(Photo: Katherine Gore/WCSN)
PHOENIX — In the first set, a strong swing from Arizona State graduate outside hitter Roberta Rabelo on the right side of the court sent the volleyball to a perfect spot in the back-middle portion of West Virginia’s side. No one could get there in time to dig the ball out and keep the rally going, resulting in an ASU kill.
Rabelo’s kill was the third straight point for Arizona State, making the score 9-7 in the first set, helping ASU manufacture an 8-1 run to win the set 25-13. The story of the first set ended up being the story of much of the match.
West Virginia (8-16, 2-11 Big 12) stuck with No. 9 Arizona State (25-2, 13-1), a team that significantly statistically outmatches the Mountaineers in nearly all categories, throughout the first stage of each set. However, in each set, the Sun Devils were able to turn up the heat and get one big run to pull away, resulting in a commanding 16th sweep of the year against West Virginia (25-13, 25-17, 25-21) on the road on Thursday night.
Senior outside hitter Geli Cyr didn’t play for Arizona State head coach JJ Van Niel on Thursday. Cyr has been arguably the most impactful player for the Sun Devils this season, she leads the team with 320 kills and before the game was second on the team in digs with 246.
In her absence, sophomore outside hitter Jillian Neal stepped up. After spending most of the season only having an offensive impact as a server, Neal exploded for 14 kills. It’s a new career high that more than doubled her season total of 11 entering the match.
Neal started off the match with three kills in the first set, including one at the tail end of the aforementioned 8-1 run. In the second set, she had six kills and was a massive part in Arizona State’s big run which allowed it to pull away and end up winning the set.
During a 13-2 Arizona State run in the second set which transformed the score from 10-9 to 23-11, Neal had five kills. She had back-to-back kills to start the dominant section of the game after a West Virginia service ace.
In the third set, she had five kills including one during the Sun Devils 7-0 run that gave them enough breathing room to emerge victorious in the most highly contested set.
It wasn’t just great offense from Neal, she also had a career night defensively, her two blocks and 10 digs were also career highs. Her 10 digs were second on the night for the Sun Devils behind graduate setter Argentina Ung’s 15.
Roberta Rabelo, who finished second on the team in kills with seven after starting once again, was tied with graduate middle blocker Savannah Kjolhede for the team lead in total blocks with four each. With 11 total blocks as a team Arizona State once again showed that it can get up to stop its opponents.
Good defense was huge in the Sun Devils’ victory. The Mountaineers were held to an abysmal .029 hitting percentage and had a hitting percentage of .000 for the first two sets of the night. West Virginia only averaged 8.33 kills per set (compared to ASU’s 13.33) in the absence of redshirt junior outside hitter Cassidy Tanton, who leads the team with 3.33 kills per set across 93 sets played.
The match at the WVU Coliseum was a homecoming of sorts for junior outside hitter Bailey Miller. Miller spent her first two collegiate seasons as a Mountaineer and led the team in kills her freshman season with 293. Miller didn’t play much of a role in the Sun Devils’ victory but had two kills in five attempts as well as a block.
It was also the first time Argentina Ung played against her former head coach Jen Greeny. Greeny, who is now the head coach for West Virginia, coached at Ung’s previous school, Washington State, from 2011-2023. Ung had a productive day against her former coach, as previously mentioned her 15 digs led the team and she recorded 30 assists and a kill.
Arizona State will head to Cincinnati to play the Bearcats (13-11, 4-9), who are coming off a loss to Arizona, on Saturday.
