(Lincoln, NE) No. 14 Sun Devil Volleyball dropped its first match of the season, falling in straight sets at No. 5 Nebraska (25-20, 26-24, 25-19) on Friday night at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Notable Stats
Arizona State (7-1) had it’s first non-conference loss since September 16, 2022, now 19-1 in non-conference play under head coach JJ Van Niel.
The matchup against Nebraska (7-1) was the first ranked opponent of the year for ASU. Additionally, this is just the fourth time under Van Niel that the Sun Devils have been swept.
Senior outside hitter Geli Cyr reached double figures in kills for the fourth time this season with a team-high 14. She also hit a .357 clip.
Graduate middle blocker Claire Jeter continued her hot hitting, earning seven kills with no errors. She added two blocks as well, moving into a tie for No. 5 in the ASU record book for career block assists while a Sun Devil with 305.
For graduate outside hitter Shania Cromartie, this was her fifth match of the season with double-digit kills with 10.
Graduate setter Argentina Ung notched her second double-double of the year with 35 assists and 15 digs, the latter being a season high for her.
At libero, graduate Mary Shroll led the team in digs with 16. She extended her streak of matches in a row with double-digit digs to 10 dating back to last season.
Full Box Score
Set One: Nebraska 25, ASU 20
Nebraska put together a 4-0 run to go up 6-4, but a big kill through the block from Cromartie got the sideout for ASU. The Huskers slowly added to the lead despite not putting together big runs, giving them the 15-11 lead at the media timeout. Jeter notched her fourth kill of the match to make it a 21-17 deficit. However, the home team was able to hold on for the 25-20 first-set win.
Set Two: Nebraska 26, ASU 24
After some back and forth to start the match, the Sun Devils scored three in a row to take the 9-8 lead with kills from Cyr and Cromartie. Cyr caught fire in this set, earning back-to-back kills to get to 10 on the night in a 4-0 run for ASU to go up 15-12. The Huskers inched back, tying it up at 16-16 before a service error put the Sun Devils back on top. From there, the teams traded points until Nebraska took the lead at 19-18. ASU got ahead at 22-21 after an error from Nebraska, forcing a timeout from the home team. It went to extra points, but late serve errors from the Sun Devils stopped any potential momentum, giving the Huskers the 26-24 win.
Set Three: Nebraska 25, ASU 19
Arizona State was down 5-1 early before putting together a 3-0 run with two blocks to get within one, 5-4. The defense shone in a scrappy rally to make it a one-point game again at 7-6. A successful challenge from Van Niel gave Cromartie the kill off the block and tied it, and a block from Savannah Kjolhede and Ung put ASU up 11-10. A 5-1 run from the Huskers made it 15-12 in their favor at the media timeout. Out of a timeout, Roberta Rabelo got the kill off the block for the sideout to make it an 18-16 deficit. ASU started to fall behind and was unable to come back, falling 25-19.
Up Next
Arizona State has a quick turnaround as it will play its final road non-conference match against Long Beach State on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. CDT/9 a.m. MST.
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Kimberlie Haner
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