(Photo: Courtney Pedroza/WCSN)
The No. 6 Arizona State Sun Devils remained undefeated after defeating the No. 8 Stanford Cardinal 25-21, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19. It marks ASU’s first win over the Cardinal since 2000.
Freshman Setter Kylie Pickrell returned to action the the Sun Devils, who came in well-rested, and returned to their 6-2 offensive system.
In the fourth set, Stanford’s fatigue began to show. The Cardinal came in having played back-to-back five-set matches within the last week. Early in the set, ASU went on a 6-0 run to take a 10-5 lead and later found itself up 17-9. The team seemed to find itself on the right side of all the rallies in the set. After a few emotionally charged points, ASU sealed the deal on a kill by junior outside hitter BreElle Bailey winning the fourth set 25-19.
ASU head coach Jason Watson said that how the team practices allowed it to stay fresh throughout the match.
“We feel like the way that we practice is conditioning enough.” Watson said. “So we don’t do anything outside of that.”
The game was an incredibly even match to start off as the teams matched each other through the first 25 points, with the largest lead being Stanford’s 5-3 advantage.
ASU took the lead at 18-17 forcing to Stanford’s head coach John Dunning calling a timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Sun Devils scored four of the next five points to widen the gap to 23-19, and ASU was able to keep the pressure on as it finished the first set behind the arm of senior outside hitter Macey Gardner. She would record the last two kills of the set as ASU won 25-21
Both teams swung incredibly well throughout the first set. Each team had only three errors. ASU hit .390 in the set and the Cardinal hit .282.
The second set had been problematic for the Sun Devils throughout the season. In this match, they were able to quickly build a 7-3 lead. Stanford was able to bounce back and take the lead 10-9.
At the media timeout, Stanford lead 15-13. Despite ASU falling behind by four points, the Sun Devils battled back with junior outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell recording two emotional points back-to-back to tie the set at 20. However, In the end the Cardinal were able to take the second set by a score of 25-22.
In the set, the Cardinal were able to capitalize on eight Sun Devil errors compared to just four of their own.
ASU came out with a lot of energy in the third set, as it jumped on the Cardinal early, leading 10-2 and scoring eight straight points in the process. While Stanford tried to chip away, ASU was able to maintain its large lead, taking set three, 25-18.
ASU had three hitters record double-digit kills. Gardner tallied yet another double-double, with 22 kills and 11 digs. A performance which Watson said he was “In awe of.”
ASU middle blocker Whitney Follette also had an incredible statistical game. She hit .526 and recorded 12 kills and five blocks in the match. Bailey also had 11 kills of her own and hit .500.
This win serves as more of just another conference victory for many of the Sun Devils. For the seniors, it was their first win since they’d been on campus.
“I don’t want to say (it’s a) relief.” Gardner said. “Just this overwhelming feeling of thankfulness and appreciation for the work that we put in. Whitney and I just look at each other, after four years of playing with each other this is the first win we’ve had against them.”
This win brings the Sun Devils to 14-0 on the year and 3-0 in Pac-12 play. ASU’s next match is a home match Sunday at 1:30 p.m., against California and can be seen on Pac-12 Network.
