(Photo: Haley M Sparacle/WCSN)
Arizona State defeated the No. 22 Washington State Cougars in four sets Thursday night, making it an extra sweet Senior Night for five particular Sun Devils. Libero Courtney Leffel, setters Nicole Peterson and Callie Jones, andoutside hitters Jada Burse and Ivana Jeremic, all were celebrated before the match as their final season as a Sun Devil comes to an end.
The seniors’ families were in attendance at Desert Financial Arena to support the girls on their special night. Jeremic relayed in the postgame press conference that this match was on her all time favorites list due to it being her mother’s first time being able to watch Jeremic live in her four year career.
“[They] worked their butts off since their freshman year to be here so I’m super proud of them and happy for them,” head coach Sanja Tomasevic said.
Tomasevic beamed with joy at outside hitter Jeremic and setter Peterson as they expressed their joy from a fantastic Senior Night. The victory over No. 22 Washington State helped the Sun Devils become NCAA tournament-eligible for the first time since 2015.
As senior leaders for Arizona State, Jeremic and Peterson each said they hoped they left their team with valuable advice. Jeremic shared that the seniors tried to “build something here” which indeed, they certainly have. Since 2015, Arizona State hasn’t won up to eight matches in conference play. The team is currently 8-9 in the Pac-12, meaning there is a possibility that they can end the season with more wins than they did in the 2015 season when they had an 8-12 record in conference.
“A big thing that we talked about a lot is that not one person can win a match,” Peterson said following her 19-assist, 10-dig performance. “We all have to come together and individually do our jobs and if we come together, we will win.”
“I think making sure that we can hold each other accountable out of care and out of love,” Peterson said was also important to her senior philosophy.
Accountability seems to be a huge characteristic for the Sun Devils as Tomasevic did not hesitate to share that Leffel didn’t perform well against the Cougars. On normal night throughout this season, poor play from the senior libero would have brought a loss for the Sun Devils.
“It’s pretty cool that we can all pull for each other when we’re not having a good night,” Tomasevic said. “That’s a staple of a good team when you have multiple pieces that can carry the team.”
