(Photo: Zac Pacleb/WCSN)
In a match that went the distance, the No. 21 Arizona State Sun Devils were defeated by the unranked Colorado Buffaloes 25-27, 25-13, 25-21, 17-25 12-15 and fell under .500 in Pac-12 play.
The fifth and decisive set started incredibly even with the Sun Devils holding a slim lead 6-4. The set continued to go back-and-forth, and then two ASU freshman, outside hitter Lexi MacLean and middle blocker Jasmine Koonts, came up with a huge block to give the Sun Devils and 10-7 lead.
ASU began to break down soon thereafter, allowing the Buffaloes to go on a 5-0 run that ultimately proved to be decisive. As they had done for the majority of the match, senior Alexis Austin and sophomore Anna Pfefferle propelled the Colorado offense as the two finished with 22 and 14 kills respectively and both hit over .300 pacing the Buffaloes to the fifth set win by a score of 15-12
The fourth set was very much a back-and-forth affair until sophomore setter Gabby Simpson went on a solid run at the service line with three straight points. The Sun Devils battled back and tied the set at 14 going on a 5-1 run.
The Buffaloes always seemed to have an answer and most of the time that answer was Austin who had two big kills to keep the lead over three and quickly extinguish any Sun Devil run.
In the first set the Sun Devils definitely came out sluggish offensively, hitting a mere under .100 despite leading for a good portion of the set.
The Sun Devils were benefactors of some stout defense forcing three blocks and forcing nine Colorado hitting errors and holding the Buffaloes to .125.
The lone bright spot in the set for the Sun Devils was junior outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell, who kept the offense moving with five of the team’s kills in the set.
In the second set, Colorado’s middles had lots of success in the early going. Pfefferle specifically recorded multiple kills through the Sun Devil block, pacing her team with nine kills and a .667 hitting percentage.
However, the Sun Devils played much cleaner in the second set recording eight kills against just one error on their first 15 swings.
ASU’s defense began to stifle the Colorado offense and forced eight errors to go along with three total blocks and cruised out to a 20-12 lead forcing a Colorado timeout. ASU kept the second set under control and went on to win the second set 25-14.
When the set was over, the Buffaloes had committed 11 errors and Sun Devil blockers had five total blocks in the set.
The second set saw a reversal of fortunes for the Sun Devil offense. After hitting well under .100 in the first set, the Sun Devils hit .350 in the set, and Pickrell continued to shine bringing her tally to nine kills.
ASU’s defense continued to be the driver of the Sun Devils success in the third set. Down 12-11 the team reeled off three straight points off of blocks bringing them to 14 in the match.
Colorado hung tough in the third set. Down by four late, 21-17, the Buffaloes went on a quick 3-0 run out of a timeout. However, the Sun Devils, fueled by a back-to-back kills from senior Whitney Follette would stem the tide and win the set by a final score of 25-21.
It was the second consecutive clean set from the Sun Devils. They had 12 kills in the set and only had two errors. For the Buffaloes, yes the kills number was very high, 18, it’s weighted because they also had 12 errors in the set.
For ASU, it’s hard to win a match when the opposition had 20 more kills than it did, but defensively, there are still a lot of positives to take away. The team 19.5 total blocks and forced 38 errors in the match. Pickrell had seven block assists which is a career-high for her, and senior middle blocker Mercedes Binns led the team with nine total blocks.
Also not to be lost in this match is Follette. She continued to climb the record books moving into a tie for third all-time at ASU in total blocks.
The Sun Devils will look to bounce back on Saturday as they take on the Utah Utes at 7 p.m.
