcing an early timeout from Butler. A 11-0 run with kills from three different Sun Devils and four aces from Cyr put the set firmly out of reach, making it set point at 24-5. An error from the Bulldogs won the set for the Sun Devils, 25-7.
Set Three: ASU 25, Butler 20
The third set started back and forth before Arizona State started to pull away. The Sun Devils went on a 5-1 run with a kill and block from Kjolhede, going up 10-6. Kills from Jeter and Shania Cromartie pushed the advantage up to 14-10. The Bulldogs started scraping away at the lead, scoring three in a row to get within one at 20-19, forcing a Sun Devil timeout. Back-to-back kills from Jeter got the lead back up to three, up 23-20. Jeter’s sixth kill of the set won it at 25-20.
Set Four: ASU 25, Butler 17
The momentum continued in the fourth set for ASU as the team opened up with an 8-2 lead with kills from five different Sun Devils, including two from Cromartie. After some back and forth, the Sun Devils went on a 3-0 run to go up 13-6. A block from Kjolhede and Ung added to the lead, 19-11. Finally, another block from Kjolhede and Miller sealed the win, 25-17.
Up Next
The LUV Invitational continues on Saturday as Arizona State faces the host team Lipscomb at 6 p.m. CDT/4 p.m. MST.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Kimberlie Haner
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