No. 8 Arizona State volleyball takes down No. 24 Colorado in an adrenaline rushing game

TEMPE, Ariz. – No. 8 Arizona State volleyball defeated No. 24 Colorado on Friday night in an absolute showdown. The Sun Devils fell apart in the third set and Colorado avoided the sweep, but ASU bounced back to win the match in four sets.

ASU starts strong

ASU started the first set strong against the dominating Buffalo’s defense. Senior outside hitter Bailey Miller had an amazing kill in just the second play of the game. With this, it got the Sun Devils very comfortable on the court where they could create plays.

Colorado really struggled responding, and allowed ASU to convert nasty blocks. Junior middle blocker Ella Lomigora and junior opposite hitter Noemie Glover had an amazing block that left the Buffalo’s lost. Not only was ASU getting great blocks, sophomore libero Faith Frame had an amazing dig in the middle of the first set.

Colorado began to understand the game and kept it close. ASU never trailed in the first set, but Colorado stepped up its defense so it was always in striking distance. The Sun Devils did well to force the Buffaloes to use plenty of timeouts. All throughout the first set, Colorado constantly had to use timeouts because ASU always found a way to have power over them.

ASU had plenty of kills throughout the first set, but senior outside hitter Tatum Parrott had a particularly strong first set with four kills

“She hit pretty well in the front row. She was very patient with her swings,” coach J.J. Van Niel said. “We talked to our hitters about taking a shot when you’re in rhythm.”

ASU won the first set 25-20 to start the night off on the right foot.

ASU weathers the storm in second set

Colorado came out with a chip on its shoulder to start the second set. Both teams showed amazing defensive and offensive skills, but the Buffaloes took their first lead of the game to start the second set, 9-8.

However, ASU responded quickly to take the lead over Colorado for the rest of the set. Freshman outside hitter Kiylah Presley and graduate middle blocker Colby Neal came up with a huge blocks. This changed the pace for the rest of the second set.

The Sun Devils constructed amazing offensive play while Colorado did an amazing job defending them. Near the end of the second set, Colorado finally got something going for the offensively, and began to make a comeback.

That’s when Glover came up with a major kill against Buffalo to help ASU close out the second set, 25-18. 

Colorado avoids sweep in third set

As the third set began, the Sun Devils weren’t playing the way they had been playing. ASU made mistakes offensively and defensively, and players were getting frustrated with each other.

The Sun Devils entered the third set looking for the sweep, but at the rate they were playing, it wasn’t going to happen. Colorado used that as motivation to absolutely dominate the ASU in the third set.

ASU’s error count began to wrack up by the middle of the third set. The Sun Devils had 10 errors, and it wasn’t just one player, the entire team was falling apart.

ASU called multiple timeouts nearly back to back hoping to solve the problem, but that wasn’t the case.

“A ton of bad errors were made. We were pressing, we can’t win a match in one swing, we can’t win a match in one pass,” Van Niel said. “We were trying to take crazy reps when we were in bad positions. It really was just us not being patient, and we need to be patient.”

The Sun Devils fell in the third set, 25-20, and Colorado avoided the sweep.

ASU rebounds in tight fourth set

ASU came out on fire in the fourth set, displaying amazing skills and teamwork. There was clear communication between the players unlike the end of the third set.

Miller was all over the court, helping create plays for her offense, as well as playing a huge role on defense.

Despite a strong start to the fourth set for the Sun Devils, Colorado began to gain momentum. The Buffaloes went up 22-20 before Neal made a game-changing block to put the Sun Devils back in control.

ASU finished the fourth set in a nail biting 25-23 win.

“It feels amazing. It feels really rewarding. We knew it was a big game going into it. We get to go home tonight and feel really proud of our playing tonight,” Glover said. “Yeah this is a pretty strong conference. A lot of teams need to take care of business. This was a good test for us to work hard and defeat a team that also was undefeated.”

What’s next for ASU?

The Sun Devils will now hit the road for three straight matches. First up is BYU on Thursday, Oct. 16.

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