ASU Volleyball: Sun Devils fall in five-set thriller to Buffaloes

(Photo: Susan Wong/WCSN)

After Arizona State (5-12) won in five sets against defending national champion Stanford in its last match, the Sun Devils were on the other end of a five-setter Friday, falling to Colorado (6-11) (25-13, 16-25, 13-25, 25-14, 14-16) in Boulder.

Four Sun Devils finished in double digits in kills in the loss with sophomore Iman Isanovic leading the way with a match-high 18 kills. Isanovic also had two blocks and nine digs.

ASU went on a 5-1 run midway through the first set to push their lead to six, as the Sun Devils saw some action from freshman middle blocker Claudia Stahlke and freshman outside hitter Roberta Rabelo, who finished with 14 kills and a team leading three blocks.

The Buffaloes called a timeout during the run and did not see any points until they had a service ace, which they finished with 13 of in the contest. A 4-0 run by the Sun Devils led to Colorado calling their second timeout of the first set, but two kills from the Buffaloes would be their only points for the rest of the set. In a dominant first set, ASU finished hitting .600. ASU would win the first set, 25-13.

Colorado went on a 4-0 run to open the second set but kills from Isanovic and freshman outside hitter Marta Levinska, who finished with a double-double with 15 kills and 11 digs, brought ASU within three. The Sun Devils would go on a 3-0 run to once again find itself within three of the Buffaloes but Colorado would hit .324 compared to ASU’s .171, leading to them pulling away after the 3-0 run.

Colorado’s hitting would lead to them getting multiple stops on offense in the second set with 13 kills in the second set. A kill by Levinska would bring ASU within seven but two kills at the end of the set would seal the victory for Colorado.

Service errors and kills by both squads kept the beginning of the third set close. A kill by Isanovic tied the third set, but a service error by the Sun Devils allowed the Buffaloes to to push their lead.

Colorado had seven straight points to lead by 11 and had six of their 13 aces in the third set. The Buffaloes would hold on to win the third set, 13-25, after two kills.

Kills by Rabelo and senior middle blocker Megan Beedie, who was the fourth Sun Devil in double digits for kills, opened the fourth set 8-4, in favor of ASU. The Buffaloes had some errors throughout the sets which saw the Sun Devils leading by as much as ten in the fourth set. Colorado would get a stop on offense but would lose the set, 25-14, on a service error.

The fifth set is familiar territory for ASU as this was their sixth match of the season going to a fifth set. Both teams exchanged kills to keep the fifth set close from the beginning. Back-to-back kills from Beedie was the end of the tie for ASU but Colorado would rally back on a 4-0 run to take a two-point lead.

Neither team was able to make a stop on offense as there were seven ties throughout the first-to-15 points fifth set. ASU fought back from two-match points from the Buffaloes with a kill from Levinska and an ace from sophomore libero Annika Larson. However, a kill by Colorado and a bad set from the Sun Devils led to ASU dropping the set and match, 14-16.

The loss drops ASU’s record to 5-12 on the season and will look to split the weekend series on Sunday at 11 a.m. in Boulder. The match can be viewed on Colorado’s live stream.