(Photo: Savannah Sannes/WCSN)
TEMPE – In the third set of Thursday night’s match, No. 9 Arizona State Volleyball had match point against Iowa State. The match’s conference title implications brought out 4,538 people to Mullett Arena. Celebrations amongst the large crowd began when Cyclone outside hitter Kiersten Schmitt’s attack went out of bounds.
However, as soon as the ball hit the ground, Iowa State challenged the ruling on the court. Initially, the refs ruled that ASU didn’t touch the ball before it went out. The call was reversed and the crowd remained on their feet. Additionally, the wait for the match-ending point continued when Iowa State scored shortly after Schmitt’s kill.
This was when Sun Devil head coach JJ Van Niel chose to make a substitution. Setter Brynn Covell checked back into the match, standing alongside fellow setter Argentina Ung and middle blocker Claire Jeter in front row. ASU was in rotation six, making the assignment for Covell and Jeter to receive the ball and get it to Ung. Ung’s assignment was to get the ball to the outside hitter.
That substitution paid off as Covell dived to the floor for a dig that went in Ung’s direction. Ung set it to outside hitter Shania Cromartie for the kill and Cromartie delivered. The crowd at Mullett Arena could finally celebrate as ASU (27-2, 15-1 Big 12) completed the sweep of Iowa State (10-15, 4-10 Big 12) 25-21, 25-15, 25-22.
“We were in (rotation) six, so Arge is in the front row and Claire stays in front,” Van Niel said. “It’s just easier to defend because they only have to defend half the court.”
Iowa State showed remarkable resilience for most of the night, but it was most noticeable in the third set. When the Sun Devils went on a 4-0 scoring run and jumped up to a 7-3 lead, it appeared as if momentum carried over from a dominant second set for ASU. However, the Cyclones quickly erased this lead and even took a 16-15 lead later in the set.
On paper, predicting the Sun Devils winning with ease prior to the match was justified. Iowa State came in with a losing record and ASU is ranked inside the nation’s top 10 teams. Nevertheless, Van Niel predicted that the Cyclones would give his team a hard time. Iowa State’s defense in particular was of focus for him.
“That’s a really scrappy team, they have really good defenders,” Van Niel said. “We knew that they were going to dig a bunch of balls.”
This season, the only Big 12 team that has been on par with the Sun Devils when it comes to being scrappy on defense is Kansas State. KSU’s conference-leading 16.68 digs-per-set is barely above ASU’s figure of 16.61. Nevertheless, Iowa State has improved in this aspect as the season’s progressed. The Cyclones having one more dig than the Sun Devils on Thursday is a testament to that improvement.
Despite having one less dig, ASU was the better defending team on Thursday night. The Sun Devils limited Iowa State to a .142 hitting percentage, the third-lowest clip for the Cyclones in a match this season. ASU remains at the top of the conference when it comes to lowest team hitting percentage allowed, holding opponents to a collective .164 this season.
“We’re a very defensive-oriented team. I’m pretty fired up we held them below .150,” Van Niel said. “We’re far and away the best defensive team in the conference when it comes to opponent hitting efficiency.”
ASU came one shy of extending the streak of five consecutive matches with double-digit blocks on Thursday with nine collective blocks. Nonetheless, the blocking unit as a whole remains steadily improving for the Sun Devils. Over the seven-match span from Halloween’s match against BYU to Thursday, ASU hasn’t put up less than nine team blocks.
The team’s top performer in this metric on Thursday night was middle blocker Savannah Kjolhede. Kjolhede had eight total blocks against Iowa State, the most she’s had in a match since the season-opener against Butler. As with blocks, Kjolhede also led the team with 10 kills.
“She was lights out. This is one of her better matches,” Van Niel said. “There’s a couple things she’s been working on really diligently in practice and they paid off tonight.”
While the double-digit blocking streak didn’t extend for the Sun Devils on Thursday, the win streak did. ASU has now won 15 straight matches, tying 2015’s team for the second-longest win streak in program history. Thursday’s win made the Sun Devils one match closer to clinching a share of the Big 12 title.
While he’s always had a “one match at a time” approach, Van Niel is ensuring that ASU’s sole focus is on clinching this share. That’s why any matches beyond Saturday against Colorado aren’t anywhere near the top of Van Niel’s mind. Having lost in Boulder last season, Van Niel knows that it can be tough to play on the road against the Buffaloes.
“I’m trying to keep them to not worry about or think about postseason,” Van Niel said. “The only match that matters right now is Colorado.”
