(Photo via Marina Williams/WCSN)
Heading into Sunday’s match, Boulder, Colorado, had historically been a difficult location for No. 17 Arizona State volleyball (19-3, 7-3 Pac-12) to find success.
Heading into the contest, ASU held a all-time record of 3-8 in Boulder. To put the home dominance of Colorado (12-9, 4-6 Pac-12) in more perspective, the Buffaloes came into the matchup with a 4-1 record in their last five home matchups against the Sun Devils.
Even with the historical struggles, there were still plenty of reasons to justify ASU as the favorite. Colorado had only won three of its last nine matches against Pac-12 Conference opponents, whereas the Sun Devils were coming off two consecutive sweeps. One of those sweeps was against a formidable No. 8 Oregon squad.
Instead, the Buffaloes’ dominant run against the Sun Devils continued Sunday as they upset ASU with a 27-25, 25-18, 26-24 sweep.
For almost the entirety of the match, the Sun Devils played from behind. In the first set, ASU trailed 11-3 at one point before eventually tying the set at 24. After taking the lead 25-24 because of a receiving error by Colorado, it appeared that the Sun Devils were about to pull off a remarkable comeback. That’s when Colorado went on a 3-0 scoring run and won the set 27-25.
In the second set, Colorado came out swinging by taking an early 3-0 lead which forced ASU head coach JJ Van Niel to take an early timeout. For a while, it looked like the timeout shifted momentum drastically for the Sun Devils, as they led 9-8 at one point during the set. However, it wouldn’t take long for Van Niel to call a second timeout when trailing 14-11. From there, the Buffaloes cruised to a second set victory 25-18.
Down 2-0, it was crucial for the Sun Devils to win the third set to extend the match and avoid an upset. Unfortunately for ASU, the struggle to gain a lead continued, as it faced a 5-9 deficit before being forced to use the first timeout of the set. The timeout looked to spark some life into the Sun Devils as they tied the set up at 15, forcing Colorado to answer with its own timeout of the frame.
From there, it was a back and forth battle to gain the lead that came down to the second 24-24 tie of the match. A kill by the Buffaloes’ graduate outside hitter Lexi Hadrych and an attack error by ASU’s junior outside hitter Geli Cyr sealed the third set victory and the sweep for the Buffaloes.
In spite of the loss, senior outside hitter Marta Levinska had another impressive performance, leading the Sun Devils in kills with 17 and in digs with a season-high 14. This was the Latvian’s 24th double-double of her career and third of the season.
As for Colorado, graduate outside hitter Lexi Hadrych showed why the team named her offensive MVP last season with a hitting percentage of .400. The UCLA transfer’s crucial kill towards the end of the third set was one of 16 total she notched on the day.
The Sun Devils will now return to Tempe, looking to regroup Friday for their second match of the season against Cal (7-23, 0-20 Pac-12).
