(Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)
Heading into this past weekend Arizona State beach volleyball (5-4) was looking to bounce back after a rough opening weekend against tough competition in the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Classic. ASU bounced back and more in what ended up being an important weekend for the squad.
The No.11 ranked Sand Devils matched up against four teams throughout the two day long Cactus Classic tournament, including ranked duels against No.20 Stetson and cross-town rivals No.18 Grand Canyon.
ASU kicked off the Classic with a match against Boise State (2-2) that resulted in a 3-2 victory over the Broncos. The match was heavily contested with the Devils losing 2-0 on courts two and five.
Over on court one the Sand Devils bounced back in a big way, with sophomore Ava Williamson and junior Daniella Kensinger picking up a win in only two sets. This would be the start of a dominant Friday for the pairing of Williamson and Kensinger who swept both of their matches on the day improving their record on the year to 3-5.
With the duo of junior Arden Besecker and sophomore Ava Haughy winning in a 2-0 sweep over on court four, all eyes were on court three to determine the dual. Redshirt junior Ava Kirunchyk and junior Tori Clement wrapped up Friday’s first match winning in two sets to clinch the Devils first victory of the weekend.
To cap off Friday’s action ASU found itself matched up against the No.20 Stetson Haters (5-2). Unlike the first game of the day, ASU dominated the sand beating the Hatters on every court except court four.
Yet again, Kirunchyk and Tori Clement found themselves as the clinching point in a victory for the Sand Devils. Unlike the clinching match against Boise State, the ASU duo was more heavily contested with the match going to three sets after a 16-21 loss in the second set.
Despite the setback, Kirunchyk and Clement bounced back to win the third set 15-8 clinching the Devil’s second victory on the day.
Day two began very similarly to Friday. The Sand Devils matched up against the unranked Oregon Ducks (3-4). ASU had no problem dispatching the Ducks with a win on all five courts. The Maroon and Gold had no struggles jumping out to a 3-0 lead sweeping the first three sets in dominant fashion.
Despite facing little to no challenges in the first three sets, ASU was challenged in courts two and three with both pairs facing early setbacks, losing the first frame in both matches. In spite of the early struggles both the duos managed to battle back and win in the third set.
It was a big day for sophomore Elsa Snipes who made her debut for the squad paired up with junior Carys Thomas on court five. Snipes and Thomas were the clinching point in Saturday’s dominant victory, picking up a win in two sets. The highlight of the match was the pairing of Kendall Whitmarsh and Ava Haughy who dominated on court four winning in two sets by scores of 21-12 and 21-14.
Closing out the weekend for Arizona State was a cross-town clash against No.18 ranked Grand Canyon (7-1), head coach Kristen Glattfelder’s former school. Coming into this game GCU was undefeated with seven wins prior to matching up with ASU.
However, the Lopes stood no match for Glattfelder’s Sand Devils who swept the first three matches en route to 3-2 ASU victory.
Standouts in the match were the Sand Devils No.1 duo of Kensinger and Williamson, who completed a two set sweep on court one winning 21-15 and 21-14. Senior Anya Pemberton and Sophomore Olivia McElroy represented the clinching set in ASU’s victory, winning the first two sets in narrow fashion 22-20 and 21-19.
It was a very successful weekend for the Sun Devils No.1 pairing of Daniella Kensinger and Ava Williamson, who went undefeated on the weekend while not losing a single set in the process. The duo also picked up a pair of wins over ranked opponents improving their overall record to 5-5 on the season.
The No.2 pairing for Arizona State found similar success this weekend, winning three and losing one improving their record to 4-6 on the year with three wins against ranked opponents.
After a brutal first weekend the Sand Devils were able to bounce back and pick up four important wins including two over ranked opponents. ASU Beach Volleyball will look to continue building momentum in its first home matches of the season at the Sun Devil Classic, lining up against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Coastal Carolina and Cal Poly.
