(Photo courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics)
In their final Pac-12 in-season tournament, the No. 12 Arizona State beach volleyball team traveled to Seattle, Washington for the Pac-12 North Tournament, hosted by the University of Washington.
A far cry from the warm weather the Devils played in last weekend at GCU, the Devils faced cold temperatures up in the PNW, with temperatures below 50 F for most of the weekend.
The Devils had a tough task on the first day, with duals against No. 3 USC and No. 13 Washington, and had high hopes of potentially taking down USC for the first time in program history and beating Washington for the second time this season.
Unfortunately, the Devils fell short of their goals, losing both duals. ASU lost to USC, the reigning NCAA National Champions, 4-1, with the only win coming at the twos spot.
Despite the team loss, the newly formed pair of sophomore Arden Besecker and junior Anya Pemberton took a big three-set victory over USC’s No. 2 pair.
The win extended Besecker’s win streak to 12-games, and was her second win with Pemberton. After being previously partnered with freshman Ava Williamson for the majority of the season, head coach Kristen Rohr has worked to spread out the success from the original dominant pair.
Another bright spot for the Devils in the loss to the Women of Troy was the collegiate debut of junior Lillie Seymour, who appeared on the fours court, pairing with redshirt sophomore Ava Kirunchyk. The duo fell to USC’s No. 4 pair in two sets.
ASU’s dual against Washington was a hard fought battle, and the Devils ultimately dropped the dual 3-2, picking up wins at the ones and fives.
Freshman Ava Williamson and sophomore Daniella Kensinger beat Washington’s No. 1 pair in straight sets, and freshman Ava Haughy and sophomore Adriana Nieves-Papaleo swept Washington’s No. 5 pair.
On day 2 of the tournament, the Devils had much better outcomes, sweeping the Utah Utes and the Oregon Ducks. The two wins brought the Devils win total for the season to 18, which now holds as the second best record in program history.
Besecker and Williamson increased their season win totals to 20 games, good for the team lead. Next in wins are senior Taryn Ames and graduate student Lexi Sweeney, who both have 16 wins. The wins marked the most Sweeney has had in any season of her career, and has moved her and Ames to a tie for fifth place all-time for career wins.
The Devils now have a week and a half off before they play their final two duals of the regular season. They will travel to Tucson to play the Arizona Wildcats on Thursday, April 18, then return home for their senior night matchup against Ottawa University- Arizona on Friday, April 19.
