(Photo via Ritisha Thakker/WCSN)
Friday night marked the beginning of a new month and perhaps a new era for No. 18 Arizona State volleyball (27-6, 14-6 Pac-12).
Under Pac-12 Conference Coach of the Year JJ Van Niel, ASU made its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2015. Van Niel is just the third first-year head coach in Pac-12 history to be awarded this honor and the first since Stanford’s John Dunning in 2001. While the Sun Devils’ time in the Pac-12 may be coming to a close, Van Niel is starting to build something special.
Friday night’s first round match against Georgia (19-12, 10-8 SEC) was the perfect opportunity for No. 5 seed ASU to make a statement, and that’s exactly what the Sun Devils did as they swept the Bulldogs, 25-21, 25-12, 25-20. For the first time since 2014, ASU won an NCAA tournament match. It also marked the Sun Devils’ 27th win of the season, tied for the second-highest win total in school history.
For the majority of the match, Georgia was able to hang with the Sun Devils. However, the second set stood out as one in which ASU had full control. The beginning of the set looked to be as contested as the first — which contained 12 ties and four lead changes — with three ties early. This didn’t last long though, as the Sun Devils managed to take a 16-10 lead before Georgia scored twice and made it 16-12. From there, senior outside hitter Roberta Rabelo notched a kill that began a 9-0 scoring run to give ASU a 25-12 set victory.
It was in this second set where the Sun Devils put on a sensational hitting clinic, averaging a hitting percentage of .565 in the frame compared to a .429 hitting percentage in the third set and a .323 hitting percentage in the first. While all of these figures were impressive, the .565 clip truly stood out.
ASU’s team hitting percentage of .427 set a school record for the highest in an NCAA tournament match. Individually, junior outside hitter Geli Cyr’s .529 clip also marked a school record for the highest in an NCAA tournament match.
As for Georgia, the team’s collective hitting percentages reflected the difference across sets similarly to ASU. The Bulldogs had a .194 hitting percentage in the first set, a .000 hitting percentage in the second, and a .241 hitting percentage in the third.
ASU’s postseason win can be summed up in two words: complementary volleyball. Defensively, the Sun Devils had 10 blocks, good for the ninth time this season in which they have notched 10 or more blocks in a match. Graduate middle blocker Maddie McLaughlin led the charge at the net with seven total blocks and was complemented offensively by senior outside hitter Marta Levinska’s 18 kills. ASU’s serve-receive was once again a strength Friday, preventing the Bulldogs from recording a single ace.
ASU now advances to the second round to face No. 4 seed BYU (24-6, 13-5 Big 12), who swept Weber State (21-9, 11-5 Big Sky) in its first round matchup.
