(Photo: Zac Pacleb/WCSN)
After upsetting No. 9 Colorado State in straight sets, No. 15 Arizona State kept rolling as they swept Western Michigan (25-15, 25-16, 25-22) and Northern Colorado (25-22, 25-15, 25-13) to stay perfect through the first two weekends of the season.
vs. Western Michigan
ASU’s attack was balanced and efficient as it took down Western Michigan. Senior outside hitter Macey Gardner led the way with 11 kills, and senior middle blocker Mercedes Binns was right behind with 10 kills of her own to go along with five blocks.
Fellow senior middle blocker Whitney Follette was particularly tidy with her attacking efforts, putting down eight kills on 12 attempts.
The Broncos were led by sophomore outside hitter Sierra Hubbard-Neil, who racked up nine kills on a .333 hitting percentage. As a team, Western Michigan committed 20 attacking errors.
ASU still went with the 6-2 system, and setters senior Bianca Arellano and freshman Kylie Pickrell dished out 20 assists each as the Sun Devils posted a .303 hitting percentage as a team.
vs. Northern Colorado
After a competitive first set, the Sun Devils were able to keep a comfortable lead in the second and third sets. The Bears were down by six points almost the whole match. ASU’s success was due to clean hitting from Follette, Bailey, Gardner and Binns who racked up 30 kills and committing only two errors combined. Gardner led the way with 10 kills of her own.
For Northern Colorado, sophomore middle blocker Alex Kloehn led with 10 kills on a .421 hitting percentage.
What’s next?
ASU looks to keep the momentum as the Sun Devils host Northern Arizona in their home opener on Tuesday, September 8 at 7 p.m.
You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com
