(Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)
Tempe, Ariz. – After Stanford swept the Sand Devils into the contenders bracket, they needed back-to-back wins to stay alive in the final Pac-12 championship. They kicked off the day against their rivals Arizona. The Wildcats lost to UCLA Friday in three straight sets then bounced back against Oregon to win in four sets.
ASU (21-8, 5-2 Pac-12) swept the Wildcats (21-12, 5-4 Pac-12) and advanced to play fourth seeded California. They beat the Golden Bears (21-13) in dramatic fashion by a score of 3-2. They now move on to a rematch with Stanford Friday morning to continue their streak. With the two wins Thursday, the Sand Devils tied the program record with 21 wins and extended their record with 11 ranked wins.
In game one against Arizona, it was clean and simple. They swept the Wildcats and straight sets, not losing once. The Wildcats couldn’t even reach 20 points, only reaching 18 points in three of eight complete sets. California was up next on the checklist, after they lost 3-1 to the number one seed USC.
The deciding match against California was the No. 4 pair of senior Kate Fitzgerald and sophomore Ava Kirunchyk. They were the only pair to go all three sets against Stanford on Wednesday and started off hot with a 26-24 win in set one before dropping the second set 21-16. The third set was an exhilarating one that was close to the very end. The Sand Devils came out on top 20-18, and will look to ride their momentum into Friday morning.
After sweeping the Sand Devils on Wednesday, the Cardinal were immediately swept by UCLA Thursday morning. The Cardinal and ASU now play for the third time this season, each taking a game so far. With the Sand Devils upsetting the four seed California, they joined the top three seeds in USC, UCLA, and Stanford in the final day of the last Pac-12 Championship ever.
