(Photo: Brendan Badfield/WCSN)
Arizona State carried its momentum from a three match win streak and fed off of it to sweep Cal in three sets Friday night. The Sun Devils (12-10, 5-6 Pac-12) won handily in three sets (25-15, 25-18, 25-17), starting off the second half of the conference slate with a huge wave of confidence.
Head coach Sanja Tomasevic addressed the team being able to control the tempo of the game from the start.
“We served really well today. Iman had four aces. Ella served really well too,” Tomasevic said on a night where the Sun Devils combined for eight aces. “I think our serving allowed us to do some things that we did tonight and control the game a little more. Offensively we hit 34% as a team, low errors. We didn’t make a lot of errors in a three-set match which is impressive for a young team.”
The Sun Devils had three players reach double digits in kills. Freshman Geli Cyr continued her offensive terror with her fourth straight match reaching double figures in kills and her fifth such performance of the season. Sophomore setter Ella Snyder notched her 11th double-double of the season with 33 assists and 13 digs.
Tomasevic has been proud of the way the team continues to come out and play, despite starting conference play 1-6.
“Fun night for us. It is fun to see our girls get into a groove and gain a little confidence,” Tomasevic said of Arizona State, winners of four consecutive Pac-12 matches. “We are playing Sun Devil Volleyball no matter who is on the other side of the net. That is the goal that we talked about. Some of Cal’s best players were hurt, but what I am proud of is we still took care of our side of the net.”
The Sun Devils carried their success from their past three matches and continued that against the Golden Bears Friday night. Junior Iman Isanovic — fresh off national honors for her play last week — and sophomore Marta Levinska got the Sun Devils off to a quick start with multiple kills from the two putting them up 6-1 before the Golden Bears called their first timeout.
It was all freshman Geli Cyr though as she was adding on to the Sun Devils lead with kills left and right. Cyr’s seventh kill of the match in the first set put ASU up, 21-12.
The Sun Devils would then take the set following Isanovic’s fourth kill to end the set 25-15.
Tomasevic said she’s enjoying the improvement from Cyr. Improvement each week since her return from injury has been impressive according to Tomasevic.
“She plays way above her age. She is very smart and can see the block well,” Tomasevic said. “She has a toolbox that even some of our older players don’t even have. It is fun to see her get out and compete now that her shoulder is healthier. We still haven’t seen the best of her yet. It is fun to see how calm and poised she was out there, but she is still a freshman that gets nervous. She is going to be an amazing addition for us going forward, not just this season, but beyond.”
Arizona State came out rolling in the second set opening up a 6-0 lead. Cal would answer back however, as senior Darian Clark brought the Golden Bears back into the game following four aces that would give them an 8-7 lead.
Arizona State started to pull away following a team effort. Getting kills from sophomore Claire Jeter, Isanovic, Cyr and Levinska. Isanovic picked up her fifth ace of the match giving the Sun Devils a 20-12 lead. Cal started to make another push but Arizona State was able to stop the scoring run following back-to-back blocks by Jeter and Snyder. Jeter would finish the set off with a kill giving the Sun Devils a two-set lead and looking for a clean sweep against the Golden Bears.
The third set started off closer than previous sets as the teams had three different ties early with the score knotted up at four. Following a kill by Levinska to give the Sun Devils a 5-4 lead, it was the Sun Devils who would take advantage and start to pull away. A 3-0 scoring run following consecutive errors by the Golden Bears led them to call their first timeout of the set trailing 10-6. The Sun Devils would add on five more points making it an 8-0 scoring run before the Golden Bears could put an end to it.
ASU then pushed it to a double-digit lead before the Golden Bears could score four quick points of their own. It was too much for them to overcome however, as the Sun Devils completed the sweep following a service ace by freshman Meadow Cooper.
Cyr noted the importance of the big scoring run the team was able to go on during the third set on their way to the sweep.
“Once we get into a groove, it all just comes easier and everything falls into place much better,” Cyr said. “I think that’s the thing, as long as we keep a good serve and pass, the game’s all about that. So just staying chill and doing the fundamentals we know how to do.”
The offense had great success tonight and it was complimented by the play of Snyder.
“Honestly, with each hitter that I have on the court, they’re different players and adjusting to each hitter is really fun and an experience,” Snyder said of what contributed to the success for ASU in a convincing win. “With high assists it always feels good, but we can always do better on what we need to work on. I’m super excited for tomorrow and this weekend on Sunday to bring it again and get my hitters in a good position and rhythm.”
The Sun Devils have a quick turnaround but Tomasevic is ready to keep the success rolling.
“We have to keep on getting better. We have another practice tomorrow and us coaches are going to watch film tonight. See what we need to get better at because we have a really good team coming in Sunday,” Tomasevic said ahead of a Sunday visit from No. 15 Stanford. “We have to keep on improving and keep on building them up. Stanford is beatable. If we take care of our side of the net like we are supposed to do, we will give them hell at least.”
