(Provo, Utah – In its first five-set match of the year, No. 13 Sun Devil Volleyball earned a big road win at No. 20 BYU (25-23, 17-25, 23-25, 25-14, 15-7) on Halloween night in the Smith Fieldhouse.
Notable Stats
- Arizona State (21-2, 9-1 Big 12) battled back down 2-1 to win in five over BYU (13-7, 6-4 Big 12). ASU completed the season sweep over BYU.
- The Sun Devils battled in a rowdy Smith Fieldhouse and gave the Cougars their 12th home loss in the last 10 seasons.
- Against ranked teams this season, ASU is 3-2. This win was JJ Van Niel‘s sixth ranked win in two seasons.
- ASU has 21 wins, which is the second-most this century in a single season, only behind last year’s team (28 wins).
- This was the first five-set match of the season for the Sun Devils, the first since November 22, 2023 at Washington State.
- Both outside hitters had double-doubles in the win. Senior Geli Cyr had her seventh-straight double-double with 15 kills and 19 digs, the latter being a season high and tied for the game high. Graduate Shania Cromartie notched a team-high 16 kills, a new season high for her, and 10 digs.
- Graduate setter Argentina Ung notched a season-high 56 assists. It’s her first match this season with 50-plus assists, sixth of her career. It’s just one off of her career high of 57. She also had nine digs and five blocks.
- Matching her season high in kills was graduate middle blocker Shania Cromartie with 12 kills to go with her game-high six blocks. She hit a blistering .667.
- Graduate libero Mary Shroll collected 19 digs, tied for the game high. She has had double-digit digs in all but one match this season.
- Coming off the bench, graduate pin hitter Roberta Rabelo had eight kills and hit .438.
Set One: ASU 25, BYU 23
The first set was back and forth until the end, with neither team scoring more than three in a row. There were 12 ties and eight lead changes. BYU had a pair of 3-0 runs to go up 10-7, but ASU responded with its own run of three with two Cougar errors and a kill from Cromartie to tie it. An ace from Jillian Neal put the Sun Devils up 15-14, but it tied up again on the next point. After some more back and forth, a kill from Jeter got ASU to set point, 24-22. BYU held off one, but Cyr’s kill sealed the 25-23 win.
Set Two: BYU 25, ASU 17
The home team took charge in the second set. The Cougars jumped out to a 7-1 lead before a kill by Bailey Miller ended the run. It was a 15-6 BYU lead at the media timeout. A block from Cyr and Kjolhede forced a timeout for the Cougars and an ace from Jeter out of the break made it a 19-13 deficit. Cromartie’s kill held off one set point for BYU, but ASU ultimately fell 25-17.
Set Three: BYU 25, ASU 23
In the third frame, it saw a similar script to the first set, but with a different result. With Neal serving, ASU took an early 3-0 lead that saw two kills from Jeter. The Sun Devils held onto the lead, but the Cougars chipped away at it with three-straight points to make ASU’s lead 11-9. Ung got a little sneaky with a kill to make it 16-14 for Arizona State. Two in a row for BYU tied it up at 19-19 for the first time this set. Back-to-back Cougar kills gave them the 22-21 kill, forcing a Sun Devil timeout. BYU finished the set on a 5-2 run to win 25-23.
Set Four: ASU 25, BYU 14
Arizona State flipped the script in the fourth set. An ace from Brynn Covell put ASU up 4-2 early. A run of three pushed the advantage to 7-4. The Cougars got within one at 8-7 before a kill from Cromartie made it a two-point lead. Another 3-0 run for ASU with kills from Cyr and Rabelo made it 15-10. A 6-1 run for the Sun Devils saw kills from Cyr and Cromartie, a block and an ace from Cyr, upping the lead to 21-13. An error from the home team won it for Arizona State, 25-14.
Set Five: ASU 15, BYU 7
An early marathon rally went in favor of the Sun Devils after a kill from Jeter to give them the early momentum and a 2-1 lead. Arizona State added to the lead with a couple points at a time, but a massive 6-0 run with Ung serving was the difference. Cromartie had three kills in that stretch, helping the team get to match point. BYU held off two match points, but a kill from Jeter won it, 15-7.
Up Next
Arizona State will drive up north to Salt Lake City for a matchup with No. 22 Utah on Saturday at 1 p.m. MST/2 p.m. MDT. It will be live on ESPN+.
