(Photo: Joey Plishka/WCSN)
After finishing last weekend unfazed and winning the Lumberjack Classic hosted by NAU, Arizona State (6-3) returned home to take on Pacific (3-6) and kick off the 2021 Sparky Invitational.
The Sun Devils took the match in four sets (25-20, 25-15, 24-26, 25-20) led by sophomore outside hitter Marta Levinska’s team-high 15 kills and six aces.
The Sun Devils were able to come away with the win but head coach Sanja Tomasevic noted the team can get better ahead of Saturday’s non-conference finale.
“Anytime we can close the day with a win that’s a good time but I thought there was two different teams playing from the first two sets and the last two sets,” Tomasevic said. “We’re going to have to be a lot better Saturday than we were today. UNLV is a really good team. I am predicting they will be the champions of their conference again.”
For Tomasevic, she emphasized to her team before the game the importance of setting the tempo for the entire match.
“Before we got on the floor tonight, I said, ‘it’s always hard to play against teams like this.’ When you play against an experienced team, they set the tempo of the game and they know what their tempo is and it doesn’t matter who they play, they do their own thing,” the Sun Devil coach said. “When you have a team like ours who’s younger and has girls who haven’t played much at this level, it’s normal to have ebbs and flows.”
The first set opened up with the Tigers taking a quick 3-1 lead. The rest of the set was back and forth before the Sun Devils went on a 3-0 run to tie the score at 13 just before the mid-way point of the set.
The Sun Devils were able to ride that momentum to a 16-14 lead before the Tigers would take their first timeout. Junior outside hitter Iman Isanovic would have five kills in the opening set with three of them coming in the final four points of the set, allowing ASU to take the first set 25-20.
After a first set that was back and forth and saw six ties and two lead changes, the Sun Devils were able to rally and carry that momentum into the second set.
Levinska started the Sun Devils second set with a kill. The Sun Devils would take a quick 5-0 lead following an ace by Levinska, before the Tigers would call their first timeout of the set.
Levinska wound up leading the team with three aces at the mid-way mark of the second set with the Sun Devils up 15-8. The Tigers would go on to battle back before another ace by Levinska, her fourth of the set. Leading to the Tigers final timeout of the second set trailing, 21-15.
Following the timeout the Sun Devils went on a 4-0 run to end the second set 25-15. Levinska led the way with five aces and helped Arizona State open up an early two-set lead.
The Sun Devils were able to go up two sets behind a .276 hitting percentage and .345 kill percentage compared to a .065 hitting percentage and .290 kill percentage by the Tigers.
Starting off the third set, the Tigers were able to go on four different scoring runs, the longest being a 4-0 run before the Tomasevic called a timeout down 16-8. Following the timeout, the Sun Devils went on a 6-1 scoring run to cut the Tigers lead to three.
ASU and Pacific jockeyed for advantage late throughout the third set. The Sun Devils were able to go on another 5-0 scoring run and even the score up at 20. The Tigers were able to hold off multiple scoring runs and five ties throughout the third set, but were able to hold on and win the third set with a score of 26-24.
Levinska told reporters following the win about the team’s mentality during the match and the ability of the Sun Devils to maintain it throughout the course of the contest.
“The first two sets were good but whenever you play at this level, you can’t let your (foot) off the gas (pedal),” Levinska said. “You have to go and show your game every time. We’re pretty familiar with pressure when it’s tied, so we at the end really locked ourselves in and pushed through the pressure.”
With both teams battling, the fourth set started off a nail-biter. Nine ties and four lead changes throughout the fourth set led to a tie at 15. Both teams eventually saw 13 ties and six lead changes in what ended up being the final set before the Sun Devils were able to pull away and win 25-19.
The Sun Devils dropped the third set but were able to take the match in the fourth set. Levinska gave praise to the resiliency the team showed throughout the match.
“In the first two sets, we got a little too comfortable and it really showed in the third. We also showed them that we can come back. That was a lesson to never let our opponents get in the game and play their game,” Levinska said.
Arizona State closes out non-conference play Saturday when they host the reigning Mountain West Champion UNLV Rebels (7-2) at 5p.m. The match can also be viewed on the ASU Live Stream.
