(Photo: Zac Pacleb/WCSN)
In dramatic, five-set fashion, the No. 22 Arizona State Sun Devils knocked out the No. 17 UCLA Bruins in Tempe on Wednesday night, (21-25, 25-20, 16-25, 25-20, 16-14).
Junior outside hitter Macey Gardner ended the night with 20 kills, the final one coming on the match-ending attack. In a back-and-forth fifth set, the Sun Devils fell behind 13-10 before charging back with four straight points, three of which were won on attacking errors from UCLA.
It was a trend that plagued the Bruins all night, as 32 total attacking errors added up as the night went on. 18 of those errors came in the final two sets, both of which the Bruins lost.
In a game that came down to efficiency, it was ASU that had the final say, with only three errors and a respectable .217 hit percentage in the fifth set to finish things off in Tempe.
In the fourth set, it was the Sun Devils with their backs against the walls after UCLA had taken a 2-1 advantage in sets. A strong .303 hit percentage during the fourth set, combined with a balanced attack that saw kills come from five different players in the set, overwhelmed a Bruins defense that had been blocking well to that point.
The battle at the front line was an intense one all night long, as the blocks for both teams added up, with each team notching 14 blocks on the night. Highlighting the category were ASU junior middle blocker Whitney Follette (8 blocks) and UCLA senior middle blocker Zoe Nightingale (9 blocks).
Follette was the player of the match, as she secured a sparkling .444 hit percentage (10 kills on 18 total attacks) to go along with her blocking totals, also contributing with three service aces and three digs.
The first and third sets were dominant ones for the Bruins, as they defensively held the ASU attack in check, with Sun Devil hit percentages of .054 and .067 in each set, respectively. Those two sets were also the only times that UCLA was able to surpass a .130 hit percentage of their own.
The result was an all-too-familiar twist for ASU, as it’s the 11th five-set match the team has played since starting Pac-12 play (and 14th of the season). The team’s total record in such games has been 8-6.
It’s a game that could impact NCAA Tournament seedings, but both teams have rivalry games between now and the tournament’s selection.
For UCLA, a Friday match-up with unranked USC awaits. The Bruins (19-11, 10-9) will try to avoid falling to .500 in Pac-12 play, as the Trojans will be aspiring to bolster a tournament resume that may be on the bubble.
The Sun Devils will welcome the No. 14 Arizona Wildcats into town on Friday, with a chance to come up with consecutive wins over top-20 opponents to finish off their season and secure a .500 record in Pac-12 play for the first time since the conference’s expansion to 12 teams.
