TEMPE – Arizona State held San Diego to 0% hitting, beating them 3 sets to 1 in the last home game of September with key performances from starters.

Big performances across the board 

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Senior opposite hitter Noemie Glover sparked the Sun Devils’ offense with an excellent game. Glover recorded a team-high 18 kills, 7 digs, and 1 block.

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Freshman setter Elle Mottola continues to be one of the Sun Devils’ key players. After earning Big 12 Freshman Player of the Week on Sept. 1, Mottola was one of the biggest factors with 34 assists, more than the entire San Diego team’s 30. She also had 13 digs, 4 kills, and 3 blocks.
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Wisconsin transfer junior outside hitter Una Vajagic has recorded 45 kills through Arizona State’s first three matches; tonight she shared the show but was a key player in the last two sets. Vajagic finished with 13 digs and 13 kills.
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She has certainly been a player the Sun Devils have counted on.
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“I hope to bring stability. I hope to be the player everyone trusts,” Vajagic said.
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Junior libero Faith Frame showed up big throughout the match with a team-high 15 digs, helping lead the offense for the Sun Devils.

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Matches

The players on the court weren’t the only ones who led the Sun Devils to victory; the players on the bench, no matter what happened, kept the energy high.

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“We call them the game changers. They’re ready to go at any moment and time and really keep the energy high,” Mottola said.

After a close start to match one, the Sun Devils went down three early, but Arizona State’s defense provided a huge boost, forcing the Toreros to call two timeouts quickly. The Sun Devils’ offense then started to come along, and they won the match.

After a close start to match one, the Sun Devils went down three early, but Arizona State’s defense provided a huge boost that forced the Toreros to call two timeouts quickly. The Sun Devils’ offense then started to come along, and they won the match.

“The second we just let them down and let them back into it, which we can’t do,” Van Neal said.

We can go back to exactly what we did for the first set and a half, and we gotta just put the pressure on from the service side and clamp them down on defense.”

The Toreros won the second match by 2 points, but the Sun Devils dominated the third and fourth matches, and their defense took San Diego out of the game.

“I felt like we were in control most of the match,” Van Neal said.

The Sun Devils Defense

After Thursday’s loss to UC Davis in four sets, the Sun Devils had quickly turned around to play Oregon. Tonight’s approach was no different.

“I told them our big key was going to be defensively,” Van Neal said.

The Sun Devils stuck to the game plan and defended well, holding San Diego to a 0% hitting percentage and 135 attacks for 31 kills.

Snyder-Park Classic tribute

Arizona State will host the Snyder-Park Classic in Tempe this weekend, continuing the program’s recent tradition of hosting a home nonconference tournament. The tournament is named for former Sun Devils head coach Patti Snyder-Park, who led Arizona State from 1989 to 2002 and posted a 216-181 record.

The Sun Devils go on the road for the SLO Classic at Mott Athletics Center to face Stanford on September 17th at 2:30 p.m. MST.