ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils avoid season sweep against Colorado

(Photo via Ritisha Thakker/WCSN)

For the last time this season, No. 17 Arizona State volleyball (23-4, 11-4 Pac-12) played at Mullett Arena where it took on Colorado (14-12, 6-9 Pac-12) Thursday night. It was “Wizard Night” at the match, and it seemed fitting as ASU looked as if all the magic was on its side for most of the night.

The Sun Devils got their revenge from earlier in the season against the Buffaloes with a victory in four sets, 21-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-16. ASU’s second set victory snapped a seven-set losing streak to Colorado dating back to 2022. In addition, the 2-1 set lead ASU held heading into the fourth set was the first time the Sun Devils had a set lead on the Buffaloes since 2021.

ASU earned its 23rd win of the season, tied for the fourth-highest in program history. Additionally, this was ASU’s 11th Pac-12 Conference win of the season, tied for the second-most in program history.

Despite the win, there was also a feeling of loss for the Sun Devils midway through the fourth set. Colorado was forced to take its first timeout of the set because ASU was rolling on a 4-0 scoring run, leading 14-10. The momentum was all on the Sun Devils’ side and the atmosphere was electric.

Then, in a blink of an eye, Mullett Arena went silent as graduate middle blocker Maddie McLaughlin fell to the ground and remained there for an extended period of time. McLaughlin was later assisted to the locker room, putting weight on only one leg as she hobbled off.

“When you’re in a training room and your athlete’s in tears, it’s emotional,” head coach JJ Van Niel said. “These are like my kids so I love them and you don’t like seeing your kids hurt.”

When asked if he could provide an injury update, Van Niel said, “There isn’t really an update. There’s something with the ankle. We got to check it out tomorrow and see what’s going on.

“If there’s anyone who can do it it’s [McLaughlin], that kid battles through everything.”

The first set was mostly a hard-fought battle between the two squads with six ties and four lead changes. ASU and Colorado traded blows up until the Sun Devils held a 19-18 lead. From there, Colorado went on a 4-0 scoring run to take a 22-19 lead. When it got to set point, Colorado’s graduate middle blocker Skyy Howard sealed a first set victory for the Buffaloes with a kill, marking Colorado’s seventh consecutive set victory against the Sun Devils.

The second and third sets had the exact same scores but played out in very different fashion. ASU won both sets with a score of 25-21, but performed very differently in each frame. In the second set, ASU collectively averaged a team hitting percentage of .286. This clip was substantially larger than the .088 clip in the third set. Fortunately for the Sun Devils, the Buffaloes struggled offensively, as they averaged a team -0.94 hitting percentage in the third set.

Across the first three sets, there were a total of 20 ties and 11 lead changes. All three of them mirrored final scores of 25-21. The trend did not continue in the fourth, as ASU controlled wire-to-wire and won the set 25-16.

“I don’t know what really clicked to us but I think going into that fourth set, we were ready to bring it home,” senior middle blocker Claire Jeter said. “I think we were tired of playing with them and we knew that at that point we were kind of stooping down to their level and playing their game instead of our own, which we talked about throughout all of the sets. And I think it finally clicked in our heads that it was time for us to play ASU volleyball and not play like them.”

ASU was able to overcome the 25 combined kills between Colorado’s senior outside hitter Maya Tabron and freshman outside hitter Ana Burilović, largely due to senior opposite hitter Marta Levinska equally matching that number by notching 25 kills. This was the Latvian’s 12th-straight match with double-digit kills and the sixth time this season with 20 or more. In addition, she earned her fifth double-double of the season with 10 digs.

The Sun Devils will continue their Rocky Mountain home stand on Saturday in Desert Financial Arena, looking to improve their record in Tempe to 8-0 as they face Utah (10-15, 5-10 Pac-12) for the second time this season.