No. 8 Arizona State rallies to beat Cincinnati in four sets for seventh straight win

TEMPE, Ariz. – No. 8 Arizona State (21-3, 15-1 Big 12) kept its home winning streak alive, knocking off Cincinnati in four sets (21-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-14) on Wednesday night. 

The Sun Devils extended their winning streak to 7 games with the victory over the Bearcats. Cincinnati put up an impressive fight, but it didn’t come close to matching ASU’s extraordinary defense. 

“I thought we played a lot better defense as the match went on,” coach JJ Van Niel said. 

ASU’s slow start against Cincinnati

Arizona State came out of the gates slower than normal, trailing 12-9 early. 

The Sun Devils were led by senior outside hitter Bailey Miller, who collected a team-high 19 kills. Junior opposite hitter Noemie Glover was next with 13, and senior outside hitter Tatum Parrott had 9 kills. 

“Bailey has had a phenomenal season, and I think the progression from beginning of the year to the end has been very impressive.” Van Niel said.

The Sun Devils’ offense was slow to get started in the first set, and the Bearcats took advantage of this to pull out a 25-21 win. 

“Let’s just adjust; let’s start doing this. Let’s take a different blocking scheme; let’s step a different way,” sophomore libero Faith Frame said on ASU’s adjustments after the first set.

The fight to victory

Arizona State responded in the second set, going up 7-6 after a kill from freshman outside hitter Kiylah Presley. 

The Sun Devils took over, capitalizing on explosive offense the entire second set. Bearcats sophomore libero and defensive specialist Lilly Gillespie experienced a service error, which wrapped up the second set as ASU took the victory 25-21, evening things up one set a piece. 

“One play at a time, one point at a time,” Miller said.

Cincinnati’s offense responded fiercely in the third set, going up 15-13 after a kill delivered by junior outside hitter Sydney Nolan. 

Nolan was one of the strongest players for the Bearcats, as she had 20 kills overall, leading the team. 

As the crowd got louder, the Sun Devils were able to gain momentum to hang on. ASU ended the third set with two kills from Presley, junior outside hitter Jillian Neal, and an attack error by Cincinnati’s Nolan for ASU to take the third set 25-21 

“I mean, what a crowd. That was really fun, almost 4,000 people. So, thank you to the fans for coming out,” Van Niel said. “It was so cool coming to see it the day before Thanksgiving.”

The Sun Devils striking victory 

That Sun Devils explosive offense we’ve seen all season was finally awake and propelled ASU to a fourth set victory after a rapid 11-6 lead.

After a stellar kill by graduate student middle blocker Colby Neal, ASU took home the win with a 25-14 victory.

ASU displayed resilience in multiple comebacks throughout the match. Now, the Sun Devils will ride their seven-game win streak into senior night in the last upcoming game of the regular season. 

ASU will face West Virginia on Nov. 29, with the game time set for 11:00 a.m. at Desert Financial Arena.

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