(Photo via Reece Andrews/WCSN)
After earning a big win against Arizona in Tucson, Arizona State Volleyball (7-7, 1-1 Pac-12) was not able to carry that momentum against the Colorado Buffaloes (10-2, 2-0 Pac-12), getting swept for the fourth time this season.
The story of the match was the defense of Colorado against ASU’s best hitters. None of the Sun Devils’ premier hitters were able to get it going in Boulder, as the team ended the match with a .100 hitting percentage. Senior outside hitter Iman Isanovic has been averaging 13 kills on a .244 hitting percentage this season, but in her 43 attack attempts on Sunday, she had just eight kills along with seven errors, giving her a hitting percentage of .023. Junior Outside hitter Marta Levinksa averages 12 kills a match on a .256 hitting percentage, but she only had five kills in her 27 attempts, ending with a hitting percentage of .074. Sophomore outside hitter Geli Cyr was coming off a career-high 15 kills at Arizona, but she only accumulated two kills in her 12 attempts, garnering a -.083 hitting percentage. Colorado nearly doubled ASU in kills, as they led 49-25 in that department.
The Buffaloes, who rank seventh in the country in blocks, were surprisingly outnumbered by the Sun Devils 8-6. However, Colorado dominated ASU in digs, tallying 60 to the Sun Devils’ 39. Head coach Sanja Tomasevic and her squad were just never able to consistently put pressure on the Buffaloes. It didn’t help that the Sun Devils only had one ace on the match, coupled with four service errors.
As for Colorado’s offense, they had a balanced attack that ASU struggled to defend against. Junior Outside hitter Meegan Hart is second in the NCAA in hitting percentage at .477 and improved that statistic even more today. She had 13 kills in just 17 attack attempts, giving her a sizzling .706 hitting percentage for the match. Graduate outside hitter Lexi Hadrych, who transferred to Boulder from UCLA, stepped up for the Buffaloes as well and led the team with 14 kills on 28 attempts.
The only thing that didn’t go right for Colorado was the hitting of junior outside hitter Maya Tabron. She had been averaging 11 kills a match on a .212 hitting percentage for the season, but she accumulated just three kills in her 21 attempts with eight errors, giving her a hitting percentage of -.231. She made a positive impact in other ways, as she had 10 digs and a block in the match.
The rest of Colorado’s team was able to pick up Tabron’s slack in the hitting department. Junior redshirt middle blocker Alexia Kuehl, senior outside hitter Jill Schneggenburger, and senior right-side hitter Sterling Parker combined for 18 kills. The Buffaloes also had six aces in the match, four of them courtesy of senior defensive specialist Savannah Perry.
ASU wasn’t particularly close in any of the three sets. In the first set, the Buffaloes went on an early 5-0 run, where Perry aced the Sun Devils twice. ASU fought back but was not able to come back in the set. Colorado had two 5-0 runs in the second set where ASU could only ever total three points in a row. After the demoralizing second set, the Sun Devils went away quietly in the third, where Tomasevic inserted more of the bench players in the match.
The Sun Devils, now .500 on the season, will look to bounce back against the Oregon Ducks in Eugene on Friday.
