(Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)
On Saturday, Mar. 30, the No. 12 Sand Devils made the quick trip across town to GCU to play in the Lopes Invitational, where they squared off against No. 18 Stetson and No. 16 GCU.
In head coach Kristen Rohr’s return to the program she once headed, she led the Devils to two more ranked wins including its first win over the Lopes since 2019.
“This is a place that will always hold a special place in my heart.” Coach Rohr said. “To come back and see the athletes was nice, and I love my friends here. I am proud of our team for playing hard and getting two great wins. I thought we looked really good out there, especially with a few new pairings. It’s really exciting to see.”
The Devils earned their 15th and 16th wins overall, as well as their 8th and 9th ranked wins.
In both duals, the Devils won 4-1, with the only losses coming from the No. 4 pair. Redshirt sophomore Ava Kirunchyk and sophomore Carys Thomas struggled, losing both of their duals in 2 sets, but Rohr doesn’t seem to be worried about their production.
“We’ve had them together for a couple of weekends, but still a little bit of a newer team,” Rohr said. “So kind of working things out, see where we can tweak little things here and there and see if we can get them on a roll.”
In a bit of a switch-up from previous weeks, the Devils debuted new pairs at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, swapping normal top pair player junior Anya Pemberton and the two’s freshman Ava Williamson.
At the slightly new-look twos spot, Pemberton and sophomore Arden Besecker battled and came out with two three set wins.
Williamson and sophomore Daniella Kensinger held down the fort at the ones, winning both of their duals in two sets, with their win against GCU clinching the dual win for the Devils.
“It was really fun,” Williamson said. “I mean obviously, me and Dani have a lot of chemistry on the court and we’ve been working really hard in practice. I think that just showed today, and the way that we played was super consistent.”
Williamson has continued to impress all season long. Coming off of a Pac-12 Pair of the Week nod as a No. 2, Williamson has proven herself even just as a freshman. Rohr raved about the freshman and her production at the ones court, explaining the reasoning behind the new pairings.
“Ava has just been playing at a really high level over the last couple of weeks,” Rohr said. “That was when we knew that the twos was working. We wanted to try to figure out what could maybe get the ones a couple more wins.”
Besecker and Williamson each extended their individual winning streaks to 11 straight wins. Starting off the year as partners, the Sun Devils will look to spread the wealth with their success.
Next week, the Devils will travel to Seattle for their last in-season tournament of the year, the Pac-12 North tournament, where they will face off against No. 1 USC, No. 13 Washington, Utah, and Oregon.
