Gymnastics

The Sand Devils split with Ottawa and GCU in Sparky Invitational opener

TEMPE-It was another hot day in the desert for Arizona State Beach Volleyball, and all eyes were on court number 2. The No. 2 pairs for ASU and GCU were in a tight third set to decide the duel. Senior Arden Besecker steps up to serve down 13-14, lets it go, only for the ball to find the net and drop on her side.

This service error gave the Lopes the coveted 15th point of the match, along with the 3-2 match edge over the cross-town rival.

“I mean, GCU has been playing better every time I see them,” head coach Kristen Glattfelder said. “I knew it was going to be a battle.”

On Friday, April 3, the Sparky Invitational kicked off at the Sun Devil Beach Volleyball Facility in Tempe. This was a two-day event and featured teams near and far. The hosting Sun Devils (14-9) faced Ottawa University (19-3) and No. 13 Grand Canyon University (12-10). This was the second meeting between ASU and GCU, so both teams had a little more to play for.

For the Sand Devils, the day started with Ottawa, and they made sure to start strong and fast. They started with the 2,4, and 5 pairs for each team, and ASU came out firing as each duo swept their counterpart in straight sets.

One of these set wins that stands out is from the No.2 duo senior Danielle Kensinger and junior Addy White, as this was Kensinger’s 75th career win. In her four years playing the sport, this milestone reflects her longevity and her value to the team.

With these three set wins, ASU had already clinched the match as it was a best-of-five. This didn’t change the mentality for them, though, as the 1 and 3 pairs continued this dominance, winning their matches in straight sets for each.

They each swept their opponents and won the duel 5-0, the tenth time the Sand Devils have achieved this feat.

Now 1-0 on the afternoon, ASU had a little break and awaited GCU to close out the day of action. The Lopes won their duel over FIU, and it was time for the rivals to face off.

Trying to manage injuries, all five duos for the Sun Devils had different pairings from the first. Junior Kristen Gilmour was now with senior Makenna Flaherty, and they were ready to get things going.

“We had a lot of different partnerships together,” Glatfelder said. “Just because we were sitting a lot of people for injury. It was a lot of excitement from the teammates who were getting an opportunity to be in.”

Gilmour already swept her first match and looked to do the same again. She and Flarherty continued ASU’s hot start from the first duel and swept GCU in straight sets to take a 1-0 duel lead.

“I went into this game thinking,’ I just want to have fun, relax and play my game,’” Gilmour said. “I believe I did that, and I did that to the best of my ability.”

Despite being up early things changed quickly. On the next court over, Kensinger had a new partner, who was junior Olivia McElroy, and their match was vastly different from the previous. In the first match, the duo trailed to the Lopes’ duo early and ended up losing the first set.

Now, the Sun Devils’ first loss of the day, they looked to rebound, but the second match was more of the same as GCU continued to pull away. The Lopes duo swept the Kensinger and McElroy and tied the duel at 1-1.

Now all three courts were in action as the duel heated up. Senior duo Samaya Morin and Ava Kirunchyk looked to right the ship for ASU as they won, sweeping their pairs to give the Sun Devils the lead back at 2-1.

With two games to go, it was still anyone’s game, and GCU answered right back with a sweep of their own and once again tied the duel at 2.

Now the pressure was on in court 2 as the No. 2 pairs battled it out in the pivotal final games. Beseker and sophomore Zoe Taylor won the first set, but again the Lopes won the second to set up a duel deciding set three finale.

Only raising the tension more, the pairs continued to answer each other, but after they tied at 12 GCU began to pull away. It went up 14-12, and the Sun Devils couldn’t battle back and fell 15-13 to give the Lopes the duel win.

“I was really disappointed,” Gilmour said. “All the girls on the team have been working so hard, even in that last match. It was so close and right there.”

This was the second meeting between the two rivals, and ASU got the upper hand the first time, winning 5-0. Since then, a lot has changed, and the Lopes showed it today.

“It was a battle when we were there, too,” Glattfelder said. “We went to three in a couple of different pairs. It was just that we made fewer errors, and it just came down to the fact that they were more consistent than we were, and I thought they were more aggressive at times.”

The Sun Devils find themselves in a bit of a rough patch compared to the great start they had to open the season. They have lost six of their last nine duels and haven’t been able to regain the form that they opened this season with.

“I told them to sit in the disappointment for right now,” Glattfelder said. “But it has to be a fast reset tonight. Just coming in with a short-term memory tomorrow, and it’s a new day. It’s an opportunity for us to turn around from what happened today.”

ASU will wrap up play in the Sparky Invitational and will wrap up with FIU at 10 a.m. and No.15 Stetson at 12 p.m.

“I think we all had a good fight, but I think we do need to find our heartbeat as a team,” Gilmour said. “I believe in every single one of these girls, and I know we can do it.”