(Photo via Kendall Makuta/WCSN)
It was the Halloween match at Mullett Arena on Sunday afternoon as No. 21 Arizona State volleyball (21-3, 9-3 Pac-12) took on mighty No. 3 Stanford (18-3, 11-1 Pac-12) in a contest that looked as if the Cardinal were seeing ghosts on the floor as part of the holiday festivities.
The Sun Devils pulled off an improbable upset over Stanford for the first time since 1993, sweeping the Cardinal 25-16, 25-21, 25-14. The win marks ASU’s second victory over a top-five team on the year, after sweeping No. 5 Oregon in Eugene earlier this month. It is also the first time in program history the Sun Devils have swept two top-five opponents in the same season.
Stanford struggled all match to play clean volleyball, committing 26 total offensive errors to ASU’s 14, which proved to be a difference maker in the final outcome that saw the Cardinal suffer its first Pac-12 Conference loss of the season.
“Our block was super disciplined tonight, and that makes it really difficult on them,” ASU graduate libero Mary Shroll said. “But the way we were playing defense tonight, just being relentless for every ball — that’s super frustrating for them, so that can lead to a ton of errors.”
The Sun Devils’ ability to score points and capitalize off of Stanford’s mistakes in the first set allowed them to set the tone early in the match and record a set win that was never in danger. ASU leaned on star senior opposite hitter Marta Levinska, who had seven kills in the first set and 17 total in the match. Senior outside hitter Roberta Rabelo also played a key role in the first set, tallying four of her nine total kills, one of which being the set winner.
Aside from setting the tone, ASU’s big first-set victory activated the Mullett maniacs, which gave lifted up the Sun Devils as well.
“That’s the beauty of having home-court advantage, this place is really fun,” ASU head coach JJ Van Niel said. “That crowd was loud, and we feed off that … and it fires us up, and I think we have a huge advantage.”
Redshirt senior outside hitter Caitie Baird, who registered 12 kills, and sophomore outside hitter Elia Rubin, who had 8 kills and 10 digs, were the two bright spots for Stanford on the afternoon. Their play helped the Cardinal initiate a positive response to the first set loss and temporarily quiet the raucous home crowd, knotting the score up at 15-15 at one point.
Unfortunately for the Cardinal, ASU was able to go on a 10-4 run at the end of the set and put it out of reach. That was the closest Stanford would come to capturing a win all match long, as the Sun Devils’ offense dominated in the third set with a total team effort.
Levinska attributed the major momentum shift in the second set to the play of the defense, which was an area of focus for ASU coming into the match. The Sun Devils recorded 50 digs and 6 blocks altogether.
“In my opinion, a block is the biggest energy booster,” Levinska said. “We worked really hard on our out-of-system defense this week, and it paid off.”
The Sun Devils now turn their attention to one of the more difficult road tests of the season, as they travel to Los Angeles to square off with UCLA and USC. Both the Bruins and the Trojans will surely be looking for revenge, as ASU beat each team earlier in the season at home.
Van Niel wants to build off the big victory against Stanford and continue to focus on making teams work hard to earn their points against the Sun Devils, which will be something the team emphasizes for its upcoming road trip.
“That is one of the ways you get teams frustrated, you make them earn their points,” Van Niel said. “If It takes them four swings to get a kill, that’s frustrating.”
