Offense from middle blockers may be key as Arizona volleyball tries to sweep ASU
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Courtesy of Arizona Athletics
Arizona and Arizona State got off to very different starts this season. As the Wildcats were being swept away easily by Utah, the Sun Devils were opening their season with a shocking win over Washington in three sets. My, how things have changed.
After their three-set victory over ASU on Friday, Arizona is now 5-8 on the year and has already played most of the top teams in the Pac-12. Their rivals from Tempe are 1-10 and still have to play two of the teams in the top half of the standings.
Notable Stats
Arizona State (1-6) played in its third five-set match of the season, falling to Oregon State (2-5). The Sun Devils struggled on serve receive, allowing 12 aces. However, ASU also tallied eight aces of its own.
Freshman Marta Levinska set a new career high in kills with 20, beating her previous high by two. Her total was the highest by any player in the match and was her fifth time reaching double figures in kills. She had a .224 hitting percentage.
Sophomore libero Annika Larson led the defensive with 26 digs, a new career best for her. She also had three aces and five assists.
ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils drop second game against Washington State
Busy Sun Devil Saturday
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Photo courtesy: Will Edmonds/Sun Devil Athletics
Arizona State (1-3) dropped its second straight game against Washington State (3-1), falling in four sets (22-25, 25-16, 25-16, 25-19) to the Cougars on Saturday morning.
After winning the opening set, the Sun Devils dropped three in a row. Washington State was spurred by outside hitters Julianna Dalton and Kalyah Williams, who both had 12 kills to lead the Cougs.
As for ASU, they had more strong outings from Iman Isanovic and Marta Levinska. Isanovic had a game-high 16 kills (her fourth game in a row with double-digit kills), while Levinska had 13 of her own and recorded a double-double, as she put together 13 digs, too.