(Photo: Hannah Franklin/WCSN)
The No. 7 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils stay perfect as they opened up Pac-12 play with a four-set win against No. 14 Arizona Wildcats 28-26, 12-25, 25-20, 25-21.
ASU started off the fourth set efficiently, notching five kills on six swings. That, coupled with four early errors for the Wildcats, gave the Sun Devils a 10-6 lead.
Back-to-back blocks for the Sun Devils took the fourth set into the media timeout with them up 16-11. Arizona was able to close the gap bringing the score to 19-17 and forcing ASU head coach Jason Watson to take a timeout.
Out of the timeout an Arizona service error served as a momentum shift in the Sun Devils favor. The Sun Devils would go on a 6-4 run to end the game, winning the fourth set 25-21.
The first set saw ASU jump out to a quick four point lead, but after the media timeout, Arizona came roaring back going on a 5-0 run to take the lead at 17-16. ASU quickly fired back taking four of the next five points to be the first team to 20.
In a set that saw 11 ties and eight lead changes and went to a win-by-two scenario, ASU was able to pull out the gritty first set victory, fueled by the crowd which saw over 2,000 students, 28-26.
“They’re trying to do everything to mess the other side up,” senior setter Bianca Arellano said. “I think we a good job of fueling off of that energy.”
Arizona junior outside hitter Kalei Mau shined for the Wildcats in the first set, recording a whopping 10 kills in the first set.
It was a cleaner start to the second set for the Wildcats as they found themselves up 9-5 early in the early going. They kept their foot on the gas forcing Watson to take a timeout with the score 12-7.
The Wildcats continued to find success as they had 17 kills in the set against no errors and turned the tables on ASU, recording three blocks in the compared to zero for the Sun Devils. The Wildcats took the second set in convincing fashion, 25-12.
The third set saw the Sun Devils make a change in their approach, switching from the 6-2 offense to the 5-1, which Watson said was due to the fact that freshman setter Kylie Pickrell was still feeling the effects of an injured knee she sustained in ASU’s last match.
Watson said the team ran the system in practice all week.
“There’s a degree of familiarity to it,” Watson said. “I thought that we were pretty comfortable making that change.”
The switch saw quick success as the Sun Devils lead 7-4 and forced a Wildcat timeout. The Wildcats made the adjustments and brought the match level again at 14.
The Sun Devils continued to press offensively, stretching the lead to 21-17. After an emotionally charged rally to bring the Devils to set point, senior middle blocker Whitney Follette was able to seal the set victory with the final score being 25-20.
Senior setter Bianca Arellano, who finished with 39 assists, moved into 5th all-time on the career assists list in just her third season with the Sun Devils.
Junior outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell had another double-double with 16 kills and 12 digs with only one error. Senior outside hitter Macey Gardner had 19 kills of her own.
Watson looks as the season as being “plus one over last year in conference” and the Sun Devils look to go “plus two” as they take on Oregon State Sunday at 1 p.m. at Wells Fargo Arena.
