TEMPE, Ariz. – No. 8 Arizona State (21-3, 12-1 Big 12) kept its home winning streak alive against in-state rival Arizona (14-10, 8-6 Big 12), knocking off the Wilcats in four sets (25-11, 20-25, 25-18, 25-22) on Thursday night.
The Sun Devils continued their dominance over Arizona, winning their sixth straight game against the Wildcats, and ASU coach JJ Van Niel remained undefeated against Arizona.
The attendance at the game was 7,703, which is the most for an ASU volleyball match since 2013.
“I’m going to channel some inner Kenny (Dillingham) right now – 7,700 people, that was so sick,” Van Niel said. “I’m so grateful for the fans. It was such a great environment. That was unbelievable. Our team played well, we got out of some scraps and found a way to win ugly in a couple of sets.”
ASU started fast against Arizona
Arizona State came out of the gates fast, feeding off the roaring Tempe crowd, and jumped out to an early 12-6 lead.
The Sun Devils were led by junior opposite hitter Noemie Glover, who had 13 kills on the night, combined with graduate student middle blocker Colby Neal and senior outside hitter Bailey Miller, who each had 10.
“That’s definitely the best part of my job,” senior setter Sydney Henry said. “I love when blockers don’t know what’s coming next, and I love that I have all these options to make it that way.”
It was the Sun Devils offense that proved to be too much for Arizona to handle as ASU cruised to a 25-11 first-set win.
The Wildcats fought back
Arizona responded in the second set, going up 9-8 off an ace from senior outside hitter Jordan Wilson, who led the Wilcats with 17 kills.
Both teams continued to exchange points with the score reading 14-14. Then the Wilcats took over, capitalizing on five Sun Devils errors to take the second set 25-20, evening things up one set a piece.
“I think a lot of it, especially for me, was just slowing down, taking a moment to just breathe,” Neal said. “We had a lot of fast rallies too, so calming down and looking around and really understanding who’s to my right and to my left and behind me, that helps me feel super confident.”
ASU’s offense was able to get back in a rhythm in the third set, going up 8-6. The floor for the maroon and gold was commanded by Henry, who tallied 24 assists, and sophomore setter Brynn Covell, who had 13.
The Sun Devils were able to power through, ending the third set with three kills from senior outside hitter Tatum Parrott, junior outside hitter Jillian Neal, and Glover to take the third set 25-18.
The fourth set was another tight contest with ASU jumping out to an 11-8 lead before Arizona responded, winning the next eight out of 11 points to go up 16-14.
Arizona State found itself in a jam down 21-17 when Van Niel called a timeout.
The Sun Devils cruised to victory
The Sun Devils exploded out of the stoppage, notching eight of the next nine points. ASU came all the way back to beat Arizona 25-22 in the fourth set.
“It looked like we were heading to a fifth set. I was already thinking about matchups for the fifth set when we were down 21-17,” Van Niel said. “They do a great job of not worrying about the score and just thinking, ‘Hey, we have to get some real points here.’ We went back, served tough, and executed, which was really cool to see.”
As good as the Sun Devils’ offense was, their defense was perhaps even better. ASU logged a season-high 17 blocks, with nine of those coming from Neal, who led the team on Thursday night.
It was Neal’s fourth match reaching 9 or more blocks. Miller was able to earn her ninth double-double of the year, getting 12 digs to go along with 10 kills.
Freshman opposite hitter Kiylah Presley set a career high in blocks with six to go along with seven kills.
The maroon and gold will now head on their last road trip of the season with their first match coming against No. 22 Colorado (21-5, 11-3 Big 12) on Nov. 15, with the game time set for 1:00 p.m. MST.
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