(Photo credit: ASU Athletics)
Coming into this weekend, the No. 15 Arizona State Sun Devils volleyball team was riding high, winners of all six of their games to begin the season. Though they have had their share of speed bumps, ASU has battled back and maintained their success behind the explosive offense of junior outside hitter Macey Gardner. She hasn’t been the only star on this squad as sophomore outside hitter BreElle Bailey has emerged with a recent dominant performance of 11 kills and seven digs against Iowa.
The Sun Devils looked to continue their commanding gameplay in the Comfort Inn & Suites Invitational in Morehead, Kentucky versus Louisville, Northern Illinois, and hometown Morehead State.
vs. Louisville
ASU started off their weekend slate in a tilt against a dangerous Louisville Cardinals team who was ranked No. 24 last week. Louisville’s balanced, relentless attack caught the Sun Devils off guard as the Cardinals cruised to a 3-0 sweep (25-23, 25-13, 25-17), handing ASU their first loss of the season.
Leading the Cardinals squad was sophomore outside hitter Janelle Jenkins who recorded 12 kills and junior setter Katie George who added a double-double: 29 assists and 12 digs. Gardner’s 11 kill performance was in vain as the Sun Devils got off to a lackluster start and had no answer to the fluid offense that was showcased from Louisville.
vs Northern Illinois
The second game of the doubleheader on Friday pitted the Sun Devils and the Northern Illinois Huskies. This game started off with more of the same as ASU struggled coming out of the gate, dropping their first two sets and going down 7 points in the third frame. It was then that the offense got back on track as they out hit the Huskies, .283 to .227 and .333 to .143 in the final two sets to survive the marathon match in 5 sets (23-25, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-10). This crucial bounce-back victory improved the Sun Devils’ record to 7-1 and drop Northern Illinois to 5-4.
The comeback was fueled by Gardner’s double-double, a dominating 19 kills and 10 digs. She was not the only Sun Devil starter who stepped up into a bigger role as five Sun Devils recorded double-digit kills in the match. In addition, junior setter Bianca Arellano’s 57 assists were a career-high. Once ASU woke up, they seemed unstoppable and they hoped this momentum could carry into the tournament ending match against Morehead State.
vs Morehead St
Arizona State finally played a complete game as they swept the Morehead St Eagles, 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-17) in the final match of the tournament. Bailey continued to let her presence be known as she led her squad with 13 kills and an attack percentage of .632. The Sun Devils were firing on all cylinders, out-hitting Morehead St, .337 to .110. The Eagles never even had a chance from start to finish as they drop to 0-9 while ASU improved to an impressive 8-1 on the young season.
Next week, the Sun Devils return home to Wells Fargo Arena where they will host the Residence Inn Invitational, September 19-20, and face off against Colorado State on Friday and have a double-header versus North Carolina Central and Pepperdine on Saturday.
