ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils drop consecutive five-set matches to Oregon State

Arizona State (1-7) fell twice in matches that went to five sets for the third and fourth time this season Thursday and Friday, as Oregon State (3-5) defeated the Sun Devils in their first two five-set match of the season (28-26, 16-25, 25-18, 27-29, 11-15) on Thursday and (25-18, 23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 19-21) on Friday.

Match 1: 

Like their first five set match of the season against Washington State, the Sun Devils won the first set but did not win the second set pulling their opponent back into the match. They were able to win the third set but then dropped the final two sets to the Beavers. 

In the first set, the Sun Devils went on various scoring runs, and led by as much as five at 9-4 before the Beavers stormed back with six straight points of their own to lead, 10-9. To end the set, both teams had three set points but a kill from freshman outside hitter Regan Tinkle gave ASU the set, 28-26. 

Through the match, the Beavers and the Sun Devils hit relatively close at .180 and .175 respectively. Freshman outside hitter Marta Levinska led ASU in the afternoon with a career-high 20 kills. 

The second set opened with a 5-5 tie continuing the back-and-forth pace of the first set, but OSU went on a 4-0 run to pull ahead 9-5. The Sun Devils did not gain the lead again in the set, but would pull within three before the Beavers would take the set, 16-25. 

Sophomore setter Shannon Shields got the start in the setter position for ASU and had 13 assists, freshman setter Ella Snyder, who leads the team with assists on the season, had 34 assists in helping the Sun Devils stay in the match after dropping the second set this match. 

After leading the Sun Devils in kills last weekend versus Utah, sophomore outside hitter Iman Isanovic was right behind Levinska with 16 kills and four blocks. 

ASU led by as much as 12 in the third set and were up 16-4 before a challenge lost by the Sun Devils led to the Beavers pulling closer. Eventually, the Beavers would cut their deficit down to five, before ASU ended pulling away with the set, 25-18. 

The Sun Devils led the majority of the fourth set, but OSU stormed back and was able to take a 23-22 lead. For the second time in the match, the set had to go to extra points and ASU had the match point multiple times but OSU won, 29-27. 

Match 2

Similar to Thursday’s match, Arizona State won the first set of the match versus Oregon State but then dropped the second set to keep the Beavers in the match. Instead of finding themselves up 2-1 in Friday’s match, they were trailing 1-2 going into the fourth set.

One of three Sun Devils who had double digits in kills was middle blocker Kennedi Boyd, who had a career-high 11 kills and eight blocks, helping ASU take an early lead in the first set on an 8-0 run. Oregon State cut their deficit to two on a 6-1 run, but four service aces and a couple of hitting errors by OSU helped the Sun Devils score five straight points to win the first set, 25-18.

The Sun Devils started off the second set just like the first with a quick 4-2 lead, but the Beavers would take a 9-14 lead. A set of extreme runs started with a 6-0 run by ASU, leading to a 15-14 Sun Devil lead. A 5-0 run of the Beavers’ own helped them pull ahead, 15-19. Although a block pulled the Sun Devils within one at the end of the second set, the Beavers would go on to win the set, 23-25.

Errors were an issue for both teams when the third set came along. The defense of the Sun Devils that was prominent in the first two sets lost their momentum, allowing a 5-0 run by the Beavers to lead to a 4-5 lead for OSU. Toward the end of the set OSU led 15-21, but a couple of errors by the Beavers helped Arizona State pull within four. Still, the Beavers held on and won the set, 20-25.

To start the fourth set that set the Sun Devils up for their fourth fifth-set match of the season, ASU found itself in a 0-3 deficit but was able to tie the game 5-5 due to four hitting and serving errors coming from the Beavers. From then on in the fourth set, the ASU offense was able to get some stops from kills from outside hitter Marta Levinska, who led the Sun Devils with 20 kills, and middle blocker Megan Beedie, who finished with 12 kills for the afternoon.

The lead was as high as seven for the Sun Devils in the fourth set, but OSU outside hitter Mychael Vernon, who had a season-high 18 kills on Thursday and Friday, kept the Beavers in the set with back-to-back kills. ASU would win the fourth set, 25-21, on an attack error by OSU.

For half of the matches the Sun Devils have played in the 2021 seasons, they have required five sets to determine a winner. Friday’s match was their second in a row against OSU where they found themselves in a 1-5 hole early on before head coach Sonja Tomasevic called a timeout. A break for the Sun Devils came on an ace from Levinska that helped them pull ahead, 9-8, and then a kill by Levinska then gave the Sun Devils the match point at 14-12.

The Beavers managed to tie the set at 14 all after a missed serve by the Sun Devils and an OSU ace. ASU had six match points but were unable to take advantage of any of the opportunities. Oregon State took their first match point at 18-19 and found themselves taking their second straight fifth set and match, 19-21. The win gave OSU its first season sweep of ASU since the 2017 season.

The losses drop Arizona State’s record to 1-7 on the season.  The seventh consecutive loss comes with the lone win of the season coming on Jan. 22 versus Washington. Looking to snap their losing streak, ASU will face No. 18 UCLA on Feb. 19 and Feb. 21 at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe.

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