Dec. 11, 2012
2012 Volleyball Season Recap
Team finished 20-14 and 9-11 Pac-12, placing sixth in the conference
Head Coach Jason Watson/5th Season/Hired Jan. 29, 2008
Jason Watson's ASU Record 68-89, 28-68 Pac-12
Jason Watson's Career Record 142-107, 67-77
Four NCAA Appearances | 4-4 in NCAA Tournament
Volleyball Honors for 2012-13
All Pac-12: Macey Gardner (First), Erica Wilson (Honorable Mention)
Pac-12 All-Freshman: Macey Gardner, Allison Palmer
Pac-12 All-Academic: Bethany Jorgensen (First), Jenny Teslevich (First), Caitlyn Francis (Second), Alexis Pinson (Honorable Mention), Stephanie Preach (Honorable Mention)
Pac-12 Player of the Week: Stephanie Preach (Nov. 26)
Pac-12 Freshman of the Week: Macey Gardner (Sept. 17, Oct. 1)
A final look at @asu volleyball in 2012 including the final edition of game notes thesundevils.com/sports/w-volle... @thesundevils @pac12 @ncaavolleyball
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) December 11, 2012
Jason Watson became the fifth coach in the volleyball program's history to take the Sun Devils to the NCAA Tournament, its 16th appearance. ASU is 8-16 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. ASU's 20 wins in 2012 is the most under Jason Watson and the most for the program since it went 20-8 in 1993. Volleyball also had the most conference wins (9) for ASU since 2000, that team finished 9-9 in the Pac-10. ASU finished the regular season with two wins against ranked teams: No. 6 USC, W 3-0 on Nov. 2; at No. 5 Washington, W 3-1 on Nov. 21. Jason Watson has grabbed seven wins against ranked opponents in his five years at ASU.
Non-Conference Slate
ASU won three tournaments in the non-conference portion of the season - UTEP's, UCI/LMU and the ASU Sheraton Invitational. Along with compiling an 11-2 record during non-conference play, a best start for the program since 2009, ASU had 10 earn tournament awards along the way.
Conference Honors
Not only did ASU receive the most All-Academic member in 2012 (three, tying OSU), but the Sun Devils also lead the Pac-12 Conference all-time with 50 total honorees. Macey Gardner and Stephanie Preach each earned Player of the Week honors; Gardner was named Freshman of the Week on two occasions.
Record Book Performances
Senior Erica Wilson ends her career with 522 kills her senior season, fifth in single season marks, 12th in total kills (1125), fourth in block assists (297) and eighth in total blocks (325). Stephanie Preach finished the season with 619 digs, fourth in single-season marks, and improves to fourth all-time with 1460 digs. Macey Gardner finished her freshman campaign second in ASU single-season kills (577), which is also the freshman season record. She also owns the freshman record in kills per set (4.40) and tied for the most kills in a match by a freshman with 28. Gardner is only the third freshman ever to lead the Pac-12 in total kills, the last being UCLA's All-American Kristee Porter in 1998. Allison Palmer had a breakout freshman season, she is now ASU's single-season leader in assists with 1482. Her mark also rewrites the freshman season assist record, previously set by Cheryl Anglin in 2000 with 1452 assists. Palmer and Gardner each recorded 10 double-doubles during the season. Alexis Pinson nudged her way into the record book, her 121 block assists ranked fourth in single-season ASU records and her 132 total blocks led the team on the year.